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

Scenic Rim · Witches Falls

Witches Falls from The Beacon Lookout Road

entry is a track 220 m of climb chain confidence C — provenance grade C: Statutory inference witches-falls-2--from-the-beacon-lookout-road
  • 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 2 of 4 · confidence C (statutory inference, the weakest grade in the chain)

A lawful approach from The Beacon Lookout Road, with caveats.

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.
  2. 2 · Lawful, with caveats A lawful chain with at least one thing about it that has to be said first. This page is here.
  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 -27.92017, 153.16047

That is The Beacon Lookout Road, where the walk below begins — 6.7 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.

-27.92017, 153.16047

An ordinary car reaches the start The roads layer marks the road reaching this point as trafficable by an ordinary vehicle.

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 Road reserve 1682429 The Beacon Lookout Road open 80.2 m 334.7° NNW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
2 Protected estate 441NPW909 nothing mapped 1249.2 m 70.9° ENE B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
3 Protected estate 441NPW909 nothing mapped 966.0 m 100.4° E B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
4 Road reserve 1681973 an unnamed formed sealed open 44.0 m 352.4° N B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
5 Protected estate 441NPW909 nothing mapped 761.9 m 131.7° SE B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
6 Protected estate 441NPW909 nothing mapped 518.4 m 106.0° ESE B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
7 Road reserve 1977834 nothing mapped 323.6 m 185.0° S B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
8 Watercourse bed 627729 an unnamed formed sealed open 31.3 m 236.6° WSW C — provenance grade C: Statutory inference
9 Road reserve 625221 nothing mapped 424.1 m 225.3° SW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
10 Protected estate 441NPW909 nothing mapped 312.8 m 281.1° W B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
11 Road reserve 599229 an unnamed formed sealed open 79.0 m 292.2° WNW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
12 Road reserve 755447 nothing mapped 78.5 m 205.1° SSW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
13 Road reserve 1982470 nothing mapped 11.5 m 206.8° SSW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
14 Road reserve 1876070 nothing mapped 132.2 m 210.2° SSW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
15 Road reserve 1876032 nothing mapped 28.5 m 192.5° SSW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
16 Road reserve 1874170 nothing mapped 549.2 m 221.6° SW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
17 Road reserve 1874132 nothing mapped 37.9 m 236.8° WSW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
18 Road reserve 1874094 an unnamed formed sealed open 316.7 m 180.8° S B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
19 Protected estate 441NPW909 nothing mapped 783.5 m 293.3° WNW B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
Total 511.6 m mapped 6728.5 m Chain confidence C — provenance grade C: Statutory inference

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.

Caveats — what kept this off tier 1

  • Corner-point junction. Two parcels in the chain meet at a single survey point. They are legally continuous public land, but the junction has no width on the ground.
  • Watercourse crossing. The chain crosses a watercourse bed. The bed is State land by statutory inference, there is no structure, and the crossing is off in high flow.
  • Measured crossing. The narrowest gap between 1977834 and 625221 is 31.51 m. There is no structure. Do not cross in high flow.

Following it on the ground No steps, but the record maps ground here

at least 3¾ hours out and back

at least 1¾ hours there at least 2 hours back

220 m up and 380 m down on the way out — so the return leg climbs 380 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

What is mapped along this chain

A managing authority has surveyed a way along 512 m of this 6729 m chain — about 8% of it. That is a statement about what is on the ground, not about your right to be there, which the parcels above already settled, and not a direction: no step below is measured along any of these ways.

  • Leg 1 The Beacon Lookout Road B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    80 m along it · the managing authority publishes it as open to the public .

  • Leg 4 an unnamed formed sealed B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    44 m along it · the managing authority publishes it as open to the public .

  • Leg 8 an unnamed formed sealed B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    31 m along it · the managing authority publishes it as open to the public (Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service).

  • Leg 11 an unnamed formed sealed B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    79 m along it · the managing authority publishes it as open to the public (Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service).

  • Leg 18 an unnamed formed sealed B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    277 m along it · the managing authority publishes it as open to the public .

No directions are published for this approach. The chain above is a statement about permission, not a path, and turning a run of parcels into "walk north-east for 380 m" would tell you where to walk on evidence nobody holds — including where a way is mapped along it, because what was measured is the chain and not the way. Steps appear here only for a route that follows a surveyed way end to end.

