Point Cooke & Cheetham Wetlands – Victoria

Date of Walk: 09/01/2009

Length (km): 8.4 km

Time (hrs/min): 2hrs 15 min

Grade: Easy

Return / Circuit / One-Way / Partial Circuit: Partial Circuit

Region: Melbourne

Park: Point Cooke Coastal Park

Closest Town: Werribee (10km)

Ascent: 10 m

Maximum Height: 10 m

Map: Highlighted extract from ParkWeb Park Note (Point Cook Coastal Park and Cheltenham Wetlands – Visitor Guide)

Further Details / Source(s): Walk #19 in “Day Walks Victoria” by John Chapman, Monica Chapman & John Siseman (available from many bookstores) and ParkWeb Park Notes: Point Cook Coastal Park and Cheetham Wetlands – Visitors Guide and Point Cook Coastal Park – History – A Sketchy Past

Getting There: Access is from Point Cook Road. From Melbourne, take the Princess Freeway and exit at the first Point Cook turn-off. Follow the tourist signs to the Point Cook Coastal Park.

Once in the park, pass the RAAF Lookout and turn right at the T-intersection (there is a sign to Point Cook Beach Picnic Area). After Spectacle Lake, there will be a carpark on the right and then one on the left – park in the one on the left.

Comments: This is a really nice peaceful spot but for most of the walk, the scenery is not that amazing. However, the highlight is definitely the views over the Cheetham Wetlands from “The Tower”, despite the fact that the wetlands were created through the activities of an old saltworks!

Walk towards the beach from the carpark, passing the toilet block and children’s playground, and follow the track to the left. Before you get to the beach, take the unmarked vehicle track on the left.

I wasn’t interested in the homestead so as suggested in the book, I followed the tree-line around to meet the dirt road near the entry gate. There was no obvious track which explains why it isn’t marked in the ParkWeb Park Note map but you’ll be right as long as you head to the left of the buildings beyond the tree-line.

Follow a dirt road to the right and enter the gate to the Cheetham Wetlands. From here follow the signed track to “The Tower”. As I mentioned, the views from the tower are the highlight of this walk. You may notice that there are tracks and boardwalks through the wetlands but it seems that these have been closed to protect native birdlife.

Head back to the gate where you entered the Wetlands and head to the corner of the fence-lines (there is no marked track but you can see the gate from the main track). From there, follow the track to the left (east) to the shoreline. Follow the shoreline (ie. walk on the beach, parallel to the track you started on) back to the carpark.

“Day Walks Victoria” lists this as a 3 hour walk but as I’ve said above it only took me 2 hours and 15 minutes. I stopped for heaps of photo’s and explored some areas very thoroughly (I didn’t think I was walking very fast either). The book rates the walk as Easy and this is definitely accurate but it is worth noting that a few km of the walk are on sand since some people (such as me) dislike walking on sand (aside from the annoyance of it filling your shoes, it really takes its toll on your legs and ankles!).