Parking
Start at the walking-track entry on Macs Street beside Peterborough Golf Course. Bay of Martyrs car park also reaches the walk; intermediate lots are small and have narrow, rough access tracks.
Overview
About Halladale Walking Track
Why go
- Clifftop views of jagged reefs and small coves.
- The 1908 shipwreck story gives Halladale Point a memorable stop.
Heads up
- Exposed clifftops offer little shelter.
- Narrow, uneven sections and beach steps need care.
Halladale Walking Track is a 4.96 km coastal loop from Peterborough's golf-course edge, past Halladale Point and the offshore wreck reefs, around the Bay of Martyrs coves, then back. It's a good pick for a half-day coast walk with several chances to look down at the water or take the steps to a beach. Allow about 1½ hours, or closer to two if you explore the beaches. The park visitor guide lists a 4 km return walk; this mapped loop follows the longer line.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the walk for you?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Ocean Road map
Full mapElevation0–16 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
7 active Great Ocean Road alerts
- ClosureLorne-area walking trails closed after flood and storm damageSeveral walking trails near Lorne remain closed; do not enter closed tracks. - Phantom Falls Walk is temporarily closed because flood and storm damage affected the trail and structures.Official details
- ClosureWye Road closed after storm and flood damageWye Road is closed until further notice for road maintenance and repairs following storm and flood damage; do not use the road. Check current Great Otway National Park conditions before travelling.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Ocean Road Tour Guide
Your drive to Halladale Walking Track, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Great Ocean Road. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Great Ocean Road audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Halladale Walking Track0:00 / 0:27
“Up ahead is the Macs Street access to Halladale Walking Track, beside Peterborough's golf course. The roughly five-kilometre loop takes about ninety minutes through coastal heath, with reef views and some uneven footing.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Ocean Road Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Bay of Martyrs and Worm Bay
- A Falcon’s Hunting Dive
- A Sea Squirt's Two Siphons
- The Grotto
- 181 audio storiesacross Great Ocean Road’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Koala, Kangaroo, Little Penguin, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 109 trails, 99 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Halladale Walking Track
Follow the coastStart at the Macs Street entry beside the golf course.
Start at the Macs Street entry beside the golf course. The track runs through low coastal heath, opening to lookouts over the Southern Ocean. Around Halladale Point it skirts the reefs, then winds past Worm Bay and Crays Beach to the Bay of Martyrs car park and beach access before looping back. The main track is compacted gravel and mostly firm, but it narrows and gets uneven in places; beach branches have steps.
The wreck at Halladale PointThe Falls of Halladale, a four-masted iron sailing ship built in Scotland, wrecked on the reefs…
The Falls of Halladale, a four-masted iron sailing ship built in Scotland, wrecked on the reefs here in 1908. Its site is offshore, so look for the reef line and the way waves break around it rather than expecting to see a ship on the seabed. Halladale Point is the walk's best place to stop and take in the coastline; frame some of the jagged reef with the sea behind it.
Heath and birdlifeKeep an eye on the heath for Rufous Bristlebirds darting through the scrub.
Keep an eye on the heath for Rufous Bristlebirds darting through the scrub. Hooded Plovers nest on nearby beaches, and short-beaked echidnas and southern brown bandicoots are possible sightings. The small frog ponds beside the track are easy to miss until you hear them.
Beach access has limitsSteps lead to coves including Worm Bay and Bay of Martyrs.
Steps lead to coves including Worm Bay and Bay of Martyrs. Beach walks can be cut off by an incoming tide, so check the way back before descending. These cliffs can crumble without warning; stay on marked tracks and lookouts. Dogs on leash are allowed on the walking track, but not on Bay of Martyrs beach.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Great Ocean Road
900 sightingsKoalaMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
358 sightingsKangarooMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
49 sightingsLittle PenguinMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
155 sightingsEchidnaMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
33 sightingsFur SealMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
59 sightingsRed-necked WallabyMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Great Ocean Road. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
