Discover the Great Ocean Road’s spectacular geological icons, the Twelve Apostles, and its little-discovered surrounds on the four day, three night Twelve Apostles Signature Walk (formerly known as Twelve Apostles Lodge Walk).
The walk covers the last 46km of the The Great Ocean Walk and takes you along the rugged ‘shipwreck’ coastline with its wild beaches, as well as into into its beautiful national parks, The Great Otway National Park and the Port Campbell National Park, for some incredible and diverse wildlife viewing.
There are few better places to see Australian wildlife first-hand than on the Great Ocean Road and the Twelve Apostles Signature Walk. The trail is alive with native flora and fauna: birds, fur seals, wallabies, koalas, and many plant species unique to this special corner of the world.
You’ll also learn about the land through the eyes of the first Australians and this special land, as well as the British convicts transported here on ships over 200 years ago, with shipwrecks that litter the coastline full of tales of love and loss.
The walk ends with a celebratory lunch before travelling back to Melbourne.
Exclusive Accommodation
This is a lodge-based walk, with walkers carrying only a day pack and unwinding each night with creature comforts in our private eco-lodge, exclusive for your use.
Located at Johanna Beach, the mid-point of the trail. Walkers stay in eco villas with en-suite bathrooms, fresh linen and hot showers.
Sustainably designed and constructed, the lodge features many hiker-friendly facilities such as a drying room, foot spas, and gear hire.
Fabulous regional food and a selection of Victoria’s best wines are on the menu, with healthy meals prepared each fresh each day to fuel your walk. Dietary requirements can be catered for with advance notice in booking.
The Twelve Apostles Signature Walk is graded overall as moderate with easy and challenging sections along the way. The elevation changes from sea level to near 300 metres across the trail. It is a well-formed track from east to west, with stone stairs installed on many of the steeper sections to make elevation changes easier.
With walking groups no larger than 10 hikers at a time, this an intimate way to experience one of the great coastlines of the world.
Walk Overview
- Accessed via Melbourne, VIC
- Duration: 4 days / 3 nights
- Distance: 44km
- Grade: Moderate
- Walk operates: September - May
- Coastal heath, beaches and forests
- Group size: Max 10
- Av. Km per day: 15km
- Rates: From AUD $2,395 per person, twin share
Reviews
"Wow! Everything I hoped for and so much more. I travelled on my own, and was not disappointed… The team really cater for everything with a beautiful lodge, warm foot spas to soak our tired feet, spectacular meals... The whole trip was amazing - views are spectacular… If you’re considering 12 Apostles Lodge Hike - book now!"
Kahlee – Guest feedback
Elevation Graph
This graph loosely depicts the gradient of the track, providing you with some basic understanding of how challenging the walk will be. The graphs are useful in helping you decide which walk suits you best. Whatever your ability or fitness, there’s sure to be a walk that suits in the Great Walks of Australia collection.
* Elevations are indicative only and are not to scale. Walkers should contact individual walk companies to better understand the terrain and difficulty of each walk.
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Walk Itinerary
- Day One Blanket Bay to Cape Otway. Approx three hours walking. After a scenic drive from Melbourne, we start the first section of the walk at Blanket Bay, one of the highlights of the Great Ocean Walk. We follow the coast of Great Otway National Park, climb along cliff tops and walk barefoot on golden sand beaches. Learn about the unique flora and fauna as you go from our expert guides. Koalas, kangaroos, and echidnas, you are sure to see some local wildlife on this unique part of the trail. The Cape Otway Lighthouse makes for a great end to the walk, where our guides can teach you all about the naval history of the area. From the lighthouse, we transfer you to our private lodge in Johanna, where we welcome you with a glass of local sparkling and a spectacular long table dinner to celebrate your first day of walking.
- Day Two Milanesia to Moonlight Head. Approx 6.5 hours walking Challenge delivers great reward. Wild, weathered headlands give the sense you’re at the world’s edge. Day two is your hardest day out on the track. But with it comes spectacular seascapes and personal triumph. Beginning at Milanesia Track, it covers some of the most remote sections of the Great Ocean Walk. This is your day of wild. Your day of rugged. The ocean is your steadfast companion across 14.5 kilometres of rolling terrain today, beginning with a descent onto Milanesia Beach. Here, your guide will point out a ‘natural rock wall’ that would be the envy of any budding young climber. After a fleeting beach visit, it’s a short but bracing climb that whispers of inclines to come. Over the next hours, the trail carves its way through deep gullies with tree ferns and towering remnant Eucalypts. There are 132 steps to ascend before trailing west out of the forest to Ryans Den. On suitable days, this is your lunch perch. The Den gifts with unsurpassed views across to Cape Volney and Cape Otway. Further along, the trail, as it mimics the tumbles and rising of the coastline, keep an eye out for Cape Volney. There’s a bench that, if time allowed, could swallow hours. Heaving seas disappear into watery caves. Views west travel to the horizon’s edge. And the entire spectacle is framed by the forest.
- Day Three Moonlight Head to Wreck Beach. Approx 3.5 hours walking The first four and a half kilometres gently meander through native stringybark forest providing a contrast to the coast, concluding with a rise to the Gables, one of mainland Australia’s highest cliff-top lookouts. Tide-dependent, you will descend onto Wreck Beach and explore the historic shipwreck ruins before continuing through to Devil’s Kitchen for lunch and onto the historic Fiji shipwreck memorial. Wilder days will give an insight into the cauldron-like ocean at this part of the coast. After lunch, we follow the Devil’s Kitchen Track through fern gullies and over a ridge populated with grass trees to Wreck Beach carpark. On our way back to the lodge we divert for a short walk around Melba Gully, an enchanting rainforest gully with towering Mountain Ash and Beech Myrtle with an understory of tree ferns and waterfalls. After returning to the lodge we celebrate our last night together with a rejuvenating foot spa, a long table dinner and a glass of local wine.
- Day Four Princetown to Twelve Apostles. Approx 3 hours walking Enjoy your final morning at Twelve Apostles Lodge. After another wholesome breakfast, there’s a final pack up, check out and lodge farewell before a 45-minute drive to Princetown. These fabulous natural wonders emerge on slow reveal as the trail rises and falls along the coastline. There is a viewing lookout exclusively for walkers before our final stretch of trail into the Twelve Apostles Visitors Centre. You’ve made it! We’ll then move on to the nearby town of Timboon where we visit our dairy supplier, Schulz Organic Dairy for lunch before returning to Melbourne. We offer a drop-off to the airport and Melbourne CBD after your walk.
Margaret River, WA 
