Public Trails Legal access to wild places, computed from official records

Gold Coast · Rankins Falls

Rankins Falls from Powerline Walk Link 4

entry is a track 400 m of climb chain confidence B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record rankins-falls--from-powerline-walk-link-4
  • A Gazetted / register — The fact is itself a statutory record.
  • B Official spatial record — Read from a maintained government layer.
  • C Statutory inference — Law applied to B-grade records; not ground-truthed.
  • D Community record — Community sources; labelled, never blended into A–C.

Access verdict · tier 1 of 4 · confidence B (official spatial record, the weakest grade in the chain)

A lawful approach from Powerline Walk Link 4.

The chain below runs entirely across land the public has an established right to be on. It is a legal line, not a path: nothing here has been surveyed on the ground.

  1. 1 · Lawful, nothing to flag Every leg is ground the public may cross, and nothing about the chain needs a warning. Whether a built track runs along it is said separately. This page is here.
  2. 2 · Lawful, with caveats A lawful chain with at least one thing about it that has to be said first.
  3. 3 · Unconfirmed No lawful chain could be established from the public record. No route published.
  4. 4 · No lawful route Enclosed by land the public has no right to cross. No route published.

On-ground signage and temporary closures override this page. Always.

Getting to the start The trailhead coordinate, not the feature

The start is at -28.17273, 153.26039

That is Powerline Walk Link 4, where the walk below begins — 5.3 km of it. Every link here goes to that coordinate and never to the feature itself, because a driving route to a waterfall is a driving route into the country above one.

-28.17273, 153.26039

Four-wheel-drive only The roads layer marks the road reaching this point as four-wheel-drive. A vehicle that gets most of the way along a road like this can still be stopped by the last of it.

The coordinate is where the recorded way begins, read off the same layers as the walk. What the record says about a vehicle is above, and it describes this point rather than the drive to it. Whether the road is sealed, gated, or open today, and where a car may lawfully be left, are none of them things these records say — so treat the last few kilometres as unresearched, and the mapping service's route to them as its own work, not ours.

The chain, leg by leg Computed from cadastral geometry; never walked

Legs of the computed corridor, in order, with the grade of the record that made each one lawful
# Runs along Parcel / reference Mapped along it Distance Bearing Evidence
1 Track Powerline Break (Great Walk) nothing mapped 37.4 m 216.6° SW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
2 Track GC Hinterland Great Walk - Springbrook nothing mapped 2489.7 m 141.8° SE B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
3 Track Nixons Creek to Nerang-Murwillumbah Rd (Great Walk) nothing mapped 37.4 m 221.6° SW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
4 Track Warringa Pool Track (Great Walk) nothing mapped 1224.7 m 162.2° SSE B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
5 Track Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk) nothing mapped 835.7 m 301.1° WNW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
6 Track Steps nothing mapped 8.1 m 332.6° NNW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
7 Track Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk) nothing mapped 124.6 m 295.4° WNW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
8 Track Steps nothing mapped 10.1 m 145.8° SE B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
9 Track Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk) nothing mapped 93.0 m 294.4° WNW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
10 Track Steps nothing mapped 26.0 m 136.4° SE B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
11 Track Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk) nothing mapped 57.7 m 125.1° SE B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
12 Track Steps nothing mapped 10.5 m 126.9° SE B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
13 Track Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk) nothing mapped 366.8 m 128.2° SE B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
Total no way mapped 5321.7 m Chain confidence B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

Every leg above is computed from cadastral geometry. Nobody has walked it, and no part of it is a path on the ground: it is the line along which the public record establishes a right to be. Where a leg names a way, that is what a managing authority has mapped down the same ground — it says nothing more about your right to be there, which the parcel already settled.

Following it on the ground Every step ends at something you can check

at least 3½ hours out and back

at least 1¾ hours there at least 1¾ hours back

400 m up and 370 m down on the way out — so the return leg climbs 370 m.

