Parking
Park at Shelly Beach Picnic Area, reached via Elliot River Road; the walk starts from the picnic area.
Overview
About Shelly Beach Walk
Why go
- Fern-gully and coastal-scrub approach to Shelly Beach.
- Rock pools and dark shoreline formations at the turnaround.
Heads up
- The return is uphill and includes many steps.
- Most of the shore is rocky, with only a small sandy section.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Ocean Road map
Full mapElevation26–139 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 Shelly Beach Walk, 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 area
Wildlife Wonders0:00 / 0:33
“Up ahead is Wildlife Wonders, a sanctuary where native animals roam through grassland, forest and fern gullies. Choose it if you'd like a guide to help you spot and understand the wildlife.”
Plays on the road 1.6 km from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Ocean Road Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A Joey's First Climb
- A Fur Seal's Sensitive Whiskers
- Marengo Beach and Fur Seals
- The Casino’s Last Arrival
- 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 Shelly Beach Walk
The short out-and-backShelly Beach Walk is a moderate walk from Shelly Beach Picnic Area, via Elliot River Road, down…
Shelly Beach Walk is a moderate walk from Shelly Beach Picnic Area, via Elliot River Road, down to the beach and back the same way. The published figure is 1.8 km return in about 45 minutes. The connected mapped tread measures about 1.02 km one way, starting a short walk from the picnic-area access, so it runs longer than the listed 0.9 km each-way estimate; allow extra room if you linger at the shore. The track passes through fern gullies and coastal scrub, then climbs back up the same steps.
At the beachThe shoreline is mostly rocky, with dark shelves, rock pools and a small sandy cove.
The shoreline is mostly rocky, with dark shelves, rock pools and a small sandy cove. Visitors often call out the pools and unusual rock shapes. This walk turns around at Shelly Beach; it does not require crossing the rock platforms to reach Elliot River.
Keep the longer circuit separateA different 2.
A different 2.4 km Shelly Beach Circuit continues along the beach and rocky platforms toward Elliot River, then returns through blue gums. That circuit is low-tide-only. Follow the same path back for this short walk rather than treating the circuit as an extension at any tide.
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.
