Australian Hiker

Nearest Town

Eden, NSW

Best Time of the Year to Travel

Year round, although better in the cooler months

Starting Location

Trail heads at the Ben Boyd Tower in the north, or at Green Cape Lighthouse in the south

Finish Location

Trail heads at the Ben Boyd Tower in the north, or at Green Cape Lighthouse in the south

Light to Light Walk Review

I have been trying to do this walk for a couple of years having read so much about it but I could never quite get the stars to align. For me one of the compounding issues was this was to be the longest walk I had undertaken since injury forced me off the Hume and Hovell Track in mid September 2019 so we/I decided we would walk this 31 km trail in a single day, travelling light and fast. The aim was in part to test out my knee on the biggest single day I had done in a couple of months.

Doing this walk you have two choices. You can start in the north or start in south on this trail. After doing lots of research we decided we would start at the Ben Boyd Tower about 30 minutes south of the township of Eden. Our plan was for Gill to drop me off and I would walk south while she drove down to Green Cape Lighthouse and would then walk north so we could meet me somewhere in the middle of the track and then we woulds walk back to where Gill had left the car. The other options were to take two cars and do a car shuffle, or arrange local transport which at the time of writing this article worked out to be $200 per carload. We decided on the single car option for simplicity.

Around 6.30am we drove to Ben Boyd Tower and after having a look around the Tower, I started my walk south and Gill made her way to the Green Cape Lighthouse car park. By the time Gill arrived at Green Cape Lighthouse and started her journey northwards, I had been walking for just on an hour and had already done around 4.5 km.

The overarching comment I would make on this track is that in heading south you have the ocean within site (or earshot at least) for most of the way until you reach Hegartys Bay. For the remainder of the trip you make your way more inland and occasionally lose contact with the ocean before picking up ocean again as you approach Green Cape.

Doing this walk in late November I expected this would be a hot walk and was shown in 2019 is potentially prone to bushfires in the hotter weather. When we did this walk the weather gods smiled on us with a maximum temperature of around 23°Celcius. Much of the walk as you head south takes you in and out of small green tunnels and so it was a reasonably sheltered and cool environment. It’s only as you reach the southern section of the trail that you start walking in more exposed coastal heathland and you start to feel the heat.

We estimated we would meet at approximately 12:00pm and we weren’t too far off this timing coming together just after 11:30am with both of us walking at a pace of around 4.5 km per hour. At this point Gill turned around to walk with me and we stopped about 15 minutes later at Hegartys Bay for lunch which had good makeshift seating and shade (no camping due to fires as at mid 2022). And lets not forget the great ocean views. We then headed back on trail for the final three hours back to the car at Green Cape.

The wildlife on this track is different enough from walks I usually do with lots of goannas sunning themselves on the trail – they shoot off  into the bush or up a tree when you get to close. I also came across an Eastern Ground Parrot that I had never seen before along with lots and lots of wallabies and one small brown snake towards the Green Cape Lighthouse. Speaking of snakes, there was plenty of ‘snake tracks’ along the trail and had the weather been a few degrees hotter I think we would have seen more than the lone little one we came across.

The vegetation consists of low Eucalyptus forest, Melaleuca forest and low coastal heathlands. Over the 31 km distance you never get bored. The southern half of the trail spends much of the time walking through protected canopy popping out onto beaches and open headlands every so often. As much as I love the ocean I don’t swim unless the air temperature is  around 30°Celcius but if you don’t mind the cooler water which is common on that part of the coastline, there are some great beaches where you can take a dip.

We chose to do this walk in a single day and for fit hikers, who know their limitations and are traveling light, this is very doable taking us eight hours including breaks and many, many photo opps. If you want to swim along the way and do this walk as a more leisurely pace, then allow 2-3 days. In all honesty two days would be plenty of time for most hikers.

In talking to Gill about her experience and considering the logistics, I’m glad I started at the Ben Boyd Tower and finished at the Green Cape Lighthouse. Really this is a matter of personal preference but if doing this walk in mid summer and in the same fashion we did then I would probably reverse the direction so you walked the more exposed sections of the track early in the day before picking up more shade in the afternoon; you’re call. I have made some suggestions based on 1, 2 and 3 day itineraries below.

The Light to Light Walk currently has two formal campground. One at Saltwater Creek, (Hegartys Bay is out of action due to the 2019-29 fires) and Bittangabee Bay – all except Hegertys Bay have toilet facilities. All the campsites are located very close to fabulous beaches. In addition you can also camp at Mowarry Point and while its a lovely location with a great little beach its so close to the northern trailhead that it doesn’t make sense.

As far as navigation goes this track on the whole is very easy to follow. The path itself is self evident although there are some sections coming off the beach where you have to use a bit of common sense to where the track continues as a number of signs have fallen over. Keep an eye out for stairs and obvious points for where the track goes. In addition there are a number of small trees blocking the track in places that require you to walk around but this isn’t too much of an issue.

This has become one of our favourite walks and at some point in the future we are keen to go back and do this as a two day walk and take the opportunity to swim along the way.