Walking only — nothing is counted for rest, water, photographs, navigation, or the state of the track.

Naismith's rule, and what it does not account for

The way reaches this place B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

Powerline Break (Great Walk) passes 3 m from the recorded point. The gap crosses no contour, which is as level as this layer can evidence — not a survey saying the ground is flat.

Both gaps are small enough that the way is a way to this place, not merely one near it.

  1. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 108 m, setting off SSE (151°), to the 555 m contour.

    Back: 331° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 108 m from the start.

  2. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 108 m, setting off ESE (111°), to the 535 m contour.

    Back: 291° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 216 m from the start.

  3. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 120 m, setting off ESE (108°), to the 515 m contour.

    Back: 288° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 336 m from the start.

  4. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 120 m, setting off SSW (198°), to the 500 m contour.

    Back: 18° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 456 m from the start.

  5. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 895 m, setting off ESE (113°), to the boundary of Springbrook National Park.

    Back: 293° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 1351 m from the start.

  6. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 98 m, setting off ESE (118°), to the 355 m contour.

    Back: 298° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 1449 m from the start.

  7. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 92 m, setting off WSW (240°), to the 345 m contour.

    Back: 60° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 1541 m from the start.

  8. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 92 m, setting off SSW (194°), to the 350 m contour.

    Back: 14° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 1634 m from the start.

  9. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 87 m, setting off S (191°), to the 350 m contour.

    Back: 11° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 1720 m from the start.

  10. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 834 m, setting off S (178°), to where it crosses Little Nerang Creek (West Branch).

    Back: 358° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 2554 m from the start.

  11. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 357 m, setting off SSW (196°), to where it crosses Kuralboo Creek.

    Back: 16° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 2911 m from the start.

  12. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 879 m, setting off SSE (148°), to the junction with Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk).

    Back: 328° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 3790 m from the start.

  13. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 844 m, setting off WNW (302°), to the junction with Steps.

    Back: 122° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 4634 m from the start.

  14. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 125 m, setting off WNW (295°), to the junction with Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk).

    Back: 115° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 4758 m from the start.

  15. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 204 m, setting off S (177°), to the junction with Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk).

    Back: 357° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 4963 m from the start.

  16. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 245 m, setting off SE (136°), to the junction with Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk).

    Back: 316° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 5208 m from the start.

  17. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 120 m, setting off ESE (115°), to the junction with Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk).

    Back: 295° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 5328 m from the start.

  18. Follow Powerline Break (Great Walk) for 2 m, setting off E (90°), to arrive.

    Back: 270° along Powerline Break (Great Walk), 5330 m from the start.

5330 m in total, along the way the managing authority publishes. Every step above ends at something the records let you check on the ground. Bearings are true, not magnetic: they match a phone compass with no conversion. In this part of Queensland a magnetic bezel reads about 11° east of them, so an analogue compass needs that taken off before you set it.

What each step ends at, and why B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
contour
A mapped height. Checkable on a phone, and nothing else on the ground marks it.
estate
The boundary of a named protected estate — usually signed, but not always.
watercourse
A named watercourse crossing, from the official watercourse layer.
junction
A junction with another published way. Unmissable on the ground, and the place a wrong turn happens.
destination
The place itself, which is always where the last step ends.

A cadastral parcel boundary is never one of them. It is invisible on the ground, so a step that ended at one could never be checked — however convenient it looks in the data.

