Goin' Feral One Day At A Time: Fingal Beach to Cape Schank Circuit, Mornington Peninsula National Park

I've just got my first glimpse of the Cape Schanck Lighthouse.

Cape Schanck - there is no shortage of photos in this post.

Having lived on or very near the Mornington Peninsula my whole life there isn’t a lot of it that I haven’t explored over the years. One section of the coast that I’d never walked was the relatively short section between Fingal Beach and Cape Schanck. Now there is a reason that my boots haven’t really touched this section of the coast and that’s because I’d read that it couldn’t be done. Between the access stairs at Fingal and the access stairs on the eastern side of Cape Schanck there is around 5 kilometres of cliff lined and inaccessible coastline. I’d read that between those two spots the coastline was blocked by a couple of deep gulches filled with the surging water of Bass Strait.

The start of the track is well signposted at the Pines Car Park.

Now I’m not one to give up easily. I’ve also got a healthy level on cynicism when people tell me that something can’t be done. Over the decades I’ve heard that ‘can’t be done’ phrase a lot, both in my work life and my private life and more often than you’d imagine I’ve managed to work out a way. So after consulting some satellite photos to reassure myself I wasn’t going to be trying something crazily stupid I decided to head down and check things out. With the low tide predicted for 11am and an ambient temperature forecast of 43˚ today was shaping up as a good day to give this walk a go. I decided to just wear my river sandals today thinking that I might have to wade or even swim short sections and I also left my larger day pack at home and bought with me an old, small canvas pack, lined with three dry bags - the pack wouldn’t stay dry if I had to do a pack swim however the three dry bags should not only ensure everything inside stayed dry but also that the pack would float.

Burrowing through the Tea Tree on the way to Fingal Beach.

After breakfast in Mornington and then visiting a mate in hospital I was at the small car park at the Pines Picnic Area at around 11:30am this morning. With the temperature outside already in the mid thirties I was pretty keen to get down to the coast, however before my feet would feel the cool water I had around 2.5 kilometres of coastal forest to walk through. Leaving the small car park near the entrance to the Pines Picnic Ground the track buried straight into the bush, first beneath the pines for which the picnic area is named, before tunnelling through Tea Tree. After 15 minutes or so I met up with the Cape Schanck to Gunnamatta Walking track and turned right (left would be my return route). I was now tracking west along the high cliffs in the direction of Fingal Beach, now while I was walking the cliff tops for the most part the views are obscured a little by the coastal scrub along here, although there are enough chances to check out the coast views on a few short side trips, so I was happy enough. Unfortunately whilst the day was stinking hot it was mostly an overcast and humid kind of a day, so the grey sky wasn’t doing my photos any favours.

Looking west towards Fingal Beach with Gunnamatta in the distance...

...and looking east towards Cape Schanck...I'd be walking that coastline.

Dropping down onto Fingal Beach.

Eventually, and with more than a little relief, I emerged from the stifling heat of the trees and dropped down the long stair case onto Fingal Beach. Once on the beach it was just a matter of turning left (east) and keeping going until I’d hopefully meet the Cape Schanck access stairs in a couple of hours. Now that all sounds pretty straight forward however I suspected that things may not be that easy on the ground. After 50 metres or so I left the sand and started my slow rock hop along the coast. Passing a couple of fisherman as I left Fingal they would be the last people I'd see for a fair while.

My coastline walk started out easy enough.

I'd come suitable shod today.

Initially I had a couple of long rock platforms to walk.

I'm heading that way.

Rock platform walking is pretty good.

It was now around an hour after dead low tide and I was acutely aware that the clock was ticking if I had any chance of making it all the way down the coast so I didn’t muck around much this afternoon. The good news was that after leaving Fingal I had a couple of nice tidal rock platforms to walk across, the two platforms separated by a small beach that consisted of football sized grey rounded rocks. These small rocky beaches actually made for some of the slowest walking as I had to be very careful on the loose slippery rocks specially as these beaches tended to have a fair slope to them.

Mornington National Park, Cape Schanck.

It might not look like it however it was stinking hot today.

The closer I got to the cape the rougher and wilder the scenery got.

Reaching my second long rock platform I stopped for a few minutes taking in the scene, behind me Fingal Beach had already receded from view, in front of my were the high and brooding black cliffs that would continue until I reached the end of the cape. With the occasional larger wave breaking on the edge of the rock platform it was a wild old scene. Continuing on after my short break the small section of dry land that I had to walk along started to narrow up on me. As the dry land started to get a little thin the scenery started to ramp up to compensate though, not only were the cliffs now towering above me but down at sea level these cliffs were honey combed with sea caves, each one demanding exploration on another day.

Fingal had already disappeared from view.

Looking out towards the surging Bass Strait.

It'd definitely be a no go zone at high tide.

It was around now that I started to pass by a lot of sea caves

Sorry about this post being a bit of a photo dump however I was really enjoying the scenery- even in the overcast conditions.

It was along here, while rock hopping another small beach that I felt a few big spots of rain, a little surreal considering how hot it was although the BOM had said that Melbourne today would be more humid than Darwin in the build up to the Wet. The coastline was getting pretty rough now, the long rock platforms that featured back near Fingal were long gone. Now I was walking a few more sloping beaches interspersed with rock scrambles where long gutters came in from Bass Strait, the surging water not quite reaching the base of the cliffs…yet. Occasionally I’d find myself another level platform to walk along, these smaller platforms were now featuring a lot of deep rock pools.

It was stinking hot however I still got a few big drops of rain.

Still heading towards Cape Schanck.

