Great Ocean Walk · Stage 1
From the Apollo Bay Visitor Centre past Marengo, along the sand towards the Elliot River, which has no bridge (heavy rain, a rough sea or a high tide can make it hard or impossible), then up the Elliot River Track to the campground on the ridge: about 10 km, 3 hours 30 minutes.
Best season: All year, booked night by night. The Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (GORCAPA), which runs the walk since 1 July 2026, publishes no seasonal closure: the campgrounds are booked up to 12 months ahead, and the summer peak (18 December to 28 February) opens for booking on its own day. Rain and rough seas can close the unbridged river crossings; in the fire season, check the fire danger and Total Fire Ban days. Whales pass from July to September. Before you go
Facts read from the operators' own pages and OpenStreetMap on 28 September 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Town
The walk starts at the Apollo Bay Visitor Centre. Beds and shops in town, and the Apollo Bay Recreation Reserve and Marengo Family Caravan Park (on the walk just west of town) for campers. V/Line: train from Melbourne's Southern Cross to Geelong and coach on to Apollo Bay, every day.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage end · overnight
Camping spot · Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority
Make it your trip
Walkers camp at the seven hike-in campgrounds (or stay off the walk in the car-based campgrounds and towns), and a booking is the permit to camp: camping without one can bring a fine. Book each night and campground separately, up to 12 months ahead; each has six or eight small sites for up to three people. Pay in full when you book: 100% back 30 or more days before, 50% from 8 to 29 days, nothing within 7.
Eight days and seven nights, one at each hike-in campground, as GORCAPA describes it.
Loading the forecast for on the trail (74 m)…
Typical weather on this stage, around 0–148 m. Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good |
| Day / night | 21°/13° | 21°/14° | 20°/13° | 17°/11° | 15°/10° | 13°/8° | 12°/8° | 13°/8° | 14°/8° | 16°/9° | 17°/10° | 19°/11° |
| Rain, mm | 58 | 46 | 64 | 76 | 96 | 115 | 120 | 134 | 106 | 92 | 81 | 59 |
| Snow at high point | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Daylight | 14 h 36 | 13 h 34 | 12 h 24 | 11 h 07 | 10 h 03 | 9 h 28 | 9 h 41 | 10 h 34 | 11 h 47 | 13 h 02 | 14 h 13 | 14 h 51 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Some beaches and river crossings become unsafe at high tide or in a rough sea; GORCAPA says there are inland alternatives in many places, but not all. Parks Victoria's day pages (archived before the handover) name the places with no way round: Storm Point, west of Bald Hill, Johanna Beach (about 2 km on the sand) and the first part of Milanesia Beach (about 300 m). The Elliot, Parker, Johanna and Milanesia rivers have no bridges, and after heavy rain you may have to wade. Check the tide times each morning: Apollo Bay's east of Moonlight Head, Port Campbell's west of it.
Parks Victoria's walk page (archived June 2026)The campground tanks hold untreated rainwater and may run dry: carry enough and treat it. No campfires at the hike-in campgrounds; the campgrounds lie in bushfire-prone country, so check the fire danger rating and Total Fire Ban days. Watch for snakes and European wasps. No dogs.
Parks Victoria's walk page (archived June 2026)The walk is designed to be walked from east to west, for the best views and more manageable gradients, and to reduce crowding and wear on the track and campgrounds. It ends far from its start: there is no long-term parking for walkers, and GORCAPA asks you to plan your transport and accommodation before you arrive.
GORCAPA: camping informationGetting there
Travel around Apollo Bay to Elliot Ridge.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
V/Line runs every day from Melbourne's Southern Cross by train to Geelong and coach to the Apollo Bay Info Centre, near the start: on weekdays arriving 13.12, 17.27 and 20.44 (from Southern Cross 09.10, 13.30, 16.49), at weekends 13.12, 17.47 and 23.06. The summer holiday timetable (14 December to 27 January) runs every day too.
V/Line timetable (from 23 August 2026)The V/Line coach stops at the Twelve Apostles on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only: at 15.05 west to Port Campbell and Warrnambool (16.50) for the train to Melbourne, and at 10.40 east to Apollo Bay. Finish on one of those days, or arrange a ride: Parks Victoria listed commercial shuttles back to Apollo Bay.
V/Line timetable (from 23 August 2026)Take your trip with you
Prepare every day while you still have a connection, and test it offline before you set out.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
GORCAPA gives "more than 100 kilometres" from Apollo Bay to the Twelve Apostles (its booking site: just over 110 km), usually over eight days, walked east to west; its stage table adds up to about 100 km and its campground pages to 97 km to Gibson Steps. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (relation 1951913, planet of 27 September 2026), 96.4 km from the Apollo Bay Visitor Centre to the Twelve Apostles, cut at the seven hike-in campgrounds; the times are GORCAPA's.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 28 September 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority: the Great Ocean WalkMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation