Parking
Park at Sheoak Picnic Ground on Garvey Track and start from the information board beside the picnic area.
Overview
About Sheoak Picnic Ground Nature Walk
Why go
- An easy short loop with a suspension bridge, fern gullies and interpretive signs.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Otway map
Full mapElevation148–184 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 Sheoak Picnic Ground Nature Walk, 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
Sheoak Picnic Area: A Short Forest Break0:00 / 0:32
“You're coming up on Sheoak Picnic Area, a shady forest clearing with tables and gas barbecues. Stop here for a picnic, or take the half-hour Nature Walk for a suspension bridge and a look into the fern gully.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Otway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Allenvale: Forest Walk to Phantom Falls
- Cumberland River: The Walk to Jebb's Pool
- Sheoak Falls and Swallow Cave
- From an Otways Creek to the Coral Sea
- 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 Sheoak Picnic Ground Nature Walk
A half-hour forest circuitSheoak Picnic Ground Nature Walk is an easy 1.3 km loop (0.
Sheoak Picnic Ground Nature Walk is an easy 1.3 km loop (0.81 mile) through fern glades and tall Manna Gums beside the picnic area. Allow about 30 minutes. It is a good short walk for a close look at Otway forest, with a suspension bridge, a gentle rise to a fern-gully view and interpretive signs along the way.
Follow the Nature Walk signsStart by the information board and take the signed path into the glade.
Start by the information board and take the signed path into the glade. Cross the suspension bridge over Sheoak Creek, then climb gently above the ferny gully. At the branch toward Garvey Track, stay right with the Nature Walk signs. At the next junction, turn right away from the coastward path and cross a smaller wooden bridge back to the picnic ground. The signed turns matter: other walks leave from this same area.
Look into the canopyThe understorey includes Hazel Pomaderris, Prickly Currant-bush and Musk Daisy-bush beneath the…
The understorey includes Hazel Pomaderris, Prickly Currant-bush and Musk Daisy-bush beneath the Manna Gums. The route notes describe arching Soft and Rough Tree Ferns and interpretive signs about the forest. Look for V-shaped scars on trunks, which Yellow-bellied Gliders make while feeding on sap. Crescent Honeyeaters are often heard here; Koalas are sometimes seen in the treetops, but wildlife sightings are never certain. Glow-worms are occasionally seen near the bridge after dark.
Picnic-ground facilities and rulesThe trail begins at Sheoak Picnic Ground on Garvey Track, where the information board, toilets,…
The trail begins at Sheoak Picnic Ground on Garvey Track, where the information board, toilets, picnic tables and gas barbecues are located. This route is inside Great Otway National Park, where dogs are not permitted on this walk. The loop was built in 1993 with students and staff from Ballarat College of Advanced Education.
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.
