Boon Wurrung and Gunai Kurnai Country (Wilson's Prom) Telegraph Saddle-->Refuge Cove-->Oberon Bay-->Tidal River

Wilson's Prom is a very special place in Australia. I have only visited a handful of times but each time and blown away by the sheer beauty and ecological diversity of the place. This post is about a recent two night stay, hiking out to Refuge Cove from Telegraph Saddle, then back to Tidal River via a night at Oberon Bay.  With the Sealer's Cove track still down for repair and not due to reopen until November-ish of 2024 (according to the helpful staff at the visitors centre) the only way to access Refuge Cove is to hike in from Tidal River or Telegraph saddle. We opted for Telegraph Saddle as it is already quite a big day not including the extra 3+hrs from Tidal River. Before attempting an overnight stay you need to make sure you have pre-booked and obtained enough passes at the relevant campsites via the Parks Victoria website. If you don't make a booking you can't stay as space can be very limited and there are dedicated areas for campsites at each location. 

Day One 

 We arrived at 9am to check in at the visitors centre after a lovely overnight stay at a close by AirBnB in Yanackie. I would recommend doing this if you have to drive a fair distance (our journey to Yanackie was almost 4 hrs) as it means you can rest and feel refreshed for your walk. Once the Parks staff have checked you in, they will print off your reservation number and you need to place this on the dashboard of your car, then park your car in the overnight hikers parking lot, which you initially drive past to get to the visitors centre. If you are starting from Telegraph Saddle like we did, there is a free visitors shuttle you can catch from this parking lot that will take you to the top of telegraph saddle. I don't think this bus runs year round, so perhaps you are allowed to drive up there when the bus isn't running.

 (My total pack weight including 3litres of water in my bladder and an extra litre in my nalgene came to 12.7kg for reference)

The walk from Telegraph Saddle down to Telegraph junction is not particularly exciting, but it is a very wide path that gives you the luxury of walking next to your hiking friends rather than in single file so conversation is much easier!

The starting sign post from Telegraph Saddle parking lot

The nice wide path of Telegraph Saddle track! The track winds gently down and then up again but it is very pleasant walking terrain, coming in the opposite direction may not be so enjoyable!

Parks Vic map estimates this part of the journey to take approximately 2 hours, but we did it in 1.5hrs.

A little native hopping mouse we spotted along the track, could not have cared less about us! 

Once you reach Telegraph Junction, you follow the turnoff to Little Waterloo Bay. Parks Vic estimates this section to take approximately 2 hours.

The terrain varies quite rapidly along this path and is very pleasant. There are sections of dry, sandy path as well as raised boardwalk over more lush green fern glades and swampy areas. We saw butterflies, birds and bees as well as the odd fly but nothing too annoying considering it was a beautiful 23 degree day.

A section of the ferny boardwalk.

The sandy track leading towards Little Waterloo Bay

A jazzy Christmas Beetle

You reach the beach and what you think may be Little Waterloo Bay however there is a little bit more walking to do to reach the campsite and the toilets

This is your view when you get the beach after the first turn off, and the trail marker is not super clear, but as you approach the river crossing you can find the path that leads you back up onto the track:

Climbing back onto the path gives you a lovely view back down the beach you just came from:

The walk take a little bit of an ascent but nothing too terrible and the descent down into Little Waterloo Bay campsite is very beautiful:

There are so many diverse plants and if you are lucky you might even get to see a wombat munching on the grass near the trail!

Little Waterloo Bay campsite has a water tank of untreated water as well as a drop toilet. I would definitely recommend following the guidelines of filtering the water from the tanks. You could also filter water from the river at this campsite too if the tanks are empty. This campsite is a great place to stop and rest for lunch before continuing through to Refuge Cove. At this point, we felt like we were smashing it at a really easy pace because we had done the previous trail sections about 30 minutes under the estimated time on the map, which led us into a false sense of confidence with our speed for the next section, and once again proves Nature will always humble you when you need it!

The access to rejoin the track is across the river from the beach, so depending on how high the river is at the time you may need have a think-before-you-cross moment if you don't love wet feet!

Once you have crossed, the track quickly ascends and you discover why this walk is rated as a grade 4 when you have been delusional thinking you are some kind of hiking strong woman, racing through the track up to this point. I highly recommend hiking poles to help protect your knees and toes.