How much climbing Read off the published contour layer

Distance along the route, 0 to 5254.3 m · height 330.0 to 605.0 m Read off 5.0 m contours along the route's own line B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
Total climb
400.0 m
Total descent
370.0 m
Steepest sustained
42.9% over 58.2 m
Contour interval
5.0 m
Every height the contours record along this route
Contour crossings along the route, in order, as distance along the route against mapped height
Distance along Height
73.5 m 560.0 m
107.8 m 555.0 m
140.6 m 550.0 m
162.5 m 545.0 m
185.0 m 540.0 m
216.2 m 535.0 m
241.6 m 530.0 m
266.5 m 525.0 m
294.0 m 520.0 m
335.8 m 515.0 m
370.9 m 510.0 m
394.3 m 505.0 m
456.3 m 500.0 m
466.5 m 500.0 m
508.8 m 500.0 m
515.9 m 500.0 m
536.8 m 500.0 m
563.0 m 495.0 m
589.2 m 490.0 m
619.5 m 485.0 m
639.0 m 480.0 m
646.8 m 480.0 m
671.7 m 480.0 m
732.2 m 475.0 m
764.0 m 470.0 m
813.9 m 465.0 m
840.0 m 460.0 m
878.0 m 455.0 m
904.1 m 450.0 m
924.8 m 445.0 m
939.0 m 440.0 m
955.5 m 435.0 m
979.4 m 430.0 m
989.6 m 425.0 m
1025.0 m 420.0 m
1044.4 m 415.0 m
1060.1 m 410.0 m
1076.7 m 405.0 m
1090.7 m 400.0 m
1101.5 m 395.0 m
1127.4 m 390.0 m
1143.8 m 385.0 m
1167.0 m 380.0 m
1186.6 m 375.0 m
1206.8 m 370.0 m
1227.8 m 365.0 m
1246.3 m 360.0 m
1265.5 m 355.0 m
1290.5 m 350.0 m
1310.8 m 345.0 m
1319.9 m 340.0 m
1339.2 m 335.0 m
1349.4 m 330.0 m
1390.6 m 330.0 m
1408.1 m 335.0 m
1411.5 m 340.0 m
1415.7 m 345.0 m
1422.6 m 350.0 m
1429.7 m 355.0 m
1449.1 m 355.0 m
1457.5 m 350.0 m
1463.3 m 345.0 m
1467.9 m 340.0 m
1478.9 m 340.0 m
1483.4 m 345.0 m
1489.4 m 350.0 m
1502.5 m 350.0 m
1512.3 m 345.0 m
1516.7 m 340.0 m
1520.2 m 340.0 m
1526.1 m 345.0 m
1541.1 m 345.0 m
1561.3 m 345.0 m
1570.2 m 350.0 m
1575.3 m 350.0 m
1576.3 m 350.0 m
1582.6 m 350.0 m
1633.5 m 350.0 m
1653.2 m 355.0 m
1684.0 m 355.0 m
1720.0 m 350.0 m
1746.5 m 350.0 m
1758.3 m 355.0 m
1790.2 m 355.0 m
1875.3 m 355.0 m
1887.5 m 360.0 m
1957.3 m 365.0 m
1971.2 m 365.0 m
1979.4 m 365.0 m
1980.6 m 365.0 m
1996.4 m 365.0 m
2016.2 m 365.0 m
2028.2 m 365.0 m
2034.3 m 370.0 m
2040.1 m 375.0 m
2056.3 m 375.0 m
2067.4 m 370.0 m
2125.5 m 365.0 m
2135.7 m 360.0 m
2139.3 m 355.0 m
2162.7 m 355.0 m
2172.1 m 360.0 m
2178.6 m 365.0 m
