One of the best ways to connect with the places you visit or the places you live, is to walk through their history. Gold Coast City offers a suite of heritage walks and trails that let you uncover local stories, landscape shifts and cultural layers at your own pace. Here are some standout self-guided trails that you can explore anytime!
1. Botanic Gardens / Kaialgumm Games Trail
Mangroves to Mountains Walk
This trail blends natural landscapes with living culture, linking traditional Indigenous children’s games with native flora, interpretive signage, and QR-code enhanced learning.
- The trail visits six sites across the Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens where you can scan QR codes to learn the rules and cultural background of traditional games.
- Walk the Mangroves to Mountains Walk section, passing through varied ecosystems (from wetland to woodland) with signage about native plants and indigenous use.
- Gardens highlights include: the rose garden, sensory garden, butterfly garden, boardwalks over water, native habitats.
Practical info
- Address: 230 Ashmore Road, Benowa QLD 4217 (Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens)
- Hours: The garden grounds are open daily (6:00 am to 6:00 pm)
- Tours: Free guided walks offered by volunteers (45 mins – 1 hour) and electric Glider tours are available for those with accessibility needs (book ahead for these).
- You can also do you own self-guided yours via provided maps (more information can be found here).
Enjoy these layered walks—flora, ecology, heritage, culture—that welcome all ages and paces. For families it’s especially fun: the games trail, sensory gardens, and accessible paths are engaging and fun ways to look at our local flora, fauna and Gold Coast history!
2. Coolangatta Heritage Walk
Kirra Beach Pavilion
Coolangatta marks the southern end of the strip of surfing beaches that run from the Queensland / New South Wales border to Main Beach. It has the distinctive form of a town locked between the twin headlands of Kirra and Greenmount Hills, the mountains, and the sea. It’s a place of special character because of its early settlement, role as a border town and railway terminus. Its topography and the early development of a still thriving beach culture.
The Coolangatta Heritage Walk is a self-guided trail that celebrates the rich history of the town. You can explore the many heritage places in Coolangatta that are listed on the Gold Coast Local Heritage Register.
- See heritage-listed buildings, laneways, plaques and monuments telling stories of the ship Coolangatta (wrecked in 1846), early surf rescue, railway expansion, and tourist evolution.
- Key stops include: the Kirra Pavilion, campaign markers, early guesthouses, the boundary markers between NSW and QLD and surf club relics.
Practical info
- It’s fully self-guided: you can download the Coolangatta heritage walk map and history booklet from the City of Gold Coast’s website.
- Walking routes use public paths, laneways and streets; routes loop through key heritage precincts.
This walk is ideal for combining beachside time with heritage insight. For visitors, it adds depth to the coastal experience—seeing not just sun and sand, but how place and people evolved.
3. Memorial Walk in Broadbeach
Cascade Gardens War Memorial
Cascade Gardens in Broadbeach is home to the Kokoda Memorial Walk and the Queensland Korean War Memorial. The walk was created to help visitors appreciate the courage and determination of the men who fought on the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea during World War II.
- Start at Rotary Park in Cascade Gardens; walk along pathways toward the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre.
- Along the way, you’ll pass plaques designed by Ross Bastiaan (1992), relaying parts of the Kokoda Track story.
- A Rotary Kokoda Memorial Wall features sculptural panels that trace the campaign’s narrative.
- The walk partially winds through a rainforest-like setting that evokes the jungle environment of the Kokoda region.
Practical info
- Access points: Rotary Park and Cascade Gardens can be found in Broadbeach.
- Availability: This is a public garden and walk, so open daily (daylight hours). Plaques and memorials are permanent installations.
Take time to wander, reflect, and enjoy a beautiful garden walk that honours Australia’s service heritage in a tranquil, green setting.
4. Southport Heritage Walk
Southport Former Town Hall
Once a seaside retreat for Brisbane residents in the late 1800s, Southport grew from a quiet village, into a vibrant centre on the Gold Coast. Today, its architectural legacy endures through heritage-listed buildings, monuments, and stories showcased along the Southport Heritage Walk, where echoes of its past blend with the city’s modern skyline.
- Follow yellow markers and image discs (informational totems) that show past architectural forms, photos, and interpretive reconstructions.
- Highlights include the Southport Cable Hut (former telegraph station), historical streets, monuments and civic buildings in their original context.
Practical info
- It’s fully self-guided with maps and signage installed by the City. See City of Gold Coast’s website for more details.
- The entire area is easily walkable by foot.
It’s a strong “local heritage in everyday life” walk. For residents and visitors alike, you get to see how Southport’s identity layers around its waterways and civic heart.
Tips for a great heritage walk:
- Download maps / history booklets ahead of time: City of Gold Coast
- Use a smartphone or tablet to scan QR codes where available (especially on the Kaialgumm Games Trail)
- Wear comfortable walking shoes, sun protection, insect repellent, and carry water
- Start early to avoid the heat and get softer light for photo.
