Mangroves to Mountains Walk, Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens

Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens are a green oasis in the heart of the city set on more than 30 hectares of parkland in Rosser Park just of Ashmore Road in Benowa. 

The Gardens are open year-round, from 5am to 7pm daily, entry is free and there is plenty of parking on site.  Maintained by the City Council and Friends of the Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens, this is a place to escape, learn and be inspired.

Upon entry to the Gardens, you are greeted by views over a serene beautifully designed lake surrounded by a living collection of horticulture and feature landscapes.

The freshwater wetlands are a key feature of the Gardens and showcase the regions biodiversity and local species.

While most visitors are keen to explore the beautiful boardwalk that winds around and across the lake, there are many more experiences in which you must indulge. One of the best is the Mangroves to Mountains walk.

This self-guided walk features regional flora stretching through more than twenty vegetation zones, including the rockery, the closed-forest gorge, and freshwater wetlands.  

Start at the Friends Centre/Coffee Kiosk (where you might like to pick up a coffee or sweet treat) and follow the signed path exploring our native ecosystems as you go.

This unique garden stretches along more than 1.5 kilometres of pathway where visitors can journey through regional plant communities including Freshwater Wetlands, Open Wallum Woodlands, a Montane Rockery, Gum Tree Corridor, Melaleuca and She oak Forest and Butterfly Gardens.

As you explore the Mangroves to Mountains Walk you’ll discover a home of future forest giants…including hundreds of regional rainforest trees, some being rare and threatened species, and more than 500 species of regional gum trees.

As you wander, you can wonder at the Gardens impressive use of water to home and non-invasive species, and provide a habitat for birds, mammals and butterflies.

This walk will give you a new appreciation of the precious, vital and bountiful role of this biodiverse world.

There are many more guided walks offered with volunteer guides on the 1st or 3rd Sunday or 2nd or 4th Wednesday of every month – Indigenous Use of Bush Foods, for example.

Extend your walk to take in the rose garden, as well as the sensory garden, featuring plants designed to stimulate the five senses.

You can discover the story of the Yugambeh people and their country bush foods garden and the Aboriginal plant use trail.

Don't forget to look out for the interpretive signs or pick up maps, brochures and Fact Sheets from the Friends Centre.

Track Length: Mangroves to Mountains Walk is 1.5 kilometres of pathway.

Track Difficulty: Easy wide flat gravel and boardwalk path.

Facilities: There is plenty of parking, a coffee shop and snack bar, toilets, bubblers, shaded benches, barbeques, picnic tables and a children’s playground.

By Michaela Lyons