Even though the Wilsons Promontory National Park is located 3 hours only from Melbourne, I have never heard of it. That’s weird, ’cause I’ve literally read pages and pages of guides to Melbourne and its surroundings but that name actually never popped out.
Where’s this place?
Wilsons Prom, or simply Prom, is the southernmost tip of Australia mainland and it can offer a bit of everything for everyone. First of all, remember that if you want to spend one day, one week, or one month, the Prom has enough to keeps you busy as long as you want.
Originally, we thought one day would be enough, eventually we decided 3 days was the perfect match for us.
Best time to visit the Prom
I never really consider the best period to visit a natural park or to do any kind of activity. That’s because I live by the concept of “I’ll get there when I’ll get there”. Having a nomadic lifestyle means traveling all the time and not really planning thing that much.
That said, we visited the Prom in February and the park was really quiet. Schools have started already and it’s almost the end of the summer, so we found it was a pretty good time to get there. 🙂 I would suggest to take a look at schools holidays and simply avoid that period!
Where to stay…
Of course, you can stay in the Prom and sleep there. It would be convenient for your day or overnight hikes and you don’t have to worry about leaving and coming back everyday. You also get hot showers, laundries, and can choose between powered or un-powered sites.
If you don’t feel like camping, you can book a small hut or cabin. There’s plenty of options, but those are not the cheapest.
…for FREE!
I am okay with a small donation and I agree that paying a small fee will help keep toilets and the whole camp clean. However, I prefer free campsites, as long as people respect everybody else and they don’t dump their rubbish on the ground (very gross).
That’s said, there’s a lot of free option everywhere you can choose from.
Thanks to WikiCamps or CamperMate or many other apps you can pick the closest free campground and sleep there.
We stayed at the Franklin River Rest Area and we totally loved it. It’s clean, pretty big and has toilets and sinks. It was only 30 mins from the Prom and the drive was lovely.
Wilsons Prom beaches
We committed our first day to the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen. They make you realize you are in a completely different world, far away from Europe (and from the world itself!). We Italian don’t have those huge and long beaches, surrounded by nature and with nobody on it. You could have the place all to yourself.
Anyway, our favorites were: Whisky Bay, Picnic Bay, Squeaky Beach, and Norman Beach.
You can either visit them one by one, driving from one car park to another (just like we did), or taking the “Three Bay Walk”, which connects Whisky Bay, Picnic Bay, and Squeaky Beach.
Wilsons Prom short hikes
Hikes are the number 1 activity you could do in the Prom. You could possibly stay 1 week in the National Park and still couldn’t finish all the hikes it offers you.
Wildlife Walk (2.3 km)
The “Wildlife walk” is a must do if you want to spot some wildlife (and you will!). There’s a lot of grey kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, emu and many many more.
If you want to see more kangaroos in the wild, check out this post!
It’s an easy walk. Basically, you’ll be watching the kangaroos eating for the whole time and then go back to the car park!
Big Drift (4 km)
Another gorgeous and absolutely must do hike is the “Big Drift” walk, which will bring you to a peaceful landscape made of sand dunes. It feels like being in the desert! The Big Drift was the first thing we saw in the National Park and still was one of the most incredible views we could possibly imagine.
Mt Oberon summit walk (6.8 km)
The best walk was definitely the Mt Oberon Summit Walk.
Compared to the other two walks, this one was a bit more difficult, as the terrain was steep, but it’s only one hour hike, and the view can’t be beaten.
We were lucky it was a sunny day, and we were able to see the whole Prom from the very top of its mountain.
Have fun & happy hikes!
Love,
Sonia
