2026 Great South West Walk
Great South West Walk Logo
It’s time again to get back into doing some long distance hikes (over 100km) after three years break away from this style of hiking and in 2026, I have two walks planned with the first being what I consider to be a ‘test walk’. When I say test walk, I mean a walk that challenges my fitness without being excessive.
Our first walk of choice is the 262km Great South West Walk (GSWW) in southwestern Victoria. The GSWW really hadn’t been on our radar but in looking at my long distance hiking over the coming years I cast my net broadly and came up with several walks that I hadn’t previously considered.
Yes, I know that this is a long distance and originally, I was looking at the 164km Grampians Peak Trail, also in Victoria (now scheduled for 2027), and while the GSSW is 102km longer the duration of this walk is only a couple of days difference and in the end three things decided our choice.
Firstly, Gill decided that her preference was the GSSW, and secondly this walk, while no means ‘easy’, has fewer challenging sections (rock scrambling) which was a big factor for me given I had a hip replacement in 2025 and am still testing my limits and abilities. And finally, we have two preferred hiking environments, arid and coastal, and this walk ticks the box on the coastal side.
When I walked the Bibbulmun Track in 2018 I averaged 32km/day with my biggest day being 44km. This time round our daily walking average will be 19km with the biggest planned day being around 29km (but this is on the easier second of the trail) so from that respect ‘we’re taking it easy’.
I’m pretty much in planning mode at the moment, working out all the logistics of this trip, accommodation, getting to and from the trail head, food, gear choices, and all those other considerations that need to be managed as we go.
We look forward updating you on this walk as we get closer to our planned start date and this section of our website will take you through the lead in process, highlighting how we are preparing and what we are thinking. Wherever possible we will be releasing daily posts on the trail once we start walking, although some days may be delayed pending available phone/internet access.
It’s time again to get back into doing some long distance hikes (over 100km) after three years break away from this style of hiking and in 2026, I have two walks planned with the first being what I consider to be a ‘test walk’. When I say test walk, I mean a walk that challenges […]