The Ultimate Guide To Wilsons Promontory National Park

Located at the southern tip of Australia’s mainland, Wilsons Promontory is a coastal wilderness of golden beaches and bushland trails which serves as one of Victoria’s favourite parks for good reason.

At the southernmost point of mainland Australia lies Victoria’s oldest and one of its most-loved national parks. Wilsons Promontory is a 50,000-hectare coastal wilderness of sandy beaches, granite tors, fern gullies, mountain peaks and native wildlife (think emus, wombats and vividly plumed rosellas), and even harbours a vast inland sand dune system. It is an Aboriginal cultural landscape that remains of major spiritual significance to Victorian Koorie communities today.

Getting to Wilsons Prom

Visit for the day, it’s three hours’ drive from Melbourne in South Gippsland, or stay awhile: the Prom’s main hub is the family-friendly Tidal River (named for the tea tree-stained waterway that curls lazily around it), which offers family-friendly campsites and huts (book ahead, especially in peak season) or hike to a secluded campsite or the historic cottages at the Wilsons Promontory Lightstation.

Wilsons Promontory national park — Marvel at the beauty found within one of Victoria’s favourite parks.

What to do at Wilsons Prom

Squeaky Beach

A must-hear sound as much as a must-see sight, powdery white Squeaky Beach gets its name from the noise your feet make as they pad along it. That’s thanks to the fine, rounded grains of quartz sand that compress under your feet as you walk. While here, take a dip in the famously turquoise waters and explore the maze of large granite boulders at the northern end of this iconic beach.

Mt Oberon

Set your sights on the summit of Mt Oberon for one of the best views in Victoria. This trek is short, at 6.8 kilometres return, and steep as you approach the granite peak where you’ll be rewarded with a panorama of Wilsons Promontory: from its pristine coastline and Tidal River to its offshore islands, gullies and other mountains. For a more rugged and challenging trek, hike Mt Bishop.

Whisky Bay

Follow the coastal walk that connects some of Wilsons Prom’s pristine beaches from Squeaky Beach round to Whisky Bay – preferably in time for sunset (also accessible via its own car park). A secluded beach with colourful rock outcrops, its position on the western coast of the peninsula provides the rare opportunity on the east coast of Australia to see the sun go down over the ocean. Watch as sky, sand and sea turn all the shades of a Manhattan, and islands cast perfect silhouettes on the horizon.

Big Drift

One of the most unusual features of Wilsons Prom is rather poetically called the Big Drift: a landscape of vast and ever-shifting sand dunes. Near the park’s entrance yet off the beaten track, to get there it’s a two-kilometre walk from Stockyards Camp along a path that winds through bushland, paddocks and over hills until presenting you with the otherworldly sight. Spend time exploring but keep an eye on where you’ve come from – it can be easy to get lost here.

A Pennicott cruise

Jump aboard one of Pennicott Wilderness Journeys’ amphibious yellow boats to explore the Prom’s rugged coastline and unique wildlife, venture to South Point and take in the granite monolith that is Skull Rock.

Hike to Sealers Cove

No roads lead to this picturesque cove, all sandy shores and forest fringed, so what better excuse to lace up your walking boots? Access to Sealers Cove is only possible via a 25km hike from Telegraph Saddle.

Marine national park

Wilsons Prom is home to Victoria’s largest marine protected area, with waters off the southern coast that harbour a fascinating world ripe for exploration by divers and snorkellers and rivalling the Great Barrier Reef.

Find more memorable things to do at Wilsons Prom here.

Wildlife at Wilsons Prom

Wilsons Promontory is a refuge for native wildlife and a top whale-watching spot to boot.

Wombat

Visitors to Wilsons Prom will delight in seeing the typically reclusive wombat in the wild, and in fact, the portly marsupial can be quite bold and cheeky in its foraging for food at popular camping spot Tidal River; Parks Victoria advises storing food in your vehicle at night so as not to be woken by a furry intruder.

Whales

Tours run seasonally, typically from May to October with peak whale season usually from June to September.

