Great Ocean Rd Walk v. Great Southwest Walk

[LAMEA-Gals]

Looking for some advice about these two walks. I'm heading down from NSW for work and have 7 days after a work conference to do some walking in this area - it will be in early March. Both of these areas appeal - I know the Great Southwest Walk is longer so I'd only be able to do a portion of it. There are at least 3 of us doing it so we have 2 cars so car shuttles aren't a problem. Any advice about how they compare - scenery, difficulty, crowds? We are all experienced walkers but don't want to be crunching out massive days - so walking for about 6 hours with time to relax would be ideal.

Many thanks

[walkon]

I'd go the gow, if you do a bit of exploring you can fill the days easily. It's a lot more scenic and March has good temps to go for a swim along the way.

[cajun]

We recently completed the GOW in Oct. I can highly recommend it. We walked over 7 days, one rest day, with the longest day about 25km.

It was our first multi day walk (although we had done plenty of longish day walks previously) and we are already planning our next. While we took the luxury option, the camp sites looked to be in excellent condition.

The scenery is breathtaking, as is the different walking each day.

[dashandsaph]

Just did a lovely 4 day walk from Mt Richmond back to Portland on the GSWW. Was a highlights package with some forest, farmland, cliffs and beach. Could easily be turned into a cruisy 5 days. Either do a car shuffle or as we did, park cars outside police station in Portland and maxi taxi to Mt Richmond.

[icefest]

The GSWW is more remote, so you will see less people. I'd say the scenery is slightly less monumental though. It is cheaper. There is only really one safe swimming beach (Cape Bridgewater beach).
The GOW is more touristy, has more facilities but is more expensive. It is a one way track (IIRC).

Personally, I'd recommend the Nelson-Portland stretch of the GSWW, is you like being alone and other people bother you. If you want views, go GOW.

[LAMEA-Gals]

Thanks for all the replies. Will check out the GOW website and work out how much it is going to cost - assuming its the campsites that make up the cost. Also didn't realise you have to walk it one way - so will do some more research.

[JulianS]

Not sure if you already have, but I'd also consider Croajingolong (http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks ... ness-coast). Would require a bit more planning as there are more uncertainties (inlet crossings, water, etc) - but they're all part of the adventure of walking in a wilderness area

[LAMEA-Gals]

Hi Julian
Thanks for that suggestion. We have already done a fabulous week long walk from Croajingolong up through Nadgee National Park. Loved it - very special part of our coast.

[Happy Pirate]

The eastern end of the GOW is beyond compare - tall E. regnans forest, coastal forests and all off of open roads. The western end has more road bashing but not as much as the GSW I suspect.

JulianS » Mon 16 Nov, 2015 10:04 am
Not sure if you already have, but I'd also consider Croajingolong (http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks ... ness-coast). Would require a bit more planning as there are more uncertainties (inlet crossings, water, etc) - but they're all part of the adventure of walking in a wilderness area

If you were to do Croajingalong I'd do the Mallacoota to Eden walk. Amazing wild remote coastal walk. But maybe a different beast altogether?
Steve

[JulianS]

Think we've reached a quorum re the Nadgee Howe walk being a good one (edit) I had actually been thinking of the south-west section of Croajingolong (between Cape Conran and Mallacoota), which is also well worth it for when you get the chance.

(edit) In any case, this hasn't helped wrt your original query - sorry for the distraction. Enjoy your walk - whichever of the two you eventually decide on.

[icefest]

The eastern end of the GOW is beyond compare - tall E. regnans forest, coastal forests and all off of open roads. The western end has more road bashing but not as much as the GSW I suspect.
Steve

The gsww has very little road bashing. The coastal route has pretty much none.

The how sounds like it has more water though.
I might head over that way next weekend, there's a river with waterfalls that I want to see

[Happy Pirate]

Fair enough, I haven't done the GSWW. I just saw maps with routes along roads through pine plantations. This was years ago; may have changed or been a minor part of the walk...
The GOW also has shelters, toilets and water tank at every camp, don't know about GSWW

[icefest]

From memory the campsites of the gsww have now got shelters water and toilets.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are some roads in the north, but I haven't done that bit.

[Drummo62]

I did the entire GSWW loop earlier this year and can confirm that all of the campsites have a two sided shelter, water tank and toilet. There isn't much road bashing other than the start and finish at Portland. Icefest has it right - if you want something quieter with less people choose GSWW. GOW is much more touristy. IMO the capes section of GSWW is every bit as scenic as GOW and the section along the Glenelg river is also well worth a look.

[GregR]

I'm booked in to do a 4 day section of the GOW March next year. Can't comment on it till then.

