Parking
From the Great Ocean Road, turn at the Moonlight Head sign about 34 km east of Port Campbell, then follow 4.5 km of gravel road to Wreck Beach Car Park, the walk’s starting point.
Overview
About Wreck Beach Walk
Why go
- Two historic anchors and a dramatic beach in one short outing
- A steep stair descent opens onto a rugged stretch of coast
Heads up
- A demanding climb back up roughly 366 steps
- Anchor access depends on tide and sea conditions
Wreck Beach Walk is an approximately 2 km out-and-back from Wreck Beach Car Park, down a long stairway and west along the sand to two shipwreck anchors. It is short on the map and hard on the legs: the staircase has about 366 steps, and every one is waiting on the way back up. Give it about an hour with time for the beach. I’d choose it for the anchors and cliffs, but only if you can fit the walk inside a safe tide and sea-condition window.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the hike for you?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Otway map
Full mapElevation0–83 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 Wreck Beach 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
Wreck Beach: Two Anchors Below the Cliffs0:00 / 0:30
“Wreck Beach car park is ahead, the start of a steep walk to two shipwreck anchors. Allow about an hour, with more than three hundred and fifty steps down and the same climb back.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Otway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Gables Lookout: Above the Reefs
- The Breathing Hole Beside a Slug’s Head
- The Oystercatcher’s Chisel
- Why Mushrooms Make a Ring
- 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 Wreck Beach Walk
The stairs and beachA short access track reaches the stairs.
A short access track reaches the stairs. At the bottom, follow the beach west to the Marie Gabrielle anchor, then farther along to the Fiji anchor. The footing shifts from sand to uneven reef and rock near the anchors. The route stays on sand and uneven reef near the anchors, then returns up the same long staircase.
Tide and swell matterThe anchors are not an all-tide destination.
The anchors are not an all-tide destination. High water can cut off access along the beach, and rough seas make the route dangerous; wet rocks can be slippery. Check both tide and surf before setting off, and don’t swim here. If water is rising into your return corridor, turn back before the way out becomes a squeeze.
Two wrecks, two different storiesThe French barque Marie Gabrielle wrecked here in 1869.
The French barque Marie Gabrielle wrecked here in 1869. Her crew waited for daylight before reaching shore in the ship’s boat, and the anchor remains on the beach. The Fiji was lost near Moonlight Head in 1891; its shore anchor was set into the reef as a memorial in 1961, while the wreck rests offshore. For a photo, give the Fiji anchor some room in the frame so the cliffs and sea show where you are.
Getting to the stairsFrom the Great Ocean Road, turn at the Moonlight Head sign about 34 km east of Port Campbell.
From the Great Ocean Road, turn at the Moonlight Head sign about 34 km east of Port Campbell. Follow the 4.5 km gravel road to Wreck Beach Car Park; that is the walk’s trailhead. This is in a national park, so dogs aren’t allowed.
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.
