Natural Bridge and Glow Worm Cave!

A la naturale

Take a leisurely 50 minute drive into Numinbah Valley and visit the beautiful natural bridge or natural arch as it is known by the locals.The arch is nestled in a beautiful tropical rain forest and is perfect for families or the fitness challenged as it only takes about fifteen minutes to get from the car park down to the arch itself! The rain forest setting  is lush and diverse and this walk is a great snapshot of an ancient Gondwana forest.

I would recommend going 1 hour before sunset. This gives you enough time to walk down to the arch and sufficient daylight to get some nice pictures. As the sun sets however and the forest darkens you can make your way into the cave and take in the wonder of a colony of glowworms lighting up for the evening.

Once the sun has gone down you begin to hear the stirring calls of the nocturnal forest, and when this is overlain by the sound of the rushing water and the soft glow of the cave you find yourself immersed in a unique sensory experience. And the occasional group of teenagers trying their first beer can add to the experience as well!

Obviously take a torch or make sure your phone is charged so you have enough light to get you back to the carpark. Nothing would ruin the ambiance of your afternoon like walking off one of the cliffs in pitch darkness!  

There are picnic tables near the carpark however they can be crowded and quite cool. If you want more room and more sunshine there are two parks close by where you can stop and have a picnic: Bochow Park and the much larger Forest Park. Both have BBQ’s and a nice creek setting and Bochow park is only a few kilometers from the natural bridge turnoff.

Natural bridge is definitely worth a visit as part of a longer day out in the magnificent springbrook national park.

Enjoy.