This cave was huge...and freaky!

Walking these rocks wasn't that easy on the ankles.

Yet another cave. It would pay not to linger below these cliffs I'm thinking.

Bass Strait

I was now guessing that I was pretty close to the spot where the Cape Schanck Lighthouse is up un the cliffs, however from down here at sea level the lighthouse was out of sight…for now. What was in sight though was one of the most stunning sights I’d come across on the walk, rounding a headland into yet another grey rocky little beach I was slightly stunned to see a massive cave in the side of the cliffs. This cave looked like one of those scary carnival mouths, complete with stalactites for teeth. I’m guessing that the cave was around ten metres high and thirty metres wide so it was fairly impressive sight.

I went past the lighthouse somewhere around here...although I couldn't see it yet.

I was starting to come across some nice rock pools.

The tip of Cape Schanck has just come into sight.

Remember I said that I couldn’t see the Cape Schanck Lighthouse, well after scrambling around another couple of increasingly rough headlands and negotiating one particularly gnarly gulch I stopped for minute. Looking back in the direction that I’d come from there was the red roofed lighthouse poking out above the green scrub on the cliff tops behind me, sweet! I was now starting to think that I was going to actually make it all the way, although while I could of climbed up a gully to the meet the access stairs from this side of the cape I wasn’t keen to do it as the area is closed for revegetation. With this side of the cape closed for revegetation it meant that to get up to the top by an approved route it would mean almost circumnavigating Cape Schanck at sea level.

Have I mentioned the sea caves.

Cape Schanck, Mornington Peninsula National Park.

Looking back towards the lighthouse as I head around the tip of Cape Schanck.

Cape Schanck rock pools.

The thing that was making me slightly confident that it was possible was that I was starting to meet a few divers and fisherman, I was guessing that they hadn't all traipsed down through the revegetation area. Anyway, as you’ve probably guessed I made it around, there was another slightly sketchy scramble across a gulch that I had to time against the incoming swell however apart from that one spot everything was pretty straightforward. What was interesting about this section of the stroll though was the number of beautiful rock pools in the rock platforms, not only were those rock pools incredibly beautiful but some of them were also very deep, perfect spots for swimming.

Cape Schanck

Some of these rock pools would make for amazing swimming.

Looking out towards Bass Strait....I had another slightly dodgy scramble here where I had to time the swell a little.

Cape Schanck rock pools.

Cape Schanck

With Pulpit Rock in view 50 metres or so out to sea I entered another small rocky bay and there was the access stairs, hey hey I’d made it! My walk was far from over though, I now had to climb the long and staircase up to the lighthouse in the stifling mid afternoon heat. Where as the cliffs approaching the cape are huge black numbers the end of the cape features red and white clay cliffs, and with the sun having came out just in time for my climb I was able to get a couple of photos of the red cliff under a blue sky, not a bad thing.

Pulpit Rock

Heading towards Pebble Beach and the access stairs at Cape Schanck.

Cape Schanck

Starting the long climb back up onto the cliffs.

Cape Schanck features some red clay cliffs.

Cape Schanck from the tourist boardwalk.

Looking along the coast towards Bushrangers Bay.

Once back up on top of the cliff at the Cape Schanck Lighthouse Car Park I set off back towards the ute. After my adventurous few hours down along the base of the cliffs the rest of the walk is a little ho hum, although taken in isolation it’s still a pretty sweet walk really, especially once I’d finished the short couple of hundred metre road bash along Cape Schanck Road. Back in the bush the track was soon back in the vicinity of the cliff tops again however like the walk from the Pines down to Fingal, the track for the most part stayed in the trees. As with the earlier section there are enough opportunities, both formal and informal to burrow through the trees to get views up and down the peninsula. Around 15 minutes after entering the bush I arrived back at the short link track back to the Pines Car Park and the circuit part of my walk was over. After a quick 15 minute walk I found myself back at the ute and cranking up the air conditioning for the drive home. Leaving the car park the ambient temperature was only 37˚ however on the 45 minutes drive home the temperature topped out at 45˚, ah yes, you’ve gotta love summer in Australia!

It all looks deceptively easy from up here.

There is a short road bash along Cape Schanck Road...

....as I headed past some rural land....

...before heading into the scrub again.

Once back in the bush the track stays fairly close to the cliff line and there are a few opportunities to take short side trips out to lookouts.

Looking down on one of the rock platforms I'd been walking earlier.

For the most part the track stays within the trees.

The Dirt.
OK, I walked 9.1 kilometres today and climbed 139 metres on what is a hard walk. While this walk is definitely do-able it’s a very serious undertaking. The coastal section below the cliffs needs to be completed within two hours either side of low tide I’m thinking, and even then you’ll probably need to scramble couple of sections. Now while this section doesn’t look very long on the map, actually walking it takes awhile as it’s rock walking the whole way, the coast line section took me two hours and I wasn’t mucking around, yeah I know I’m old and fat however I do tend to move over rough ground fairly efficiently, as I’ve been doing it most of my life. Once committed to this section there are no exits until you reach Cape Schanck so please be careful. Alright after all that doom and gloom I’ve got to say this is an amazing section of the coast to walk, the cliffs, sea caves and rock pools are truly amazing and it all feels very remote and wild. I’m almost certain that there are no published notes for this walk, I used Meridian Maps Mornington & Arthurs Seat sheet along with my GPS topos.

Relevant Posts.
Mornington Peninsula Coastal Walk, Mornington Peninsula National Park, 2015.
Cape Schanck to Dromana, Two Bays Track, 2014.