Murramarang South Coast Walk: take a wander on the wild side

Can you go on a wilderness hike and spend each night in comfort? You can on the exciting new Murramarang South Coast Walk!

When we set off for three days on NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service’s new Murramarang South Coast Walk (Pretty Beach to Maloneys Beach), the walk was still very new. Construction hadn't quite finished and we run into a few glitches. But those following our footsteps will discover another gem of Australian multi-day walks, rivalling Tasmania’s Three Capes Walk for wild and beautiful coastal scenery.

Glamping at Murramarang Beachfront

As soon as I heard this 34km walk was launching, I rounded up three friends to share in the experience.

Options for the walk include up to four people staying in cabins for two nights, with the first night in NPWS cabins and the second at the NRMA Murramarang Beachfront Holiday Resort (the price includes a bus transfer back to Pretty Beach at the end of the walk).

There are also camping options, which people hardier than us can book to pitch tents at designated campsites on the way. My friends and I belong to a group that goes for long walks most Fridays, but we’re also keen on our creature comforts – good food, comfy beds and hot showers rate highly with us.

A walk up Durras Mountain

However, our trip doesn’t begin well. After driving through ever-heavier rain to spend a night in a coastal village prior to starting out, a sharp burst of winter brings sinking temperatures and equally sinking hearts.

An east coast low sends snow showers just to the west of us, the temperature drops to 4°C, and the ocean has a six-metre swell.

We wake to a fine morning after the torrential rain, but the swell and high tide combine to send huge waves crashing over the rock platform and battering the cliffs at the end of Pretty Beach. It’s right where we’re meant to start our walk.

The National Parks ranger in the Pretty Beach office is concerned about our safety in the treacherous conditions. He suggests another option to walk up and along Durras Mountain and search for an old trail back towards the coast.

The ranger’s advice to take a detour comes as a shock, but one glance at the boiling ocean assures us we have no other option, except perhaps to drive.

Fond as we are of driving, we’re here to walk in nature, so we park the car, haul out our packs laden with food, water and a minimum of clothing, and set off on a steep climb up a rough but discernible track.

Taking the mountain track around Pebbly Beach

Between us, we have downloaded map apps from Google, NPWS and AllTrails. Our unofficial leader, Jean, brings topographic paper maps as well.

The going gets easier once we reach an old road along the saddle of the mountain. Jean, who knows this area well, tells us there was once a farm here. Just in time for lunch, an ancient picnic table materialises ahead.

After consulting her maps, Jean recommends we travel further south, skipping the most direct track down to Pebbly Beach in case the beach route is still cut off by big waves.

We tackle an even rougher path downhill, thrilling to the trill of lyrebirds in every little valley we pass, until we reach a road leading back to the coast.

Settling in at Depot Beach

We settle in our NPWS cabin, set among spotted gum trees at Depot Beach.

Enough daylight remains that we can walk down the grand sandstone steps and explore this beautiful beach.

Clouds turn the setting sun pink in a beautiful sight that’s doubled in the reflection on the lagoon. Eastern grey kangaroos, currawongs and king parrots roam near the cabins, well accustomed to humans.

A small army of schoolboys on a Year 9 excursion are camped nearby, mostly preoccupied with cooking their evening meal, as we are. What did we miss by walking this 6km detour?

Apparently, some great beaches, including the atmospheric Singing Stones Beach, palm-filled rainforest gullies, and a safe swimming spot at Snake Bay.

Learn from our experience and check local tidal information before you plan a start time, as we’re later advised the Pebbly Beach to Durras Mountain walking track is closed and not part of the Murramarang South Coast Walk.

Day two: Oaky Beach and Durras

Day two is a leisurely one, with only 8km to the NRMA Murramarang Beachfront Resort.

I get up early to catch the sunrise on Depot Beach, where the local ducks seem upset at how much seawater the big swell has dumped into their mostly freshwater lagoon.

The weather stays fine and the well-constructed tracks are still in good shape after the rain.

The track heads uphill, through an awe-inspiring forest of spotted gums surrounded by burrawang cycads, before serpentine tracks wind down to North Durras Beach.

Four young women hiking at speed have overtaken us while heading for the camping ground at Oaky Beach. They must have crossed the ever-changing lagoon known as Durras Lake by wading in and holding their packs (and boots) above the water.

The “man with a boat” NPWS has booked for us turns out to be local kayaking instructor, Phil, and his boat is four kayaks – an easy and fun way to get across. We stretch out for a leisurely picnic on a grassy patch overlooking South Durras Beach.

One kangaroo quickly becomes several, advancing with interest towards our lunch, before we check into the NRMA’s four-star resort. Our cabin, configured for four singles, is right on tranquil Mill Beach and has a sunny deck area.

It also has a kitchen but we’d rather dine out on seafood in the resort’s ritzy restaurant after enjoying a drink in front of the fire. The staff at the resort are unfailingly polite and helpful.

Hikers in the quiet season are as big a novelty to them as staying in luxe digs during a multi-day hike is to us.

The last leg: a glorious 16km to Maloneys Beach

The last day is the longest for those who, like us, are on the three-day cabin package. We have 16km to cover before meeting the bus at Maloneys Beach at 3pm. This is the most dramatic stretch, with magnificent views from the cliffs.

We walked some of this track the previous afternoon (to the eerily beautiful Dark and Myrtle beaches), so we skip ahead via a road to Richmond Beach, and onwards to Oaky Beach through weird and wonderful forests.

Some trees have sent up multiple trunks from their base, which then form a basin to collect water.

In a tiny rainforest glade, I photograph an interesting fruiting shrub, later identified as Pittosporum rubiginosum – a species supposedly restricted to North Queensland.

This little piece of Gondwanaland rainforest has seemingly travelled through time and space. The first lookout platform after Oaky Beach is pretty special, but the lookout at North Head has the most spectacular views of churning seas and primeval landforms.

Civilisation reappears just past North Head Beach, in the form of two NPWS houses on a grassy flat, yet it’s here we see the only swamp wallaby on our walk. There’s one last gorgeous vista of Maloneys Beach to experience before we climb down to its grassy foreshore.

Back to Pretty Beach 

A work crew is still busy constructing the carpark/pickup area when we arrive, and a bus company has been contracted to transfer us back to Pretty Beach.

It’s the driver’s first time navigating the route and they’ve only been given vague verbal instructions that see us end up on old logging tracks winding through the forest.

A standoff occurs at a bridge as a driver on the other side insists we can’t cross, which is certainly true while he’s blocking the way. The timely arrival of another NPWS ranger in a 4WD aids in our rescue.

To everyone’s relief, she persuades the motorist to back off and we later arrive at the Pretty Beach carpark, still exhilarated and keen to experience the walk again someday.

Book your stay

The National Parks and Wildlife Service has developed multi-day walking packages to streamline planning/booking and help more people experience the beauty of the Murramarang South Coast Walk.

To learn more about the walk or book one of the associated packages, visit nswparks.info/MSCW.