Point Nepean and the back beaches
Best walks today
Eight walks cross the national park and the ocean cliffs, from about an hour to a four-hour day. This page picks the best short, medium and long walk for today's conditions: the wind on the exposed clifftops, the swell at the rock platforms, the tide for the beach sections, and the time of sunset. All eight walks follow.
Today's three
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Short · 1 hour · Easy–moderate (sand, steps)
Farnsworth Track to London Bridge
Why today: the reason comes from the choosing rule (wind, swell, tide, sunset).
A clifftop track past two lookouts to the London Bridge rock arch. Rock pools form under the arch at low tide.
- Distance
- 3.5 km
- Time
- About 1 hr
-
Medium · 2 hours · Easy–moderate
Coppins Track to Diamond Bay & St Paul's Lookout
Why today: the reason comes from the choosing rule (wind, swell, tide, sunset).
The best clifftop walk close to town. Signs along the way explain the area's history, and the track passes the small Diamond Bay beach on the way to a 360° view from St Paul's Lookout. Come back the same way.
- Distance
- 5.7 km
- Time
- About 2 hrs
-
Long · 4 hours · Moderate (distance)
Point Nepean grand loop
Why today: the reason comes from the choosing rule (wind, swell, tide, sunset).
The whole park in one loop: Quarantine Station, Observatory Point, Gunners Cottage, Fort Nepean, Eagles Nest, Cheviot Hill, the Range Area Walk and the Monash Light tower.
- Distance
- 11.2 km
- Time
- 3.5–4 hrs with stops
This evening
All eight walks
-
1 hour · Easy
Coppins Lookout & Sphinx Rock
A short clifftop walk above Bass Strait out to Coppins Lookout and the Sphinx Rock sea stack. You come back the same way.
- Distance
- 2.0 km
- Time
- 45–60 min
-
1 hour · Easy–moderate (sand, steps)
Farnsworth Track to London Bridge
A clifftop track past two lookouts to the London Bridge rock arch. Rock pools form under the arch at low tide.
- Distance
- 3.5 km
- Time
- About 1 hr
-
1 hour · Easy, flat
Quarantine Station to Observatory Point
From the 1850s Quarantine Station buildings out to Observatory Point, the old cattle jetty and views over the dolphin sanctuary. Coles Track is an alternative way back, closer to the bay.
- Distance
- 3.9 km
- Time
- About 1 hr
-
2 hours · Easy–moderate
Coppins Track to Diamond Bay & St Paul's Lookout
The best clifftop walk close to town. Signs along the way explain the area's history, and the track passes the small Diamond Bay beach on the way to a 360° view from St Paul's Lookout. Come back the same way.
- Distance
- 5.7 km
- Time
- About 2 hrs
-
2 hours · Easy
Millionaires Walk: Sorrento to Portsea
Mostly beach and foreshore walking on the bay side, past Point King and the big Portsea houses, finishing at Portsea Pier and the Portsea Hotel.
- Distance
- 5.0 km
- Time
- 1.5–2 hrs (about 3 hrs if you walk back)
-
2 hours · Easy–moderate (steps and tunnels in the fort)
Fort Nepean & Cheviot Hill loop
Out to the tip of the peninsula: Cheviot Hill lookout and the Harold Holt memorial, the gun emplacements and tunnels at Fort Nepean, then back past Eagles Nest.
- Distance
- 6.5 km
- Time
- 2–2.5 hrs with fort time
-
4 hours · Moderate (distance)
Point Nepean grand loop
The whole park in one loop: Quarantine Station, Observatory Point, Gunners Cottage, Fort Nepean, Eagles Nest, Cheviot Hill, the Range Area Walk and the Monash Light tower.
- Distance
- 11.2 km
- Time
- 3.5–4 hrs with stops
-
4 hours · Moderate (sand, clifftop)
Back beach to front bar: Diamond Bay to Portsea Hotel
West along the ocean coast: Coppins Track to Sorrento Ocean Beach, Coppins and Websters lookouts, stairs down to Portsea Surf Beach, the Farnsworth Track to London Bridge, then down to the Portsea Hotel.
- Distance
- 9.9 km
- Time
- 3.5–4 hrs