Parking
The Gables car park. Turn off the Great Ocean Road about 16 km east of Princetown at the signed Moonlight Head turnoff, then follow signs for 4.5 km on a narrow, rough gravel road. 2WD access is not recommended after rain.
Overview
About The Gables Lookout Walk
Why go
- Quick out-and-back to wide coastal views
Heads up
- Uneven footing; the final 4.5 km access road is rough gravel
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Ocean Road map
Full mapElevation70–131 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 The Gables Lookout 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 trailhead
Moonlight Head: The Gables and Wreck Beach0:00 / 0:38
“You're approaching the Moonlight Head turnoff for The Gables and Wreck Beach.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Ocean Road Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Rayville's Fishing-Boat Rescue
- Kelp’s Grip on the Reef
- How the Otways Catch Rain
- The Sea's Changing Colours
- 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 The Gables Lookout Walk
A quick coastal walkThe Gables Lookout Walk is an easy out-and-back of about 800 m return (half a mile), usually…
The Gables Lookout Walk is an easy out-and-back of about 800 m return (half a mile), usually around 30 minutes. From The Gables car park, a short path through dense sheoaks opens to a coastal lookout. It’s a good pick when you want a little walking for a big view; the path is relatively flat but uneven in places. Dogs aren’t permitted in Great Otway National Park.
Through the sheoaksMost of the approach stays under the Casuarina canopy, then the coast opens at the end.
Most of the approach stays under the Casuarina canopy, then the coast opens at the end. The lookout is also a stop on the Great Ocean Walk between the Ryans Den and Devil’s Kitchen campsites, but this walk is just the short return from The Gables car park, not either longer stage.
At the lookoutYou can look both east and west along the rugged coast and across the reefs around Moonlight…
You can look both east and west along the rugged coast and across the reefs around Moonlight Head. The timber railing makes a useful foreground for the cliffs and surf. Look for seabirds and, from June through September, whales offshore.
The last few kilometresTurn off the Great Ocean Road about 16 km east of Princetown at the signed Moonlight Head…
Turn off the Great Ocean Road about 16 km east of Princetown at the signed Moonlight Head turnoff. The final 4.5 km to The Gables is narrow, rough gravel; 2WD access isn’t recommended after rain. The short walk is easy, but the wet-weather drive can be the deciding factor.
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.
