Melaleuca Boardwalk & Kangaroo Trail

Coombabah Lakelands Conservation Area on the Gold Coast protects more than 1200 hectares of wetland, eucalypt forest, salt marsh and mangrove habitat, with abundant wildlife and some wonderful walking tracks.  This is by far the best place to see kangaroos on the Gold Coast.

Entering from Rain Tree Glen off Pine Ridge Road in Biggera Waters will give you access to the Eastern section of the the conservation area, from which you can access the Melaleuca Boardwalk Circuit and the Kangaroo Trail, which leads you to the longer Koala Track.

Within the reserve, you’ll spot the information board welcoming you to this sanctuary and marking the spot from which you can access two feature walks.

This is the trial head for the Melaleuca Boardwalk Circuit – a 1.2-kilometre 30-minute flat loop walk which winds through ferns and melaleuca forests.

This walk offers refreshing immersion in a unique habitat. The easily accessible boardwalk meanders through stands of melaleuca trees rising out of cool fern-filled wetlands.

Depending on the season you’ll find yourself walking over rain-filled pools where frogs and ducks swim among reeds and rushes.

Look up to catch a glimpse of birds, koalas and butterflies frolicking in the rainforest canopy. At the end of the boardwalk, as you loop back to the information board, keep an eye out for shy solitary swamp wallabies shuffling in the undergrowth.

From the Information Board take the second Kangaroo Trail head which heads west to the Kangaroo Grasslands. 

This short flat 540 metre trail will join the Koala Trail which then takes you 2.3 kilometres to the northern boundary of the reserve at Coombabah Lake.  You can choose to return on the same path or take the longer Boundary Trail east to join the Melaleuca trail to return to the Kangaroo Grasslands.

Track Length: Melaleuca Boardwalk Circuit 1.2-kilometres.  Kangaroo Trail 540-metres to Koala Trail 2.3-kilometres (one-way). 

Track Difficulty: Easy flat gravel and boardwalk paths.

Facilities: Coombabah Park carpark and the Information board is found at the trail head off Rain Tree Glen.  Dogs are prohibited in the Coombabah Lakelands Conservation Area, and there are no toilets or drinking water available here.

By Michaela Lyons