Wilsons Promontory National Park 

Wilsons Promontory is a great national park in Victoria.
Wilsons Prom is one of the most popular national parks in Australia, known for its coastal scenery, granite headlands, fern gullies and beaches, hilltop views and wildlife.
The park covers a peninsula in the southernmost point of mainland Australia and includes marine reserves around the coast and offshore islands.

The handiest way to get to and do this beautiful national park:

TRIP TO WILSONS FROM MELBOURNE













Geological History
Wilsons Promontory National Park is situated where Tasmania used to be connected to Australia before the sea levels rose about 15,000 years ago. The national park sits on the highest point of a 300km-long and 50km-wide batholith (igneous rock deposit) which links Tasmania to the mainland Australia.


Tidal River. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Aboriginal and European History
Wilsons Promontory is mentioned in some Dreamtime stories and the shell middens along the western coast show that Aboriginal people used to collect seafood here. Since Europeans arrived, the area was used for sealing and whaling, quarrying, mining and timber-cutting before it became a national park at the turn of the last century.


Whiskey Bay. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Australian Plants
Before logging and a severe bushfire in 1951 there were 60m-tall trees in Wilsons Promontory. Today, the park is still rich in flora – about 700 species of plants such as banksias, she oaks, tea trees, Spinifex and wildflowers are found in its temperate rainforests, grasslands and gullies.


Eucalypts. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Australian Animals
Wilsons Promontory National Park is also a great place for watching wildlife. The animals include grey kangaroos, koalas, wallabies, wombats, possums and bandicoots. The birds found in the park include emus, parrots like rainbow lorikeets and crimson rosellas; yellow-tailed black cockatoos, forest ravens, cape barren geese, oyster catchers and sea eagles.


Wombat. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Tidal River - the Park's Centre
In the end of the park’s only access road in western side of the park is Tidal River, where there is an educational centre, a fuel station, general store, lodges and camp sites, barbeques and picnic sites, an open-air cinema during the summer and the Wilsons Promontory National Park Office, where you can make bookings, get information, maps and camping permits.


Tidal River. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Southern Bushwalks
There are 22 walking tracks in the Wilsons Promontory National Park, which total in 130km and vary from short strolls to long overnight bushwalks. Short walks from Tidal River take you to lookout points on western coast in Norman Point, Squeaky Bay and to the top of Mount Oberon where there are good views over the ocean. Longer walks go to South-east Point Lighthouse, Brown Head, Horn Point and Sealers Cove. There are national parks' camping sites at Sealers Cove, Refuge Cove, South Point, Oberon Bay, Frasers Creek and near Mount Wilson.


Norman Beach. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Northern Bushwalks
The northern areas of the Wilsons Promontory National Park are less visited, but there are some long bushwalking tracks to Vereker Lookout, Miranda Bay and Johnnie Souey Cove. There are campsites at Barry Creek, Miranda Bay and Johnnie Souey Cove but again, it is best to book beforehand.


Sealers Cove. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Beaches along the Coastal Drive
Along the road from the park entrance to the Tidal River there are a few side drives to Cotters Beach and Darby Bay which are beautiful. Another side road (your first one on the left hand side as you enter) takes you to the starting point of the bushwalks in the northern sections of the park near Millers Landing.


Mount Oberon. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Tours and Where to Stay
If you don’t want to camp in the bush, you can stay at Foster Backpacker Hostel, Dannevig Motor Huts or Tidal River Cabins.


If you don’t have you own transport, you can take a tour from Melbourne.


Small Islands. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Here's a map of Wilsons Promontory, where I have tagged the places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.

 
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