However, Just finished a 4 day section of the GSWW last week. Campsites along the Glenelg river are all good and spacious, water in the tanks is very drinkable ( although we did elect to drink from the Canoe camp not the walk-in at Pattersons)



Very little Road walking at all. Saying that though, the track is hard on the feet probably due to the fact your walking on hard limestone a lot when following the river. I started to develop a blister on the 2nd day which we treated and kept at bay, but never been an issue before.

We left my car at the Nelson Pub (out the back) thanks to the Publicans largesse ( much appreciated) and got a lift into Moleside from a guy from the very helpful "Friends of the GSWW"

Found the scenery to be very interesting and more importantly varied. Saw Emus, echidnas, wallabys, roos and not a single snake!

After the walk drove down the GSWW ( road bash there alrighty!!) for 2 kms, to walk down to the Ocean Beach and see what we were missing - lots of sand it would seem.

[Jamroll2019]

Just wondering if this site is still open? Well here goes!
I’m very keen to walk the GSWW, staying in hotel/bnb/motel accommodation. Is this possible? Public transport to some track heads/ends? Shuttle at some of the accommodation available?

[Eremophila]

There is no public transport available, aside from getting to the starting point at Portland. This is a rural area.

Once you leave Portland there are no towns until Nelson, which is very small. Nelson has some basic accommodation options- 2 caravan parks, a pub, and I think a small motel which would be perhaps 2-star. Probably B&B’s as well. There is a small general store which has very basic supplies.

Most of the walk is through State forest or national park. So any accommodation, if you managed to find say a B&B in the area, would be some distance from the walking trail. It is a walk designed to camp along the way.

Cape Bridgewater has a kiosk which does nice meals and there is plenty of holiday accommodation there.

You could contact the Friends of the GSWW as they may provide some transfers and food drops for a fee.

[ChrisJHC]

There is no public transport available, aside from getting to the starting point at Portland. This is a rural area.

Once you leave Portland there are no towns until Nelson, which is very small. Nelson has some basic accommodation options- 2 caravan parks, a pub, and I think a small motel which would be perhaps 2-star. Probably B&B’s as well. There is a small general store which has very basic supplies.

Most of the walk is through State forest or national park. So any accommodation, if you managed to find say a B&B in the area, would be some distance from the walking trail. It is a walk designed to camp along the way.

Cape Bridgewater has a kiosk which does nice meals and there is plenty of holiday accommodation there.

You could contact the Friends of the GSWW as they may provide some transfers and food drops for a fee.

As Eremphila said, this is designed as a self-supported walk so it’s not really practical to use off-route accomodation.
There is a shelter with toilet and water tank each day, but you’ll need to carry your own house (hammock in my case).
You’ll also need to carry your own food but can resupply water each day.

The Friends of the GSWW are great! I arranged for a lift from the Portland police station (where I left my car) to Nelson then walked back. (Didn’t have time to do the whole Walk on that trip). Gave them a nice donation to keep up the great work that they do maintaining the Walk.

[CraigVIC]

Nelson seems like it should be more developed than it is. The pub has changed hands but when I was there the bistro was run by one person taking orders, bussing tables and also cooking the meals. The servo has an extremely limited range of groceries (but also sells frozen sausages?) and the general store isn't much better. Lovely town but I wouldn't rely on being able to get any particular item there.

[Eremophila]

Yes I left my car in front of the Portland Police Station also. At the time - some 12 years ago - they had a sign-in book where you detailed your intended itinerary.

The Friends assisted me with food drops and also picked me up when I finished my walk at Trewalla Springs. They are very helpful.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

My Friend Ms. C. walked the entire GSWW and she loved it. She did the whole thing. She posted a food drop to Nelson Post Office which worked out really well . I need to pull my finger out and do this walk this time next year . There is a guide book for it and all.

[skybeau]

We walked the GSWW in November last year. Barely anybody on it back then, we saw only one hiker on the way to Nelson, then shared a few of the campsites with another couple on the return journey.

Stayed in the glamping tent at the River-Vu Caravan Park for two nights at the halfway point. They also held a food box for us, which we dropped off beforehand (it's only an 90 minute round trip from Portland). Can highly recommend the brekky burger from the kiosk (bacon, egg, hash brown, hollandaise...mmmm). The kiosk has some basic supplies and a few hiker related ones (first aid, some cans of fuel, etc).

Would recommend going inland first. The forest section does drag on a bit, but it's a great buildup to the river, beach and cliff sections, which are stunning. We skipped the inland section to Mt Richmond, preferring to do another beach day (we heard from another hiker and member of the GSWW supporters group that it's basically just walking through plantation).

And the cafe at Cape Bridgewater is sensational. The cafe at Cape Nelson lighthouse is a bit average though.