Munjip Trail NSW (18km)
Batemans Bay
Nearest Town
Batemans Bay, NSW
Starting Location
- Observation Point Lookout, Batehaven – northern trailhead
- This car park will hold about 40+ cars overall
- McKenzies Beach – southern trailhead
- This car park will hold about 20 cars
Entrance to the northern trailhead
Northern trailhead car park
Finish Location
- Observation Point Lookout, Batehaven – northern trailhead
- This car park will hold about 40+ cars overall
- McKenzies Beach – southern trailhead
- This car park will hold about 20 cars
Southern trailhead car park
Best time of the year to walk
Year round although this is a coastal walk so try to walk when the weather is good to take advantage of the beaches
Munjip Trail NSW (18km)
This trail, located on the southern end of Batemans Bay, south coast NSW, had a ‘soft’ launch in June of 2025. Now I say ‘soft’ launch because the NSW Parks Service website says it will officially open in 2026. On the day we did this walk we came across sections with signage indicating that work was still being completed. Having said that, keen hikers are already doing this walk. In all honesty it’s worthwhile doing in its current state although you do need to pay attention in a couple of areas where signage is still a bit limited.
We had originally planned to do this walk in early August but the weekend we picked experienced some of the worst weather along the NSW coastline. So, we pushed our walk back to the Fathers Day weekend and as luck would have it, the weather was brilliant and stayed sunny all day reaching a maximum of 20℃. In addition we had no wind until around the middle of the day! Its worth noting that the coastal winds will usually turn onshore in the hotter months.
Given there are a number of sections of beach walking, keep any eye out on the tides and if possible do the walk in the first half of the day. All the coastal sections have ‘high tide’ alternative sections and in our case, we opted for one of these even though we didn’t need to just to see what it was like. These alternative routes will push you out into the suburbs and while this walk is light-on in terms of residential walking, it’s a better option to walk along the beaches themselves if you can.
The main trailhead for this walk is at the Observation Point Lookout in the north of the trail and apart from excellent parking, there are lots of little lookouts as well as toilet facilities. The McKenzies Beach trailhead in the south is much more basic and in all honesty we found the finish of this walk to be a bit anticlimactic. You have the option to walk in either direction but either way, you need to deal with getting back to your car at the walk’s end and in our case we opted for the local taxi. You can however get a local bus but in that case you need to make sure you meet the timing otherwise you may have a long wait.
I had been following the NSW Government updates on this trail for the last year and while you will come across the name ‘Batemans Bay Coastal Headlands Walking Trail’ the offical name is now the Munjip Trail and this Aboriginal name is reflected by on-trail focus which includes information signage about local Indigenous culture.
We started our walk just before 9:00am and excepted to take about five hours to walk the maximum distance of 18km. However I was in full flight with my camera with so much to see that I ended up taking over 300 photos and videos on the day and as such, we took just over six hours in total which included a 40 minute lunch. Speaking of lunch your options of either a cafe or supermarket are at Surf beach, Mosquito Bay or Malua Bay beach which is where we ended up having a late lunch.
So onto the walk itself. The trail consists of a combination of natural trail, grass trail, short sections of pathways and the occasional set of steep stairs and small bridges. Even when we came across signage saying work was to occur, the natural trail was still very good.
This trail pretty much hugs the coastline for almost its entirety and with that it means you are walking very close to cliffs and steep drop offs so keep an eye out on younger kids and pay attention as an adult.
The views on this trail are spectacular and that’s what this trail is all about. I have spent much of my life holidaying in this area and on this walk I saw sections of the coastline I have never come across before. Even though you are waking at the rear of housing, in number of areas you feel like you are in bushland for much of this walk. The other bonus was the amount of native flora that was in full bloom and given that we visited at the start of Spring, another few weeks would have been really spectacular.
The downside of this walk is that in some of the areas that are still being worked on, the signage hasn’t been finalised. On one occasion there was no signage to get us off the beach up onto the headland, which is pretty much what this walk is about, and we ended up walking too far down the beach by about 200 metres over the rock ledge before turning back and finding the unmarked beach exit.
Some of the sign placements are also a bit random with the green square trail signs being stuck on a log or a rock. We also had one small beach that looked like the path down to the sand had been washed out so I can only assume that there will be a set of stairs going in. At this time, we walked a short distance back up the hill and took the high tide option which added a couple of hundred metres to the day.
This walk is 15-18km and in our case we did 16.44km over the day. The reason for the range is that you can choose to skip some of the headlands which is what we did on the final alternative. It’s worth noting that this walk combines a series of smaller local walks so if you don’t feel like doing the full 15-18km, you can pick and choose a shorter section that meets your fitness level and time availability.
All up this was an excellent walk and when we compare it to similar walks in the region such as the Kiama Coast Walk and the Southern Headlands Walk in Ulladulla, this one comes out on the top of our list!
Away we go, leaving the northern trailhead
Trail example on the Munjip Trail
Trail example Munjip Trail
Stairs down to the beach level
Pathway about to head onto the beach or if the tide is high, walk above the beach
The wildlife!
On-street markers if you are doing the high tide alternates and on the short connecting stretches that put you into the suburbs
More stairs. This walk takes you from the beaches up onto the headlands and you either do this by an increase in the trail incline or via stairs
There is lots of seating on-trail – many mark the locals who visited over the years
Dodging the water, we didn’t get wet feet!
Leaving the beach on the Munjip Trail. You need to get your eye in as there is a trail marker on this log that sticks out
Road walking
Gill on-trail
Cliff edge Munjip Trail. In some sections the trail is right on the edge of the cliff so pay close attention
Bridge on-trail
Beach walking
If you look closely there is a well hidden trail just to the right of this boat shed. This was on a section that is still being worked on
Whale tail sculpture at the McKenzies Beach southern trailhead
Why do this Walk
This walk is all about the coastal views however when we walked in early September, there were a huge number of native plants in flower and it wasn’t even the peak season. You may even see whales at the right time of the year!
View on Munjip
View on Munjip Trail
Panoramic view
Banksia in flower
Native solanum
Trail signage
Below are examples of the information and directional signage on this trail
Information signage at the northern trailhead
You are here
Lots of the amenities
Ground signage
On-trail signage
Lots of the amenities
Trail signage post
Trailer marker post. Note the direction if the tide is too high or seas rough to access the beaches
There are still sections of trail being worked on
On trail facilities
Lots of the amenities including toilets at regular intervals
Rubbish bins are available art regular intervals
Picnic areas are scattered along the trail at the main beaches
Trail video
This video slide show provides a visual overview of our experience on the day of our walk
Getting there
You can start this walk at either trailhead which means you will need transport of some sort at the opposite end e.g. second car, taxi, bus or Uber (limited)
Munjip Trail northern trailhead is 4.5km (7 minute drive) from the Batemans Bay GPO
Munjip Trail southern trailhead is 13.8km (15 minute drive) from the Batemans Bay GPO
Things to know
- Phone: There is good phone signal on this trail (Telstra)
- Water: You need to bring your own water however there are shops and water bubblers along the way
- Toilets: There are toilets on this trail at various locations
- Trail: This walk is mostly on formed natural trail with some beach walking
- Dogs: Dogs allowed on leash
- Other:
- Bring adequate shade (hat, long sleeves etc) in the hotter months
- No camping is allowed on this trail
- If the weather is good, bring your swimsuit and towel
- There are three takeaway shops and one set of shops along this trail
- Signage is still being installed so keep a close eye out when coming off the beach
- Keep an eye on young children as there are a number of sections of this trail that are close to steep drop offs!
Disclaimer
This walk was undertaken by the team from Australian Hiker