Paddy’s Path

Paddy’s Path is a 0.47-mile (0.75 km) one-way connector between Wye River and Separation Creek, usually about 20 minutes each way. It crosses the wooded hillside above the Great Ocean Road and follows much of an old timber tramway. It is a short township-to-township walk; arrange a pickup or return the same way if you need to finish where you started.

The gravel track is fairly level through the middle. The timber boardwalk sits about a third of the way from the Separation Creek end, with a seat looking south over Wye Beach, the rocky shore and Sturt Point. Crushed rock resumes before a steep descent to the Separation Creek end at Stanway Drive. For a photo, frame the boardwalk rails with the beach below.

Much of the alignment follows an early-20th-century timber tramway that carried wood from Separation Creek mills to Wye River’s original jetty. Accounts disagree on its exact construction year, so no single date is given. The path is named for Paddy Harrington; a local account says a memorial plaque was installed with the 2019 reopening, but its present-day status was not confirmed.

The Wye River entrance is behind the CFA building; the opposite end meets Stanway Drive about 50 metres from the Great Ocean Road. A local notice reported reopening after landslip repairs in 2019, but the current managing authority and access status could not be independently confirmed. Check local access signs before setting out.