The first clear lookout point after reaching a level footing after Little Waterloo Bay

After this lookout point the track just continues on a steady gentle and sometimes less-gentle ascent but it is pretty much non-stop climbing with not a lot of flat ground to ease the climb. You do head back down to a beach at one point, which makes you think you may have reached Refuge Cove, but no, it's just a nice interlude before more climbing!

Slow and steady wins the race here and this is when we finally fell in line with the map time/distance reference as it took us exactly 2.5hrs to get to Refuge cove.

We did not divert to Kersops Peak as energy was pretty low and we pushed on through to Refuge with the lure of a swim at the end being too big of a temptation over seeing new views, plus the views down to the cove were pretty gorgeous!

The view at the junction for Kersops Peak or your descent to Refuge Cove

The forest changes quite dramatically as you walk down and is very beautiful and humming with life. We saw many butterflies, bees and birds as well as one very timid wallaby.

The track is sandy in many places with lots of nice flat stretches combined with lots of rocky descents (but not scary ones!) as well as very low key rock hopping.

The beautiful view of refuge cove! Well worth the sore toes.

The campsite area is very peaceful and doesn't have designated areas like Little Waterloo Bay or Oberon Bay, instead it is just one big area under the trees with some permanent low level tables, a drop toilet and a water access pipe that permanently flows from the creek.

The sprawl of unpacking on one of the tables

After a big day of walking with a full pack, the water was the biggest treat. Very fresh but alleviated inflammation immediately! lots of little fish swimming around and a beautiful spot to share a beer with some very generous and kind fisherman!

Total kms today was 19.1 according to the map.

Day Two:

We started the day with a brisk morning dip, just the thing to wake you up and get the blood flowing!

Leaving the campsite at around 10am gave us a good amount of time to get back to telegraph junction. (13km) The majority of the ascent is immediately as you leave, then there are some nice flat part to get your breath back once you pass the Kersop peak lookout.

Lots of beautiful ferns to admire

We had booked to stay a night at Halfway Hut, but were really hoping we might be able to squeeze in at Oberon Bay as it meant we could get one more swim in before heading home the following day. Plus it meant shaving off an hour for the hike out, which would mean less driver fatigue on the way home, we decided to risk not having a booking and seeing if we could get a spot.

This track out to Oberon Bay is very repetitive in the terrain. It is basically one large fire break track of sand, but it is relatively compacted so you don't sink down too much when walking. The forest gets a little denser as you get closer to the ocean, which is very nice and it's a very easy walk compared to heading in the other direction out the Refuge Cove.

The beach at Oberon Bay

Oberon Bay campsite has designated areas for tent camping. We managed to find a free spot however I would not recommend winging it during peak holiday time as you won't be able to squeeze in anywhere. There were tanks, but no water so we had to filter water from the river. There are two drop toilets at the site as well.

No beers at Oberon, but we were treated to a spectacular sunset

Total km today are 16.4km according to the map.

Day Three:

To head back towards Tidal River campground we headed off across the beach to reconnect with the trail.

Looking back at Oberon Bay beach from the direction we had just come from

You have to cross the river inlet to reach the trail head (which can result in either removing your shoes, leaving them on or trying out some interesting show jumping!) then there is a brief ascent to get to some truly spectacular trail views.

A nice flat trail to really appreciate the stunning scenery

There are a couple of sections of soft sand walking that required concentration on my behalf, but the majority of this walk is very straightforward with maximum reward for the scenery.

This last bit of the trail leads you through beach, rocky steps and beautiful bush land. We saw a wallaby crash through the undergrowth as well as bird, insects and butterflies.

beautiful diversity

The final view before you begin your descent down to Tidal River campground is very rewarding:

Once you hit the end of the descent the trail leads you back to a very underwhelming conclusion behind the Tidal river toilet block! But also conveniently near the general store as well, so you can grab an ice cream before driving yourself to the Fish Creek Pub for a well earned burger!

Total km today are 7.6km according to the map.

Total km walked according to the Parks Vic Map is 43.1km.

I can't wait to come back to Wilson's Prom once they reopen the Sealers Cove track. We were initially aiming to camp at Sealers the first night but it just proved to be a bit too far for our mental stamina! My plan would be to walk into Sealers and stay a night, then one night at Refuge Cove, a night at Little Waterloo Bay and a night at Oberon Bay. This would give you maximum swim and chill time as well as very lovely walking time.