Spot-tailed quoll

Part of a $23 million upgrade of the national park, a 10-kilometre predator-proof fence is being built across the isthmus at the entry to the Prom to create a 50,000-hectare sanctuary for vulnerable native species including the ground parrot, southern brown bandicoot and spot-tailed quoll.

Emu

The mighty emu is another fixture of Wilsons Prom and, while you may count yourself lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one on your travels around the park, up your chances by heading along on the short, sweet and appropriately named Prom Wildlife Walk, where you’ll also see other native wildlife including wallabies, roos and more wombats.

Access to Wilsons Prom

Wilsons Promontory is one of several national parks in Victoria that has free all-terrain wheelchairs; TrailRiders are available to hire so those with mobility limitations can enjoy and explore the wilderness including the views from the summit of Mt Oberon. The Prom, in fact, is one of three parks that offer the use of TrailRiders for going longer and steeper, and has beach wheelchairs too. See parks.vic.gov.au for more information.

Located just an hour north-west of Melbourne, the largely undiscovered Macedon Ranges quietly pours some of Australia’s finest cool-climate wines and serves up some of Victoria’s best food.

Mention the Macedon Ranges and most people will think of day spas and mineral springs around Daylesford, cosy weekends away in the countryside or the famous Hanging Rock (of enigmatic picnic fame). Or they won’t have heard of the Macedon Ranges at all.

But this cool-climate destination has been inconspicuously building a profile as a high-quality food and wine region and is beginning to draw serious attention from oenophiles and epicureans alike.

The rise of Macedon Ranges wine

liquid gold barrels at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — Barrels of liquid gold at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

With elevations ranging from 300 to 800 metres, Macedon Ranges vineyards are among the highest in the country. This altitude, combined with significant day/night temperature swings, makes for a slow ripening season, in turn nurturing wines that embody elegance and structure. Think crisp chardonnays, subtle yet complex pinot noirs and delicate sparkling wines, along with niche varietals, such as gamay and nebbiolo.

Despite the region’s natural advantages – which vary from estate to estate, as each site embodies unique terroir depending on its position in relation to the Great Dividing Range, soil make-up and altitude – the Macedon Ranges has remained something of an insider’s secret. Unlike Victoria’s Yarra Valley or Mornington Peninsula, you won’t find large tour buses here and there’s no mass marketing drawing crowds.

Many of the 40-odd wineries are family-run operations with modest yields, meaning the wineries maintain a personal touch (if you visit a cellar door, you’ll likely chat to the owner or winemaker themselves) and a tight sales circle that often doesn’t go far beyond said cellar door. And that’s part of the charm.

Though wines from the Macedon Ranges are just starting to gain more widespread recognition in Australia, the first vines were planted in the 1860s, with a handful of operators then setting up business in the 1970s and ’80s. The industry surged again in the 1990s and early 2000s with the entry of wineries, such as Mount Towrong, which has an Italian slant in both its wine and food offering, and Curly Flat , now one of the largest estates.

Meet the new generation of local winemakers

the Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. — The Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Then, within the last 15 years, a new crop of vignerons like Andrew Wood at Kyneton Ridge Estate , whose vineyard in 2024 was the first in the Macedon Ranges to be certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia; Geoff Plahn and Samantha Reid at Paramoor , who have an impressive cellar door with a roaring fire and studded leather couches in an old Clydesdale barn; and Ollie Rapson and Renata Morello at Lyons Will , who rapidly expanded a small vineyard to focus on top-shelf riesling, gamay, pinot noir and chardonnay, have taken ownership of local estates.

