MacDonald Rainforest Circuit

Easy

Loading map…

A 1.4km grade 3 loop from the Wongawallen Road carpark near Eagle Heights through subtropical rainforest with strangler figs and piccabeen palms.

☰ Trail details

Hide panel — map only✕

Distance

0.92 km

Est. time

14 min

Elevation gain

9 m

Route type

Loop

Steepest stretch: +34m over ~300m (around the 0.6km mark)

Loading elevation profile…

In an emergency

Call 000 for police, fire or ambulance — Australia's emergency number works even with a weak signal, and without a SIM if any carrier has coverage.

You're in Tamborine National Park, MacDonald section. Mobile reception in this area is not guaranteed — this is exactly why the offline map and GPS position on this page work without signal.

Tell someone your plan and expected return time before you set off. A PLB is the most reliable backup where there's no reception at all.

Tracks & plans

+ Add to tracks / plans

Species to look for on this trail

Ancient trees and rare flora confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Strangler FigDocumented on this trail

Ficus watkinsiana

Notable ancient-forest structure▾

Notable ancient-forest structure

Starts life as a seed dropped by a bird high in a host tree, then sends roots to the ground and slowly encases its host over decades. The host eventually rots away, leaving a hollow lattice-trunked giant.

How to spot it

Unmistakable once mature — a massive lattice or fluted trunk, sometimes hollow in the middle where the host tree once stood. Common at Mount Cougal, Natural Bridge and the Springbrook gorges.

Family Moraceae · Source: Queensland Dept of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation

Photo: Poyt448 Peter Woodard (Public domain) via Wikimedia Commons

Piccabeen PalmDocumented on this trail

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana

Common but iconic — a good starter ID▾

Common but iconic — a good starter ID

The palm that defines SEQ rainforest creek lines — dense stands of these tall, slender palms mark permanent water and give the understorey its distinctive cathedral-like look.

How to spot it

Tall, smooth grey trunk with a bright green 'crownshaft' just below the fronds. Grows in dense clusters along creeks and gullies — an easy, confidence-building first plant ID for beginners.

Family Arecaceae · Source: Queensland Dept of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation

Photo: M. Fagg (CC BY 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Richmond Birdwing Vine

Pararistolochia praevenosa

Near Threatened (Qld)▾

Near Threatened (Qld)

The sole native food plant for the caterpillars of the Vulnerable Richmond Birdwing Butterfly. Its own lowland rainforest habitat is listed as Critically Endangered, making this woody vine a keystone of the whole species' survival.

How to spot it

A thick, woody climbing vine with heart-shaped leaves, usually seen twining up rainforest trees below about 600m elevation. Look for it on the lower-altitude sections of trails rather than upland cool rainforest.

Family Aristolochiaceae · Source: Queensland Government threatened species pages; WildNet

Photo: Poyt448 Peter Woodard (CC0) via Wikimedia Commons

Wildlife you might see on this trail

Animals confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Albert's Lyrebird

Menura alberti

Restricted-range rainforest endemic (Least Concern)▾

Restricted-range rainforest endemic (Least Concern)

A ground-dwelling songbird endemic to a small pocket of subtropical rainforest straddling the Queensland-New South Wales border, with its largest population on the Lamington Plateau. Wikipedia's account of the species confirms populations at Tamborine Mountain, Springbrook, Mount Barney and Main Range National Parks, all part of the McPherson Range refuge that is the species' entire world range.

How to spot it

Large, chestnut-brown ground bird with a rufous throat and rump. Males display an elaborate tail of ribbon-like plumes during courtship, though the tail is far less showy than the famous Superb Lyrebird's. Best detected by its extraordinary mimicry of other rainforest birds, delivered from a mound of scratched-up leaf litter at dawn.

Family Menuridae · Source: Wikipedia - Albert's lyrebird

gwynmwilliams, CC BY 4.0