Springbrook & Tamborine Rainforest Tour: Glow Worms

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Free cancellationTravelers' pickLikely to sell out

1/12

Duration9h 30m

GroupUp to 21

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Walk through two rainforests in one day without arranging the route or the timing

This full-day guided tour from Brisbane explores Springbrook and Tamborine National Parks, two sections of the World Heritage Gondwana Rainforests. You walk to Natural Bridge waterfall at Springbrook, tour the Cedar Creek Glow Worm Caves (specially lit for daytime viewing), and hike Curtis Falls at Tamborine, with stops at Hinze Dam wildlife area and free time at Gallery Walk. The group stays under 21, and a professional guide leads all walks and points out the local wildlife — kangaroos, koalas, rainbow lorikeets and other birds common to the area.

9h 30m

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Springbrook and Tamborine Rainforests

Walk Curtis Falls at Joalah NP
Visit Cedar Creek Glow Worm caves
Free time at Gallery Walk
View hang gliders at Tamborine Mountain
Walk Natural Bridge at Springbrook NP
Visit Hinze Dam and wildlife park

The Experience

You're picked up in an air-conditioned minivan and driven south from Brisbane into the Numinbah Valley, heading first to Springbrook National Park. The Natural Bridge walk takes about an hour through the rainforest, following Cave Creek down to a waterfall that drops into a cave below — the walk itself is the main event, moving through the forest canopy and over the creek bed. This is where you're most likely to spot pademelons (small rainforest wallabies) and the bright bird life the area is known for: rainbow lorikeets, kookaburras, king parrots and rosellas move through the trees overhead.

From there you move to Tamborine National Park and the Cedar Creek Glow Worm Caves. Because glow worms only produce light in darkness, the caves have been specially constructed to turn daylight into night, letting thousands of glow worms show their bioluminescence in ideal conditions — this is how a daytime tour gets to see them at all. After the caves, you have free time at Gallery Walk, a local arts and craft district with clothing, jewelry, art galleries, fudge shops, wine tasting and a boutique brewery; lunch is on your own here from the eclectic cafes. The Curtis Falls walk at Joalah follows, another rainforest hike where bird spotting is strong and the falls feed into Cedar Creek below.

The day includes a stop at Hinze Dam, a wildlife hotspot where kangaroos and wallabies graze in open spaces, koalas rest in eucalyptus trees, and the water draws eagles, black swans, cormorants, pelicans and herons. The guide points out what moves through each zone — the forest, the grassland, the water — and explains what you're seeing. The full outing runs about nine and a half hours, and the group size caps at 21, which means the guide can answer questions and adjust pace without herding a crowd.

What’s included

Air-conditioned minivan transport from Brisbane.
professional guide for all walks and stops.
entry to Springbrook and Tamborine National Parks.
guided tour of Cedar Creek Glow Worm Caves.
bottled water throughout the day.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelPublic transport nearbyNot for heart conditions

Operated by Queensland Day Tours

Is this one for you?This tour works best if you're staying in Brisbane without a car, since the minivan picks you up and handles the full route to both parks — no driving the mountain roads yourself, no deciding which walk to skip, and no navigating between the two national parks. The guide leads every stop and points out the wildlife as it appears, so you're not searching the trees alone.