Parking
Park along Spence Avenue at the road end, then enter through the fence break marked for Ted’s Ridge Track. Parking capacity is not established; toilets and drinking water were not found for this access.
Overview
About Ted’s Ridge Track
Why go
- A short route through varied heathland and orchid habitat
- An entrance plaque tells the story behind the track’s name
Heads up
- The published return distance is longer than the mapped corridor suggests
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Ocean Road map
Full mapElevation80–105 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 Ted’s Ridge 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 area
The Godfrey's Fatal Salvage0:00 / 0:30
“Everyone aboard the W. B. Godfrey survived when the ship wrecked near Wye River in March eighteen ninety-one. It had been carrying timber from San Francisco to Melbourne.”
Plays on the road 0.7 km from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Ocean Road Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Urquhart Bluff Circuit
- A La Grecque: A Greek Meal Stop
- Distillery Creek Picnic Area
- Split Point Lighthouse
- 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 Ted’s Ridge Track
A short return through the heathTed’s Ridge Track is an easy, signed out-and-back from the end of Spence Avenue to a junction…
Ted’s Ridge Track is an easy, signed out-and-back from the end of Spence Avenue to a junction with Snakey Gully Track. The published distance is 1.6 km (about 1 mile) return, usually around 45 minutes plus time to stop for flowers. The mapped tread is about 0.6 km from the road end to the junction, so its traced return is shorter than the published figure; allow for the longer distance. Enter at the fence break beside the track sign and plaque, follow the winding path to Snakey Gully Track, then return the same way. This is a short nature walk for the heath, not a coastal lookout.
Flowers in the heathAustral grass-trees rise above the low flowering plants.
Austral grass-trees rise above the low flowering plants. The track passes pea flowers, Running Postman, guinea-flowers, Woolly Pimelea, Honey-pots and ground orchids. Spring is when the heath is described as most colorful. Among its orchids is the endemic Unicorn Bearded Greenhood, one reason to take this walk slowly and look along the track edges.
Ted and the messmatesA plaque at the entrance remembers local walker Ted Faggetter (1909–2001), who helped establish…
A plaque at the entrance remembers local walker Ted Faggetter (1909–2001), who helped establish the volunteer group that cared for this stretch of park. Messmate trees grow over the track; regular fuel-reduction burns leave their stringy-bark trunks dark against the low understorey. Some grass-trees show Cinnamon fungus dieback.
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.
