The Mapleton Falls National Park is situated in the heart of the Sunshine Coast approximately 4 kilometres to the west of Mapleton in the Blackall Ranges. For many years it was a reserve for recreation and scenic purposes until in 1973 the 26 hectare site became a national park. In the small day use park the main feature is the winding of Pencil Creek which flows gently through the picnic grounds until it reaches the falls which are on the western margin of the basalt flows. Here the creek cascades in spectacular fashion over a 120 metre escarpment to the Mary Valley floor below. The park is home to many avian wildlife including the Peregrine Falcon, Eastern Whipbird, the Wompoo Fruit Dove and the Red Goshawk. Other unusual creatures in this area are the Pouched Frog and the Platypus.
Within the recreational park and the adjoining and more expansive Mapleton Forest Reserve activities include scenic forest drives which incorporates a popular trail bike area, bushwalking, animal viewing, birdwatching, nature study, photography and abseiling at Point Glorious on the Rhyolite Bluffs. Camping is permitted in the Mapleton Forest Reserve at the Gheerulla camping site, next to the Mary River and this site has excellent facilities, although bringing your own firewood is a must.
A short walk from the Mapleton Falls carpark is the lookout which takes in a panoramic view of the waterfall and lower rainforest valleys. Here is where Peregrine Falcons can be seen cruising overhead as they roost close to the edges of the Pencil Creek Falls. Near the carpark is the only facilities in the Mapleton Falls National Park and this include a grassy open picnic area, picnic tables, drinking water, toilets and barbeques.
Once leaving the picnic grounds and discovering the creek the visitor can listen to the call of frogs while observing the hexagonal shaped rocks near the causeway pool which are remnants from the volcanic era. From here the Wompoo Circuit is a languid walk taking the visitor through the rainforest and eucalypt forest reaching Peregrine Lookout which provides an excellent view of the Obi Obi Valley below. Other walks are Piluaris Forest Walk which beckons the visitor towards tall open forests with smaller ferns and understorey scrubs while the Bonyee Walk is the word the local Aboriginals gave the Bunya Trees and it encompasses walking past Bunya Pines, a Piccabeen Palm Grove and Rainforest.
Further afield the old forest station situated at the headwaters of Cedar Creek is provided well with facilities and there is a splendid walk to Poole's Dam where the visitor can trek higher to the above waterfall with spectacular views over the forested valley below. The Mapleton Falls National Park is part of a wider area of parks such as Kondalilla and the Mapleton Falls Reserve where the protection of the remaining rainforest and the wildlife and their habitats encourage nature based recreation in this area.