How much climbing Read off the published contour layer

Distance along the route, 0 to 6724.6 m · height 390.0 to 555.0 m Read off 5.0 m contours along the route's own line B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record
Total climb
220.0 m
Total descent
380.0 m
Steepest sustained
78.2% over 51.1 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
66.4 m 550.0 m
108.1 m 550.0 m
178.1 m 545.0 m
223.8 m 540.0 m
279.3 m 535.0 m
354.3 m 535.0 m
399.6 m 540.0 m
489.5 m 540.0 m
512.9 m 535.0 m
530.0 m 530.0 m
538.8 m 525.0 m
544.5 m 520.0 m
564.1 m 515.0 m
584.8 m 510.0 m
647.2 m 510.0 m
712.7 m 515.0 m
763.9 m 520.0 m
775.4 m 525.0 m
814.6 m 530.0 m
883.4 m 535.0 m
938.6 m 540.0 m
980.9 m 545.0 m
1050.3 m 550.0 m
1051.3 m 550.0 m
1056.2 m 550.0 m
1068.1 m 550.0 m
1102.1 m 545.0 m
1122.8 m 540.0 m
1152.7 m 535.0 m
1176.0 m 530.0 m
1195.8 m 525.0 m
1212.5 m 520.0 m
1217.9 m 515.0 m
1221.1 m 510.0 m
1231.2 m 505.0 m
1241.9 m 500.0 m
1256.6 m 495.0 m
1266.6 m 490.0 m
1280.4 m 485.0 m
1298.4 m 480.0 m
1425.0 m 480.0 m
1430.3 m 480.0 m
1434.5 m 480.0 m
1441.9 m 480.0 m
1553.8 m 480.0 m
1602.9 m 485.0 m
1654.4 m 485.0 m
1716.7 m 480.0 m
1732.5 m 475.0 m
1743.2 m 475.0 m
1791.6 m 480.0 m
1836.7 m 485.0 m
1847.2 m 485.0 m
1872.6 m 485.0 m
1908.2 m 485.0 m
1933.9 m 480.0 m
1959.9 m 485.0 m
1972.8 m 490.0 m
1990.9 m 495.0 m
2003.8 m 500.0 m
2015.4 m 505.0 m
2032.2 m 510.0 m
2049.8 m 515.0 m
2071.0 m 520.0 m
2092.2 m 525.0 m
2118.0 m 530.0 m
2148.9 m 535.0 m
2282.7 m 540.0 m
2430.5 m 540.0 m
2494.9 m 535.0 m
2521.1 m 530.0 m
2544.5 m 525.0 m
2571.4 m 520.0 m
2595.1 m 515.0 m
2608.6 m 510.0 m
2647.4 m 510.0 m
2666.8 m 515.0 m
2687.8 m 515.0 m
2754.6 m 510.0 m
2766.3 m 510.0 m
2787.5 m 510.0 m
2809.4 m 510.0 m
2816.3 m 510.0 m
2846.3 m 505.0 m
2870.5 m 505.0 m
2879.6 m 505.0 m
2925.6 m 505.0 m
2960.4 m 505.0 m
3015.4 m 505.0 m
3059.3 m 510.0 m
3070.5 m 510.0 m
3121.7 m 505.0 m
3138.0 m 500.0 m
3154.4 m 495.0 m
3195.4 m 490.0 m
3222.8 m 485.0 m
3227.3 m 485.0 m
3240.8 m 485.0 m
3320.0 m 485.0 m
3325.7 m 485.0 m
3421.8 m 485.0 m
3444.1 m 490.0 m
3467.4 m 495.0 m
3474.4 m 495.0 m
3503.6 m 495.0 m
3539.7 m 500.0 m
3559.9 m 500.0 m
3577.5 m 495.0 m
3594.1 m 490.0 m
3613.9 m 485.0 m
3622.5 m 485.0 m
3634.2 m 490.0 m
3665.7 m 495.0 m
3671.7 m 495.0 m
3686.9 m 495.0 m
3759.6 m 500.0 m
3915.2 m 500.0 m
3935.0 m 495.0 m
3948.9 m 495.0 m
4026.5 m 500.0 m
4081.9 m 505.0 m
4246.5 m 510.0 m
4287.5 m 515.0 m
4426.9 m 520.0 m
4481.7 m 525.0 m
4536.0 m 530.0 m
4601.4 m 535.0 m
4698.7 m 535.0 m
4751.8 m 535.0 m
4864.2 m 540.0 m
5020.0 m 540.0 m
5069.5 m 540.0 m
5142.0 m 545.0 m
5246.4 m 550.0 m
5556.7 m 555.0 m
5772.6 m 555.0 m
5885.1 m 550.0 m
5977.0 m 545.0 m
6005.3 m 540.0 m
6023.3 m 535.0 m
6029.9 m 530.0 m
6033.7 m 525.0 m
6037.2 m 520.0 m
6041.7 m 515.0 m
6050.0 m 510.0 m
6056.5 m 505.0 m
6062.3 m 500.0 m
6068.8 m 495.0 m
6081.0 m 490.0 m
6094.3 m 485.0 m
6114.4 m 480.0 m
6142.3 m 475.0 m
6301.8 m 470.0 m
6331.8 m 465.0 m
6428.4 m 465.0 m
6460.8 m 465.0 m
6500.9 m 460.0 m
6516.5 m 460.0 m
6521.8 m 460.0 m
6536.1 m 455.0 m
6546.0 m 450.0 m
6555.9 m 445.0 m
6564.1 m 440.0 m
6571.2 m 435.0 m
6580.5 m 430.0 m
6591.7 m 425.0 m
6604.5 m 420.0 m
6616.8 m 415.0 m
6642.4 m 410.0 m
6653.6 m 405.0 m
6691.0 m 400.0 m
6717.5 m 395.0 m
6724.6 m 390.0 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: 19 legs from The Beacon Lookout Road, 6728.5 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 Tamborine National Park B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    Parcel 441NPW909, 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: 1682429 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    80.2 m at 334.7°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 1682429 Grade B

