Wilson's Prom is a 3 hour drive from Melbourne, and the walk will usually take at least 4 hours for fast walkers, and up to 6 or 7 hours if you take it slow. As you need to have checked in at the lighthouse by 5pm, we recommend that you carefully plan your trip.

Preparation

Your booking at the lighthouse will give you free parking for the duration of your stay, but you do need to check in at the Visitors Centre in Tidal river before you head out.

Once you start walking there is no clean drinking water available until you get to the lighthouse, so unless you intend to purify water at either Roaring Meg, or Little Waterloo Bay, I'd recommend you take adequate water for 6 hours.

4 litres of water in summer or 3 litres in winter

The Walk

There are several ways to get to the Lighthouse with two starting locations, and two routes into the lighthouse.

The shortest route starts from the Saddle Car park and follows Telegraph Track to Roaring Meg and then on towards the Lighthouse for a total distance of 19.1km. As you're following the road most of the way, this is also the easiest path to follow.

The longest and most scenic route, follows the coastline from Tidal River to Oberon Bay, before crossing across the width of the prom to Waterloo bay and onto the Lighthouse. This 25.5km route takes in some breathtaking scenery and for the majority of the trek is along narrow walking trails rather than on a road.

My recommended route is to take a compromise. Leave your car down in the Tidal river car park, and catch the free shuttle bus up to the Saddle Car Park. From there walk to the lighthouse via Waterloo bay (20.6km). On the way back you would then travel via Roaring Meg, and Oberon Bay (24km).