Destinations > Wilsons Promontory

Tidal River provides the only vehicle based camping in the park. There are hundreds of good sites in grassy and shady places. Wombats are common here and you will probably have some waddling through your campsite. As well as campsites, there are also self-contained cabins and huts. The park gets full in summer months, so bookings are essential. If you choose to stay at Tidal River there are some great short walks starting from the camping area. One of the most popular is the walk to Squeaky Beach, which is a few kilometres long and leads to a white sand beach backed by dunes and mountains. This is a great beach for photography, as well as swimming, diving, fishing and surfing.

You can have an enjoyable stay at the Prom without going far from Tidal River (some people never stray far from there, even after years of visiting the region) but the real attraction of the park is in its wilderness walks. Treks range from short day trips to overnight hikes, and a few take a minimum of three days to complete. Most of the park is only accessible on foot. The trails take you through some of the most breathtaking scenery - sometimes along the beaches, other times through rainforest, and yet more trails wander the tops of the cliffs which drop off into the ocean.

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One of the great walks within the park is the 36km circuit to the eastern beaches of Sealers Cove, Refuge Cove and Waterloo Bay. The lure of these beaches was enough to make me take on the hike by myself. I started out from the Mount Oberon carpark, which is where most of the walks to the eastern and southern sections of the park begin. From here you can do a steep, one hour walk to the summit of Mount Oberon, which is one of the best views in the park - the beaches of Norman Bay, Squeaky Beach and Whisky Bay are spread out before you. From the carpark there is an access road called Telegraph Track which is only for National Parks use. It leads down to the lighthouse in the southern point of the park.

The track to Sealers Cove is roughly ten kilometres long, and heads due east. The first part of the track is well gravelled and climbs gently from the carpark to Windy Saddle around a series of spurs. The walk continues through an open forest of Eucalypt, Peppermint and Banksia trees. After a few kilometres, the track opens out onto Windy Saddle, an open grassy area. From here there are some excellent views over the Titania Creek and Tidal River valleys, and the valley behind Sealers Cove.

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