Going back to the early days, Llew Knight’s family was one of the pioneers of the 1970s, replacing sheep with vines at Granite Hills when the wool industry dwindled. Knight is proud of the fact that all their wines are made with grapes from their estate, including a light, peppery shiraz (some Macedon wineries purchase fruit from nearby warmer areas, such as Heathcote, particularly to make shiraz) and a European-style grüner veltliner. And, as many other wineries in the region do, he relies on natural acid for balance, rather than an additive, which is often required in warmer regions. “It’s all about understanding and respecting your climate to get the best out of your wines,” he says.

farm animals atKyneton Ridge Estate — Curious residents at Kyneton Ridge Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Throughout the Macedon Ranges, there’s a growing focus on sustainability and natural and low-intervention wines, with producers, such as Brian Martin at Hunter Gatherer making waves in regenerative viticulture. Martin previously worked in senior roles at Australia’s largest sparkling winemaking facility, and now applies that expertise and his own nous to natural, hands‑off, wild-fermented wines, including pét‑nat, riesling and pinot noir. “Wild fermentation brings more complexity,” he says. “Instead of introducing one species of yeast, you can have thousands and they add different characteristics to the wine.”

the vineyard at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The estate’s vineyard, where cool-climate grapes are grown. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Most producers also focus on nurturing their grapes in-field and prune and pick by hand, thus avoiding the introduction of impurities and the need to meddle too much in the winery. “The better the quality of the fruit, the less you have to interfere with the natural winemaking process,” says Wood.

Given the small yields, there’s also little room for error, meaning producers place immense focus on quality. “You’re never going to compete in the middle [in a small region] – you’ve got to aim for the top,” says Curly Flat owner Jeni Kolkka. “Big wineries try to do things as fast as possible, but we’re in no rush,” adds Troy Walsh, owner and winemaker at Attwoods . “We don’t use commercial yeasts; everything is hand-harvested and everything is bottled here, so we bottle only when we’re ready, not when a big truck arrives.” That’s why, when you do see a Macedon Ranges product on a restaurant wine list, it’s usually towards the pointy end.

Come for the wine, stay for the food

pouring sauce onto a dish at Lake HouseDaylesford — Dining at Lake House Daylesford is a treat. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

If wine is the quiet achiever of the Macedon Ranges, then food is its not-so-secret weapon. In fact, the area has more hatted restaurants than any other region in Victoria. A pioneer of the area’s gourmet food movement is region cheerleader Alla Wolf-Tasker, culinary icon and founder of Daylesford’s Lake House.

For more than three decades, Wolf-Tasker has championed local producers and helped define what regional fine dining can look like in Australia. Her influence is palpable, not just in the two-hatted Lake House kitchen, but in the broader ethos of the region’s dining scene, as a wave of high-quality restaurants have followed her lead to become true destination diners.

the Midnight Starling restaurant in Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The hatted Midnight Starling restaurant is located in Kyneton. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

It’s easy to eat well, whether at other hatted restaurants, such as Midnight Starling in the quaint town of Kyneton, or at the wineries themselves, like Le Bouchon at Attwoods, where Walsh is inspired by his time working in France in both his food offering and winemaking.

The beauty of dining and wine touring in the Macedon Ranges is that it feels intimate and unhurried. You’re likely to meet the winemaker, hear about the trials of the latest vintage firsthand, and taste wines that never make it to city shelves. And that’s worth getting out of the city for – even if it is just an hour down the road.

Delicate dishes on the menu at Midnight Starling. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

the accommodation at Cleveland Estate, Macedon Ranges — Stay at the Cleveland Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Soak up vineyard views from Cleveland Estate near Lancefield , embrace retro charm at Kyneton Springs Motel or indulge in lakeside luxury at the Lake House .

Eating there

Enjoy a four-course menu at the one-hatted Surly Goat in Hepburn Springs, Japanese-inspired fare at Kuzu in Woodend or unpretentious fine dining at Mount Monument , which also has a sculpture park.

Drinking there

wine tasting at PassingClouds Winery, Macedon Ranges — A tasting at Passing Clouds Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Settle in for a tasting at Boomtown in Castlemaine, sample local drops at the cosy Woodend Cellar & Bar or wine-hop around the many cellar doors, such as Passing Clouds .

the Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar signage — Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Playing there

a scenic river in Castlemaine — Idyllic scenes at Castlemaine. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Wander through the seasonal splendour of Forest Glade Gardens , hike to the summit of Hanging Rock, or stroll around the tranquil Sanatorium Lake.

purple flowers hanging from a tree — Purple flowers hanging from a tree. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

The ultimate guide to Wilsons Promontory National Park