Baroon Pocket to Kondalilla Falls (return)

Getting there

The start of the walk is about 4 km from Mapleton.

Maps

See below

Route/Trail notes

From the carpark at Baroon Pocket Dam, walk under the 'Great Walks' portal/roof and you're off! The first 2 km of the walk is on clearly defined paths, with bridges and walkways at some parts - it's fairly level and accessible to almost anyone. The path wanders gradually uphill and after 30 minutes or so you will be at the Obi Obi lookout, which has fantastic views up and down Obi Obi Creek and towards the dam. Apparently there are marsupial frogs in this area, and one of the walkways is made of untreated wood in order to keep their environment pristine.

Keep following the path and you will see a sign with the standard warning about track conditions getting harder. Walk through the grass trees and make a steep descent of about 150m along a forest path to the level of the creek. This part of the walk is dense rainforest with lots of palms and strangler figs. After about an hour you come to Flat Rock, which is a good open spot for a rest. The path rises and falls and about 2 hours 30m after the start you arrive at Kondalilla Falls. This is a popular tourist spot with a swimming hole, and it's five minutes up the track to the car park if you only want to do the walk one way.

Return the same way, or arrange a pickup from Kondalilla Falls. Total return time is about 5 hours. Be prepared for leeches along the creek, especially in wet weather. Plenty of goannas, bush turkeys and the occasional snake (green tree snakes, carpet pythons and the occasional red-bellied black snake) are around, but all are very shy and usually make themselves scarce as soon as you come along.

Permits/Costs

None

Other References

http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/parks_and_forests/great_walks/sunshine_coast_hinterland/

This site has good maps in PDF format which can be printed out in B+W or colour.

GPS Tracks

No GPS available for this walk yet.

Comments

Beautiful bushland, lots of water from the recent rain, lots of leecehs!
Gayle Snyders on 7 May, 2022

Done this hike a few times now but none better than after the recent constant down pour. Just stunning. A number of water crossings and checking for leeches is a must. Totally recommend walking just after or during a big rain.
S.C Hiker on 8 Jan, 2022

Completed this as part of the a Great Walk. Day one was a very beautiful walk through rainforest with the falls in full flow thanks to recent rain.
Bobbe on 22 Jan, 2021

This walk is heavily trafficked. Not as much scenery as I would have hoped considering it was a 20km hike. The path is some way from the creek therefore you only get the occasional glimpse of it. What made this walk special was the fact that we got to see our very first platypus. It looked like a very young, active bugger! I guess they kept the path away from the creek for a reason (to preserve the wildlife). You need a reasonable level of fitness to do this. Took us about 5.5 hours with lots of stops along the way.
BalticAussie on 23 Aug, 2020

Amazing walk
Clara on 28 Jun, 2020

Overcast and damp day but perfect weather for that walk.
Helen on 16 Jun, 2020

Beautiful peaceful track.
Helena on 12 Jun, 2020

Great way to spend a Saturday morning with family and friends . No snakes today .
Candi on 30 May, 2020

Nice and pretty walk. Didn't see any snakes which was disappointing.
Olga on 21 Sep, 2019

We started at the Kondalilla falls end and hiked to Baroon Pocket Dam then back which ended up being a 22km hike. That last section going up to Baroon dam is a killer. We are def not at our fittest, so the trip took us just over 5.5 hours. We left at 7:30am and basically had the track to ourselves, on the way back towards kondalilla falls there was a lot more people round.
ETShallx on 6 May, 2019

Great walk, was 4 hours and 10 minutes from Baroon to Kondalilla Falls and back. The hike back up to Baroon was the hardest part. Nearly trod on a snake
MattyM on 14 Apr, 2019

I did this walk starting at kondalilla falls and finishing at Baroon Pocket Dam...it was truly a fantastic walk, next time I'll do the return trip .Highly recommended for experienced walkers
Rachael on 28 Jan, 2019

Great walk watch out for snakes
Keegan on 29 Nov, 2018

Did this walk today, trail is in good condition and very easy to navigate.
2 green tree snakes were seen as well as a few goannas.
The rock pools above the falls are a perfect for a half way dip.
Wonderer on 27 Dec, 2017

Take togs and towel so you can swim at kondallilla !
Hayley Fourro on 23 Dec, 2017

Awesome walk but not what I'd call easy. Grade 4
With lots of uphill.
Natty on 1 Jul, 2017

I walked from a beautiful B&B on Allara Rd: Allara Homestead to the entrance to the circuit & did the 4.4 km circuit, beautiful easy walk with plenty to see including a red bellied black & a large goanna on the track. There hadn't been a lot of rain so the waterfall wasn't flowing, but the rock pool made up for it. My hike in total was all up was roughly 10km, would definitely go again, though there was plenty of foot traffic being a peak period, it would be hard to get a close parking spot during this time.
Bernie on 1 Jan, 2017

I found the length of this track pretty challenging but I loved it!! Beautiful scenery and I loved the different types of forests all this track. Highly recommend!
AmyKT on 2017

Fairly easy walk - just that ascent back up to Baroon Lookout seemed way harder than it should!

Great to have a swim in the rock pools at Kondilla, saw around 12 Goannas and one huge carpet snake.
Chris on 30 Oct, 2016

Great walk from Barron Pocket to Kondalilla Falls and back. Great swimming hole at Kondalilla Falls but very busy. The descent down on the way to Kondalilla Falls is a fairly arduous ascent on the way back but manageable and worth the effort for this walk. Be sure to stop at Flat rock for a swim or break.
Kay on Apr, 2016