Dr Roberts Waterhole

How to get there

1. Use the signed eastern access to the Dr Roberts carpark. Confirm the current approach on the official journey page before you leave town.
2. This is not the Visitor Precinct and not the start for The Pyramid. Budget extra time on the first visit.
3. Screenshot directions. Official pages remind you that mobile reception can be lost.
4. Ordinary dry-weather access is the usual case — still check park alerts for road notes.

How to do it (step by step)

1. Walk the short signed Grade 2 return to the waterhole. Official: 1.2 km, about 30 minutes.
2. Reflections and blackbutt are the photograph. Stay off fragile edges and do not trample the bank for a wider shot.
3. This is not a guaranteed swimming hole. The named day-use swim spot at Bald Rock Creek is a different site — still treat every pool as signed, not assumed.
4. Optional: continue to Underground Creek from the same start (Grade 3, 2.8 km return, about 1.5 hours). Only if the group still wants a longer eastern walk.

What to expect

Dr Roberts Waterhole is the gentlest named walk in this guide: Grade 2, 1.2 km return, about 30 minutes official. A still waterhole, blackbutt reflections, and a short formed return from the eastern carpark.

Easy still means a bush track. Uneven ground, slippery edges, and no promise of a swim. Mixed-mobility groups often succeed here when The Pyramid would be a mistake — confirm the surface on the day rather than assuming boardwalk.

How the day works

Eastern access, Dr Roberts carpark — not the Visitor Precinct. Screenshot the drive. The walk itself is short enough to do before lunch, then continue to Underground Creek if you want a longer eastern morning.

A tidy plan is waterhole + Underground Creek, then drive. Do not treat this car park as a shortcut to The Pyramid. If you want the precinct walks as well, that is a second arrival and a second decision.

Hazards and the swim assumption

Edges are slippery. Stay on the formed line. The photograph is from the track, not from halfway down the bank.

This is not a guaranteed swimming hole. Read signs here the same way: if it is not an open swim, do not invent one.

Turning around

It is a short return. Reverse whenever the surface or the group says so. The waterhole does not require a full 1.2 km if someone has had enough.

If you skip Underground Creek, that is fine. Drive out the eastern access the way you came. Do not hunt a through-road to the Visitor Precinct as a consolation prize.

Map (orientation)

Pin may be approximate. Confirm trailheads, parking and track status on Queensland Parks before you drive.

Other walks from this area

Same arrival, different commitment. Open the guide that matches the day — do not stack them because they share a car park.

Underground Creek

2.8 km return (QPWS, re-checked 2026-08-16) · moderate

Eastern Grade 3 return walk from Dr Roberts Waterhole through swamp, woodland and shrubland to water-sculpted granite at Underground Creek. Official: 2.8 km return, about 1.5 hours.

Open walk guide →