Distance/Type: 14km / Round Trip
Terrain/Rating: Flat Beach walk for first hour or two, hilly walk along roads for an hour or two then slightly downhill walk through Sweetwater creek trail before heading back along the beach.
Take a towel as you may need to walk through water. Easy to Moderate.
Start / Finish Time: 10am / 4pm (Conservative Times)
Start / Finish Location: You can start pretty much anywhere along the Frankston foreshore.
The beach is a 5 min walk from the Frankston Train station so a car is not necessary for this hike.
Map:
Trip Summary:
From the Frankston Life Saving club walk along the beach to Canadian Bay Club. Head up Canadian Bay Road to Mt Eliza for lunch. From here head along various roads to the end of the Sweetwater Creek walking trail. Take this trail back to the Olivers Hill boat ramp and return. Whether you can walk completely along the beach will depend on tide and wave conditions. I've done this walk twice and once had to divert up to Nepean Hwy by the end of the rocky foreshore at Olivers Hill, before joining back down prior to Davey Bay Yacht Club. Best to have a some form of map of the streets in this area.
Trip Details:
There are fees for most car parking spots near the beach.
On Sundays most car parking spots are free along the Nepean Hwy and side streets.
(Click on the pictures to get a full size picture gallery.)
Cross over Kananook creek and head towards the beach.
Head left/south along the beach or use the wooden boardwalk.
When you reach the Frankston Yacht Club, cross over the footbridge and pass Sofias cafe and Frankston Pier. There's one of those trendy new toilets that plays music in the playgrounds just past the cafe which is the last chance for a decent pitstop for a while. Continuing along the beach or boardwalk you reach the Olivers Hill carpark and boat ramp. (30 mins ~ 2km)
Follow along the beach and the track now narrows to a dirt path. Follow the metal fence posts as a guide to the track.
The path will then open up to a rocky beach, best to head down to the shoreline to walk along the sandy section. This section of the walk is the most likely to be effected by tides/waves.
After passing a couple of houses and the eroded shoreline you will come to the most adventurous section of the walk. If you are lucky and the tide is out you may be able to walk around the Pyramid Rock without getting your feet wet. (1km - 25 mins)
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| Coming up to Pyramid Rock. |
The Davey Bay Yacht Club is a pleasant spot for a break with a small jetty to hang your feet over.
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| View over Davey Bay Yacht Club |
Continue through the Yacht Club and head up the staircase on the other side. You'll now have a clifftop walk along a dirt track following the back fences of some lovely homesteads.
There are a couple of cove side tracks along here that you can visit that lead down to the beach.
Continuing on past these for another 15 mins the path opens out and leads onto the sandy shores again.
Walk along the beach, over Ballar Creek to the Canadian Bay Yacht Club which you can see in the distance. (2km ~ 30 mins)
Head uphill along Canadian Bay Road to Mt Eliza shopping center. There are plenty of cafes to choose from here for lunch. There are gardens next to the roundabout of Mt Eliza Way and Old Mornington Road if you have brought your own lunch.
(2km ~ 40 mins)
From here it is a walk through Mt Eliza suburbia along Mt Eliza Way to Nepean Highway. Cross over the highway turn right and after200m turn left up Baden Powell Drive. and head up Humphries Road until Brighton Road. Turn left down Brighton Road to the end where it joins up with Baden Powell Road. After about 20 mins you should reach Humprhries Rd which has a park/football ground on the corner. Continue on along Baden Powell Drive for another km or so and as you head downhill, at the bottom of the road, enter the Sweetwater Creek trail on your left. (4km ~ 90 mins)
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| Sweetwater Creek trail |
The trail starts as a boardwalk alongside the creek. There are various short side trips along the creek valley which you can view at Sweet Water Creek Reserve
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| Sweetwater Creek Bridge |
There is a nice swing bridge off one of the side trips and some rocky banks along the creek.
The trail finishes out near the Olivers Hill boat ramp back at Nepean Highway. (1km ~ 30 mins)
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| Sweetwater Creek |
Cross the highway and head back along the beach to the start. (2km ~ 30 mins)
