sunset over a river

Loders Creek

Small and peaceful creek to explore on a high tide.

What to expect

A short estuary like start soon contracts down into a small mangroved lined creek.

For a creek in the heart of the Gold Coast, it is in a remarkably healthy state with ibis and bat colonies along the waterway.

buildings and life guard boat
Creek entrance from the Broadwater
Sign in the middle of the water
Stop sign in the water just before it narrows
creek lined by mangroves
Mangroves

Back to Contents

Logistics

There are a few put in spots along the river operated by Gold Coast City Council.

The likely best spot to put in is at the boat ramp at Broadwater Parklands due to parking. This is on the Broadwater just south of the creek. While there is no "car only" parking at Len Fox Park Boar Ramp, but you may be able to find something nearby.

Refer to the Distance Table and the Interactive Map for additional details.

Back to Contents

Tides

The trip into the creek should be done at high tide to maximise the depth and progression that is possible up the creek.

Tidal info for Loders Creek Entrance
HAT
1.90 m
MSL
0.82 m
MHWS
1.40 m
MHWN
1.10 m
MLWN
0.40 m
MLWS
0.10 m
January
21
Tue
01:34
1.12 m
07:29
0.59 m
13:14
1.19 m
19:58
0.37 m
January
22
Wed
moon icon
02:39
1.16 m
08:43
0.66 m
14:04
1.08 m
20:44
0.40 m
January
23
Thu
03:50
1.22 m
10:16
0.68 m
15:12
0.99 m
21:41
0.42 m
January
24
Fri
04:54
1.31 m
11:42
0.63 m
16:31
0.95 m
22:43
0.42 m
Tide predictions are estimates only. The tidal datum is for Gold Coast Seaway. Tide predictions are calculated from Gold Coast Seaway with times adjusted by 39 minutes for low tide and 22 minutes for high tide.
Please refer to the Bureau of Meteorology and Australian National Tide Tables for official tidal information.
© Commonwealth of Australia

Back to Contents

Distances

Some key locations up the creek are listed below.

Location * Features Distance (km) §
Leg Total
L Len Fox Park Boat Ramp, Loders Creek, Labrador
0.1
Marine Parade Bridge 0.1 0.2
Musgrave Ave - Stevens St Bridge 0.7 0.9
Smith St Bridge 1.1 2.0
Johnston St Bridge 0.2 2.2
Predestrian Bridge 0.6 2.8
Pelican Beach Park Boat Ramp and Pontoon, Waterways Drive, Main Beach
Pelican Beach, Waterways Drive, Main Beach

* Side represents either the left / port (L) or right / starboard (R) sides when facing downstream of the main river or the specified direction of travel for bays or lakes (usually anticlockwise).
Most of the features were taken from local council pages.
§ Distances have been manually calculated from the river mouth.

Back to Contents

Map

Explore the key locations in the map below. Most locations will have a photograph that can be seen by clicking on the icon or number in the map itself.

The map also has markers every 100 metres that start at 0 at where the creek meets the bay all the way to the source.

You may need to zoom in to see all of these markers. These do not correlate with any existing numbering system on the river.

Back to Contents

Mangrove and houses along creek

Trip Details

Tidal Section

Start
Broadwater Parklands
Turnaround
Predestrian Bridge
Length
7 km
Time
couple hours
Trip
Return
Technical difficulty
Grade I
Rating
Type
Tidal
Elevation Loss
N/A (tidal)
Notes
High tide only

Quick Stats

Source
Ashmore
Elevation 13.5 m
Mouth
The Broadwater
Elevation 0 m
Length
6.7 km
Navigable
2.8 km
Type
Tidal
Elevation Loss
N/A (tidal)
Council Areas
First Nations
Bundjalung
22.7°C
Feels like 24.4°C
20.7°C
05:24am
31°C
Forecast
Light Breeze
W at 6 kph, gusts to 7 kph
Strongest Gust: 13 kph WSW at 3:34am
0.0 mm since 9am yesterday
Today
Mostly sunny.
20%
(21°C)
31°C
Wed
Mostly sunny.
20% chance 0 mm
21°C
35°C
Thu
Partly cloudy.
20% chance 0 mm
22°C
31°C
Fri
Partly cloudy.
30% chance 0 to 1 mm
23°C
36°C
Sat
Partly cloudy.
20% chance 0 mm
22°C
30°C
Sun
Partly cloudy.
30% chance 0 to 1 mm
21°C
31°C
Mon
Possible shower.
40% chance 0 to 1 mm
22°C
30°C

Sun and Twilight Times

05:07—18:47 / 13hr 39m
Civil: 04:43—19:11 / 14hr 28m
Nautical: 04:12—19:42 / 15hr 30m

Moon Info

Waning Gibbous
11:27am 10:55pm
Banner image is of a sunrise on Coomera River
© Chris Lofqvist
Some rights reserved CC BY-NC-ND