Please Note:

• Due to the 2019-2020 bushfires the Hegartys Bay campsite is not available for use. Please ensure that you plan your walk accordingly if you are planning on overnight camping.
• Through hikes wont be possible until late 2024 due to work on the track so check the NSW Government website before walking

Light to Light Podcast

Listen to the Light to Light podcast while you read this article to hear our thoughts live from the trail on trail

Toilets at Ben Boyd Tower

Come prepared to pay park fees $8 per day per car. Alternatively you can buy an annual National Parks pass if you spend a lot of time in and around National Parks

Trail head information sign

Wallaby on the side of the trail as we walked the short path to the Ben Boyd Tower. There are lots of these small wallabies along this track

Information signage is scattered along the trail

Ben Boyd Tower. This tower was originally proposed as a lighthouse but became a tower to spot whales in the early 1800’s when whaling was at its peak

Window at Ben Boyd Tower

Gill at the Ben Boyd Tower Lookout

Tim at Ben Boyd Tower. The Tower is not formally part of the trail but is really the starting point of the track and not to be missed

Trail head sign at Ben Boyd Tower car park

Hakea seed pods

Directional signage. The track is easy to follow

Trail signage with the trail logo

Signage provides direction and distances at each major location

The first couple of bays are rocky but soon turn into some great sandy beaches

There were lots of goannas on the trail including this one which was over 1 metre in length – it shot up a tree when it saw me

There are quite a few sections on this track where you feel like you are walking through a tunnel

Wattle in flower

Saltwater Creek Beach. You can swim here as well as access the campground where the bushland meets the beach

Saltwater Creek barbecue area. This campground is accessible by car. If you are walking this track you will need to exit the beach about half way along to get to the campground and toilets

Downed sign. There were a number of these signs that were down along the trail. Sometimes you just needed to look for the obvious location of the trail and there it was

Mowarry Headland

Stairs down to Mowarry Beach

Mowarry Beach just below the headland. You access the beach by a set of stairs

Trail example with lots of ocean views

In flower along the track

Tea Tree in flower

Fringe Flower

Bottle Brush in flower

Meet up on the Trail. Gill started at Green Cape and I started at Ben Boyd Tower and we met at about the 20 km mark about four hours after I started walking

The end in sight. Green Cape Lighthouse in the distance

Lunch break at Hegartys Bay. This is a nice campsite with great ocean views. The one drawback is that a piece of flat ground is hard to find so you may be sleeping on a slope. There is a small creek just past this campsite heading south but you need to bring a water filter

Hegartys Bay lunch break

Walking across a rock platform

The trail varies with lots of different vegetation types

As you approach Bittangabee Bay you have a couple of choices – you can head to the beach or the ruins but both routes will take you to the Bittangabee Bay campsite

Bittangabee Bay is a beautiful clear bay protected from much of the weather. The campground here is also excellent with barbecues and toilet facilities

Bittangabee Bay barbecue area

Toilet facilities at Bittangabee Bay

Stunning water views at Bittangabee Bay

Stairs south of Bittangabee Bay – while it was very dry when we did the walk, it has the potential to be very wet underfoot here

Another change in vegetation

Clear signage – we had walked 3.3 km from Bittangabee Bay but it didn’t seem that long compared to the final 2.5 km to Green Cape!

Looking back towards Bittangabee Bay

On the final leg heading toward the Green Cape Lighthouse

Ly-Ee-Moon Cemetery turnoff just before you reach the Green Cape Lighthouse. Worth a visit

Ly-Ee-Moon Cemetery contains approximately 70 graves from a historic shipwreck

Banksia flower before opening

At the Green Cape end of the Light to Light Walk – the car park is to the right and the Green Cape Lighthouse is beyond the car park

Approaching the Green Cape Lighthouse – make sure you have time to explore

Getting There

The trail head is around 36 km from the centre of Eden with some dirt road so allow about an hour to get there. As you head south from Eden follow the signage towards Edrom Lodge and Ben Boyd Tower. Alternatively you can drive down to Green Cape Lighthouse to start this walk

Car park at Ben Boyd Tower

Things to Know

• Phone: Phone signal is variable but reasonably good on much of the track on the Telstra network
• Water: Bring enough water to carry you between the major camp sites. There are a few natural water sources but you will need a filter because the quality is variable
• Toilets: There are good toilet facilities at both trail heads and at the bigger camp grounds along the way
• Trail: This trail consists of formed track
• Dogs: No dogs allowed
• Other: 
  • This walk is done in one direction
  • Avoid doing this walk if there are heavy coastal storms forecast as you will be close to the water line on a number of occasions
  • If you plan on doing this walk in mid winter please note that the temperatures can drop to 0°Celsius in June-July so come prepared for cooler weather
  • There are a lot of flies around in the hotter months so come prepared to deal with them
  • If you want to avoid the transport issues then there is a local transport service here
  • Accomodation is available at the Green Cape Lighthouse here
    • Please note that you need a 4WD to access this area

Disclaimer

This walk was undertaken by the team from Australian Hiker

Options for this hike

As a one day hike

• While you can start at either end of the trail, we recommend you start at the Ben Boyd Tower. If you are used to doing long days and are fit then you can do this walk in around eight hours
• If you plan on walking this track in mid summer then start early at the Green Cape Lighthouse so you get much of the exposed sections done in the cooler part of the day

As a two day hike

• Day 1
  • Start at Ben Boyd Tower
  • Camp at Saltwater Creek Campground
  • This is a good place for a swim and has good facilities
• Day 2
  • Continue on to Green Cape Lighthouse

As three day hike

• Day 1
  • Start at Ben Boyd Tower
  • Camp at Saltwater Creek Campground
  • This is a good place for a swim and has good facilities
• Day 2
  • Continue on and camp at Bitangabee Bay which has great facilities and again provides options for swimming
• Day 3
  • Walk the last 8 km to Green Cape Lighthouse

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