  • Leg 2: 441NPW909 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    1249.2 m at 70.9°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 441NPW909 Grade B

  • Leg 3: 441NPW909 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    966.0 m at 100.4°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 441NPW909 Grade B

  • Leg 4: 1681973 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    44.0 m at 352.4°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 1681973 Grade B

  • Leg 5: 441NPW909 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    761.9 m at 131.7°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 441NPW909 Grade B

  • Leg 6: 441NPW909 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    518.4 m at 106.0°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 441NPW909 Grade B

  • Leg 7: 1977834 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    323.6 m at 185.0°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 1977834 Grade B

  • Leg 8: 627729 carries a right of passage C — provenance grade C: Statutory inference

    31.3 m at 236.6°. The bed is State land by statutory inference from the Water Act 2000 (Qld) s.21 — law applied to a mapped parcel, not a finding by any authority.

    Leg reference 627729 Grade C

  • Leg 9: 625221 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    424.1 m at 225.3°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 625221 Grade B

  • Leg 10: 441NPW909 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    312.8 m at 281.1°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 441NPW909 Grade B

  • Leg 11: 599229 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    79.0 m at 292.2°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 599229 Grade B

  • Leg 12: 755447 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    78.5 m at 205.1°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 755447 Grade B

  • Leg 13: 1982470 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    11.5 m at 206.8°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 1982470 Grade B

  • Leg 14: 1876070 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    132.2 m at 210.2°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 1876070 Grade B

  • Leg 15: 1876032 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    28.5 m at 192.5°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 1876032 Grade B

  • Leg 16: 1874170 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    549.2 m at 221.6°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 1874170 Grade B

  • Leg 17: 1874132 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    37.9 m at 236.8°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 1874132 Grade B

  • Leg 18: 1874094 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    316.7 m at 180.8°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 1874094 Grade B

  • Leg 19: 441NPW909 carries a right of passage B — provenance grade B: Official spatial record

    783.5 m at 293.3°. Read from the mapped parcel geometry in the official layer, with no inference beyond what the record states.

    Leg reference 441NPW909 Grade B

  • The chain is only as strong as its weakest link C — provenance grade C: Statutory inference

    Confidence is not an average. It is the weakest grade in the chain above, which is why a single inferred leg holds the whole route at grade C.

    Composition rule: weakest grade wins Applied at build time

If something goes wrong

Emergency reference — read this to 000

Location
Witches Falls, Tamborine National Park
Lot on plan
441NPW909
Coordinates
-27.93378, 153.17256 (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.