Parking
From the Great Ocean Road, turn onto Bambra Road at Aireys Inlet. After about 2.5 km, continue onto Distillery Creek Road; roadside parking is about 0.5 km beyond the junction. The walk starts on the right, just past private property.
Overview
About Distillery Creek – Ted’s Ridge Track Circuit
Why go
- A varied loop with coastal ridge views, heath flowers and eucalypt forest
Heads up
- Two climbs make the short distance more than a flat stroll
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Otway map
Full mapElevation26–105 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
3 active Great Otway alerts
- ClosureWye Road closed after storm and flood damageWye Road is closed until further notice because recent storm and flood damage requires road maintenance and repair works; plan around the closure.Official details
- ClosureLorne-area walking trails closed after flood damageSome walking trails near Lorne are closed for public safety after the January 2026 flash floods washed away or severely damaged bridges and walkways.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Otway Tour Guide
Your drive to Distillery Creek – Ted’s Ridge Track Circuit, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Great Otway National Park. 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 Otway audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Distillery Creek: A Short Ironbark Walk0:00 / 0:33
“You're nearing Distillery Creek Picnic Area, a pair of picnic grounds in dry ironbark forest. For a short woodland break, start at the lower ground and give the Nature Trail thirty to forty-five minutes.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Otway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Crabs That March Forwards
- Sunnymead Beach and The Shack
- The Naming Ship’s Sliding Keels
- The Seed Head That Rolls Away
- 252 audio storiesacross Great Otway’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Koala, Grey Kangaroo, Echidna, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 83 trails, 79 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 Distillery Creek – Ted’s Ridge Track Circuit
A short loop with a proper climbThis is a 4 km loop from Distillery Creek Road, climbing through open heath woodland to Teds…
This is a 4 km loop from Distillery Creek Road, climbing through open heath woodland to Teds Ridge before dropping down Snakey Gully and returning beside the road. Allow about 1.5 hours. It is rated easy to moderate, with two climbs and a longer pull near the ridge. Choose it for a compact walk with a bit of variety and a coastal view, not a flat picnic-ground stroll.
Up through the heath to Teds RidgeStart on the right side of Distillery Creek Road, just beyond the end of private property, and…
Start on the right side of Distillery Creek Road, just beyond the end of private property, and follow the wide firebreak through tall messmates and open understorey. The climb comes in two parts; the longer one takes you to the ridge. Turn left along Teds Track for the coastal views and look for the small plaque explaining the name. It commemorates local walker Ted Faggetter (1909–2001), who helped establish a conservation group for the area.
Late winter and spring bring flowering wattles and other heath plants. Spring is also the best time to look for terrestrial orchids on the ridge; flying duck orchids may appear above the road cutting from October to December.
Back by Snakey GullyAt the end of Teds Track, turn left onto Snakey Gully Track and head downhill.
At the end of Teds Track, turn left onto Snakey Gully Track and head downhill. After about 640 m, the walk directions describe a right-hand spur into the forest around a former private settlement, a good place to pause among Mountain Grey-gums and spring-flowering Rusty Pomaderris. Return to Snakey Gully and continue to Distillery Creek Road, then turn left and follow the narrow walking track beside the road to your start. The listed 4 km includes this settlement visit, but the spur has no verified mapped line. The route shown here follows the connected main loop and measures about 3.4 km.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Great Otway
204 sightingsKoalaMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
35 sightingsGrey KangarooMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
109 sightingsEchidnaMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
58 sightingsKookaburraMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
97 sightingsSwamp WallabyMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
20 sightingsBrushtail PossumMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Great Otway. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
