Parking
Start at the lower Urquhart Bluff Beach Car Park by the shoreline; a toilet block is beside the access. Lot capacity, fees and overflow arrangements were not established.
Overview
About Urquhart Circuit
Why go
- Mermaid Pool, a rock arch and a leafy heath return
Heads up
- The beach scramble depends on a safe low tide
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Ocean Road map
Full mapElevation0–59 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 Urquhart Circuit, 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
Urquhart Bluff Circuit0:00 / 0:25
“Up ahead is the turnoff for Urquhart Bluff, where the circuit walk links rock pools and coastal heath. The four-and-a-half-kilometre loop starts at the lower beach car park and takes about ninety minutes.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Ocean Road Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Godfrey's Fatal Salvage
- A Kangaroo's Fifth Foot
- A La Grecque: A Greek Meal Stop
- Distillery Creek Picnic Area
- 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 Urquhart Circuit
The loopUrquhart Circuit is a 4.5 km (2.8 mi) loop from the lower Urquhart Bluff Beach Car Park.
Urquhart Circuit is a 4.5 km (2.8 mi) loop from the lower Urquhart Bluff Beach Car Park. It follows the shore west past Mermaid Pool and the rock shelves to Sunnymead, then returns through the dunes and coastal heath on the inland track. Allow about 1.5 hours. It is easy to moderate overall, but the rocky beach passage needs careful footing. Plan the shore section for low tide.
An inland approach beside the toilet block avoids the first passage around the bluff if water blocks it; the farther rock shelves and Sunnymead descent still need safe conditions.
Along the shoreWalk about 100 m from the car park toward Urquhart Bluff on the beach.
Walk about 100 m from the car park toward Urquhart Bluff on the beach. The route passes Mermaid Pool, then crosses a rock platform that can be slippery and an informal shelf beneath the cliffs. A rock bridge and pillar mark the way around to Sunnymead Beach; there is ocean below one side, and the descent around the pillar can be slick after rain. Keep well back from the water’s edge.
The inland returnFrom Sunnymead, continue about 350 m along the beach to the signed track on the right.
From Sunnymead, continue about 350 m along the beach to the signed track on the right. A boardwalk crosses the dunes beneath Moonah and ironbark trees, then steps climb through coastal heath. Turn right before the private-property boundary. Near the Great Ocean Road, the trees open to occasional ocean glimpses; a seat around 4 km into the loop looks through sheoaks toward Point Roadknight. The track descends from there to the car park.
Look for banksias, tea-tree, Paper Flower and Coastal Beard-heath; orchids are also noted along the inland section. New Holland Honeyeaters, Red Wattlebirds and Pied Currawongs are among the birds heard here.
Access and dogsThe lower car park is the start and has a toilet block.
The lower car park is the start and has a toilet block. No potable water source was verified on the route. Dogs are allowed in the designated Urquhart Bluff and Sunnymead areas, but rules change by section: keep them on lead in the visitor area and at the Sunnymead access. At the western end of Urquhart Bluff Beach, leads are required from 9 am to 7 pm from December through February and at Easter; off-lead access applies at other times on a trial basis. The Sunnymead beach between access 104W and Mermaid Pools rocks is also off-lead on a trial basis. Follow posted signs.
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.
