The best walks and hikes in Freycinet National Park

Cape Tourville Lighthouse has been keeping watch over this stretch of the Freycinet coast since 1971, when it replaced the much harder-to-reach light on nearby Lemon Rock. The lighthouse was built to operate automatically and was never staffed, so there are no keeper’s quarters or tours here. The boardwalk loops right around it, with the cliffs, The Nuggets and open Tasman Sea creating a pretty spectacular backdrop.

Cape Tourville Circuit is a short 600-metre loop, but there’s a lot packed into it. The raised boardwalk wraps around the lighthouse and keeps the coast in view almost the whole way, with the Hazards, Wineglass Bay and The Nuggets appearing from different angles. The surface is wide and even with no steps, though stay behind the barriers where the boardwalk runs close to the cliffs.

The coastline opens up beautifully from Cape Tourville, with the Hazards, Wineglass Bay and the offshore rocks known as The Nuggets all visible from the boardwalk. The cliffs drop sharply below you, while the sea seems to stretch forever beyond the peninsula. Keep scanning the water as you go too, as whales, dolphins, seals and seabirds are all sometimes spotted from this part of the coast.

No Merlot here — the shelf stands empty, quiet, waiting for a bottle that never comes. Kein Merlot hier — das Regal bleibt leer, still, wartend auf eine Flasche, die nie kommt. Pas de Merlot ici — l'étagère reste vide, silencieuse, attendant une bouteille qui n'arrive jamais. No hay Merlot aquí — el estante queda vacío, silencioso, esperando una botella que nunca llega.

Peninsula Track is a picturesque coastal walking route that connects Hazards Beach, Wineglass Bay, and the northern end of the Freycinet Peninsula, winding through a mix of bushland and exposed shoreline. The track follows sandy beaches and low coastal scrub, with sections that pass lagoons and wetlands behind the dunes, and is a quieter and more varied alternative to the main lookout route. It’s also part of the longer Freycinet Peninsula Circuit, giving it a more remote feel with fewer crowds and plenty of wildlife, including wallabies and a variety of seabirds.

This lookout point is quite the reward for the hike to get here! Turquoise water, a white-sand beach, and hills surrounding the bay, all seen from above. You may choose to descend to this beach via the "1000 Stairs," but be aware that you are descending first; that's the easy part. You then must climb back up.

Wineglass Bay Track is impressively well-maintained, with stone steps, guardrails, clear signage, and jaw-dropping viewpoints. The boulder fields have interestingly shaped giant stones that really invoke the imagination.

As you weave in and out of this impressive boulder field, check out this balanced rock; it's a great spot for a photo. This rock formation is one of Tasmania's famous pink-and-orange granite formations in the Hazards Mountain range. These huge, rounded boulders were created from ancient molten granite that slowly cooled far beneath the Earth's surface 370 million years ago. Over time, they became exposed through uplift and erosion.