Princetown Beach stretches 800 metres east of Point Ronald, where it gives way to dunes, rugged headlands and small coves. Near Princetown, the Great Ocean Walk crosses the Gellibrand River via a truss bridge. Coastal access, river scenery and a long-distance walking trail therefore offer very different scales to consider when planning a stay.
Camping and accommodation planning
Princetown Recreation Reserve has a camp kitchen, covered barbecue areas, hot showers, a playground, a tennis court and a laundry. The reserve offers powered and unpowered sites. Check site availability and current facilities before travelling.
The Great Ocean Walk campsites are separate from the sites in the reserve: they are small and must be booked before setting out. This means there are two different things to keep in mind when planning: check site availability at the reserve; for the Walk campsites, booking is required before you start.
River, wetlands and beach
The Princetown Wetlands can support large numbers of waterbirds. Their lower reaches are nationally recognised in the Directory of Important Australian Wetlands (EA 2002). The Gellibrand River flows past Princetown and reaches the sea below Point Ronald. At its mouth, the river widens into a bird-rich wetland, connected to and accessible from the hilltop settlement of Princetown via a boardwalk.
Access to Princetown Beach is via a 600-metre walking track along the banks of the Gellibrand River. The beach description gives a different distance: Princetown Beach stretches 800 metres east of Point Ronald, where it gives way to dunes, rugged headlands and small coves. The two measurements therefore refer to different things: 600 metres is the walking track to the beach, while 800 metres describes its location and extent east of Point Ronald.
Princetown Beach is in the Twelve Apostles Marine National Park. East of the headland at Princetown, in the direction of Rivernook Beach, an exclusion zone allows recreational fishing. The location specified limits this information to the designated area.
The Great Ocean Walk at Princetown
The Great Ocean Walk is more than 100 kilometres long and runs from Apollo Bay to the Twelve Apostles. The entire walk usually takes eight days. This timeframe applies to the full route, not to a single section at Princetown. Near the town, the walk crosses the Gellibrand River via a truss bridge; the Princetown–Clifton Beach Loop is listed as a route on the Great Ocean Walk.
A stay in Princetown brings several different questions together: the facilities and power supply at a campsite, the route to the beach, or the scale of a multi-day walk. The information about the beach and the long-distance walk also relates to different scales: a 600-metre walking track leads to the beach, while the usual eight-day duration applies to the entire Great Ocean Walk.
Discover more destinations: Glenlyon, Rheola, Marengo, Johanna, Ballarat, Heath Hill, Carisbrook, Omeo.
For the broader travel overview: Victoria.