2185.9 m 365.0 m
2196.8 m 365.0 m
2201.7 m 370.0 m
2223.4 m 375.0 m
2233.1 m 375.0 m
2233.3 m 375.0 m
2284.8 m 375.0 m
2347.0 m 375.0 m
2426.2 m 380.0 m
2454.8 m 380.0 m
2480.5 m 380.0 m
2488.5 m 380.0 m
2514.3 m 380.0 m
2530.2 m 380.0 m
2571.5 m 380.0 m
2617.5 m 385.0 m
2655.6 m 390.0 m
2751.3 m 395.0 m
2792.9 m 400.0 m
2795.8 m 400.0 m
2809.2 m 400.0 m
2872.8 m 405.0 m
2876.7 m 405.0 m
2910.9 m 400.0 m
2923.4 m 400.0 m
2935.1 m 405.0 m
2952.3 m 410.0 m
2990.2 m 415.0 m
3028.3 m 420.0 m
3048.3 m 425.0 m
3133.5 m 430.0 m
3133.7 m 430.0 m
3166.7 m 425.0 m
3191.8 m 420.0 m
3196.3 m 420.0 m
3219.3 m 425.0 m
3260.5 m 430.0 m
3271.8 m 435.0 m
3290.9 m 440.0 m
3346.0 m 445.0 m
3377.9 m 450.0 m
3411.7 m 450.0 m
3453.2 m 450.0 m
3454.0 m 450.0 m
3456.2 m 450.0 m
3465.0 m 450.0 m
3472.9 m 450.0 m
3497.0 m 455.0 m
3512.2 m 460.0 m
3516.6 m 460.0 m
3540.4 m 455.0 m
3555.1 m 450.0 m
3562.4 m 450.0 m
3598.3 m 450.0 m
3606.0 m 445.0 m
3659.7 m 440.0 m
3672.5 m 435.0 m
3689.1 m 435.0 m
3697.1 m 440.0 m
3714.0 m 445.0 m
3715.8 m 445.0 m
3760.7 m 445.0 m
3780.2 m 450.0 m
3781.9 m 455.0 m
3784.1 m 460.0 m
3789.0 m 465.0 m
3827.3 m 465.0 m
3846.0 m 465.0 m
3854.2 m 470.0 m
3863.5 m 475.0 m
3872.5 m 480.0 m
3883.9 m 480.0 m
3897.1 m 475.0 m
3906.3 m 470.0 m
3914.6 m 470.0 m
3935.0 m 475.0 m
3957.9 m 480.0 m
3968.4 m 485.0 m
3974.8 m 490.0 m
4027.8 m 495.0 m
4042.4 m 500.0 m
4107.8 m 505.0 m
4191.1 m 510.0 m
4200.5 m 510.0 m
4267.8 m 505.0 m
4273.0 m 505.0 m
4281.1 m 510.0 m
4291.0 m 515.0 m
4298.6 m 520.0 m
4325.5 m 520.0 m
4347.8 m 515.0 m
4374.5 m 510.0 m
4392.4 m 510.0 m
4402.6 m 515.0 m
4422.4 m 515.0 m
4432.9 m 510.0 m
4434.2 m 510.0 m
4442.3 m 515.0 m
4450.3 m 520.0 m
4459.0 m 525.0 m
4513.4 m 530.0 m
4573.8 m 535.0 m
4604.1 m 540.0 m
4662.4 m 545.0 m
4673.3 m 550.0 m
4702.1 m 555.0 m
4746.7 m 560.0 m
4766.1 m 565.0 m
4789.5 m 570.0 m
4807.1 m 570.0 m
4847.2 m 565.0 m
4856.2 m 565.0 m
4863.1 m 570.0 m
4870.9 m 575.0 m
4888.7 m 580.0 m
4905.5 m 585.0 m
4914.4 m 590.0 m
4922.1 m 590.0 m
4947.4 m 590.0 m
4976.7 m 595.0 m
4978.1 m 595.0 m
4980.3 m 595.0 m
5002.8 m 600.0 m
5023.7 m 605.0 m
5066.1 m 605.0 m
5077.1 m 605.0 m
5081.9 m 605.0 m
5150.6 m 600.0 m
5176.9 m 595.0 m
5254.3 m 590.0 m

The profile is the height the contour layer already records, read along the same line the legs above describe. It is not a survey of a path: nothing here says the ground between two contours is even, and a layer of 5.0 m contours cannot evidence a step smaller than the gap between them.

The line on the ground

Map

Route map: 13 legs from Powerline Walk Link 4, 5321.7 m in total.

Every figure the map would draw — parcel references, distances, bearings and the crossing gap — is written out in full on this page, so nothing is only visible on the map. If the map does not load, nothing has been lost.

What this verdict rests on Grades compose to the weakest link

  • The destination sits on Springbrook National Park B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    Parcel 5AP19371, recorded tenure "National Park". Being at the destination and reaching it are separate questions, and this page answers only the second.

    Cadastre and protected-area estate layers Attribution licensed; see the footer

  • Leg 1: Powerline Break (Great Walk) carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    37.4 m at 216.6°. A track recorded by the managing authority in its published access layer, at the vetting status that layer states.

    Leg reference Powerline Break (Great Walk) Grade B

  • Leg 2: GC Hinterland Great Walk - Springbrook carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    2489.7 m at 141.8°. A track recorded by the managing authority in its published access layer, at the vetting status that layer states.

    Leg reference GC Hinterland Great Walk - Springbrook Grade B

  • Leg 3: Nixons Creek to Nerang-Murwillumbah Rd (Great Walk) carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    37.4 m at 221.6°. A track recorded by the managing authority in its published access layer, at the vetting status that layer states.

    Leg reference Nixons Creek to Nerang-Murwillumbah Rd (Great Walk) Grade B

  • Leg 4: Warringa Pool Track (Great Walk) carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    1224.7 m at 162.2°. A track recorded by the managing authority in its published access layer, at the vetting status that layer states.

    Leg reference Warringa Pool Track (Great Walk) Grade B

  • Leg 5: Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk) carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    835.7 m at 301.1°. A track recorded by the managing authority in its published access layer, at the vetting status that layer states.

    Leg reference Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk) Grade B

  • Leg 6: Steps carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    8.1 m at 332.6°. A track recorded by the managing authority in its published access layer, at the vetting status that layer states.

    Leg reference Steps Grade B

  • Leg 7: Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk) carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    124.6 m at 295.4°. A track recorded by the managing authority in its published access layer, at the vetting status that layer states.

    Leg reference Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk) Grade B

  • Leg 8: Steps carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    10.1 m at 145.8°. A track recorded by the managing authority in its published access layer, at the vetting status that layer states.

    Leg reference Steps Grade B

  • Leg 9: Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk) carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    93.0 m at 294.4°. A track recorded by the managing authority in its published access layer, at the vetting status that layer states.

    Leg reference Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk) Grade B

  • Leg 10: Steps carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    26.0 m at 136.4°. A track recorded by the managing authority in its published access layer, at the vetting status that layer states.

    Leg reference Steps Grade B

  • Leg 11: Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk) carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    57.7 m at 125.1°. A track recorded by the managing authority in its published access layer, at the vetting status that layer states.

    Leg reference Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk) Grade B

  • Leg 12: Steps carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    10.5 m at 126.9°. A track recorded by the managing authority in its published access layer, at the vetting status that layer states.

    Leg reference Steps Grade B

  • Leg 13: Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk) carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    366.8 m at 128.2°. A track recorded by the managing authority in its published access layer, at the vetting status that layer states.

    Leg reference Purling Brook Falls Circuit (Great Walk) Grade B

If something goes wrong

Emergency reference — read this to 000

Location
Rankins Falls, Springbrook National Park
Lot on plan
5AP19371
Coordinates
-28.18750, 153.26694 (WGS84 / GDA2020)
Feature
waterfall

What this page will never do

  • No user pins

    Every fact here traces to a government layer or a statute and carries a grade, A to C. Community names are quarantined at grade D and labelled as such. Nothing on this page was dropped on a map by a stranger.

  • No invented lawfulness

    Where tenure cannot be confirmed from the public record, the page says so instead of endorsing the route or quietly hiding it. Where no lawful corridor exists at all, none is published — the refusal is the answer.

  • No safety pretence

    A tier is a tenure verdict, not a difficulty or safety rating. Unmanaged terrain, cliffs and flash flooding are not in the cadastre. The engine reads land records, not the weather.

On-ground signage and temporary closures override this page. Always.