Active project record

Originally reported: 2022
Last reviewed: 21 July 2026
Current status: Track works progressing; accommodation planning and approvals remain underway

This page records the development of the Great Southern Walk and its status when last reviewed. It is not maintained in real time. Significant later developments may be covered through Keep It Wild Australia’s Protected Areas Tourism Watch reports.

The original proposal

The NSW Government announced the Great Southern Walk in June 2021 as a new multi-day route connecting Kamay Botany Bay National Park, Royal National Park and the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area.

The project was initially described as a walk of approximately 59 kilometres but has since been developed as a 67-kilometre, five-day and four-night experience. It will begin at Kurnell, cross the Kurnell Peninsula and connect through Cronulla and Bundeena before following the Royal Coast Track through Royal National Park. From the southern end of Royal National Park, it will continue through the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area towards Bulli Tops. (Environment and Heritage)

Most of the route uses existing walking tracks, including the Cape Baily track and Royal Coast Track. New connections and realignments are being constructed where required to create a continuous route, improve safety or avoid unstable and environmentally sensitive areas.

The original accommodation concept included overnight facilities at Bonnie Vale, Wattamolla and Garie in Royal National Park, together with a new walk-in campground and potential hiker accommodation at Maddens Plains in the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area.

The proposed facilities included camping platforms, basic hiker huts or cabins, toilets, eating shelters, camp kitchens and service access. The project was intended to accommodate both independent walkers and small guided groups.

Current status

The Great Southern Walk remains in development.

Substantial sections of the walking route have been completed or upgraded, including work along the Cape Baily walking track, Royal Coast Track and the southern connections through the Illawarra Escarpment. By November 2025, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service reported that all scheduled upgrade works on the Royal Coast Track had been completed and that the full existing route between Bundeena and Otford was open, subject to normal park alerts. (Environment and Heritage)

Planning and detailed design are continuing for overnight facilities at Bonnie Vale, Wattamolla, Garie Beach, Garawarra Farm and Maddens Plains. The NSW Government’s February 2026 overview of its Great Walks program continued to list the Great Southern Walk as in development, with huts and campgrounds proposed as its accommodation model. (Environment and Heritage)

No complete opening date for the full walk has been publicly confirmed.

Proposed route and overnight itinerary

The current concept is a five-day, four-night walk, although the project identifies five potential on-park overnight locations:

  • Bonnie Vale
  • Wattamolla
  • Garie Beach
  • Garawarra Farm
  • Maddens Plains

This suggests that walkers may eventually be able to undertake different itineraries or use selected overnight stops rather than every location forming part of a single standard four-night journey.

Bonnie Vale is an established campground in Royal National Park. Additional tent sites, camping platforms and basic hiker accommodation have been proposed alongside its existing facilities.

New small-scale camping facilities are also planned at Wattamolla and Garie Beach. Garawarra Farm has subsequently been added as another proposed overnight location, particularly for school groups, youth programs and Aboriginal cultural camps. Maddens Plains is intended to provide the final walk-in campground in the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area. (Environment and Heritage)

The exact distribution of huts, cabins, tent platforms and ordinary campsites remains subject to design, environmental assessment and plan-of-management approval.

Accommodation plans have changed

The accommodation model has changed since Keep It Wild Australia first reported the project.

The original Royal National Park plan allowed for up to five small-scale walkers’ huts or cabins across Bonnie Vale, Wattamolla and Garie Beach. Subsequent site analysis found that Garie Beach was already under considerable pressure from peak-period visitation and was not considered suitable for the addition of five new buildings.

A draft amendment released in late 2025 therefore proposed removing hard-roofed hiker accommodation from Garie Beach and enabling it instead at Garawarra Farm. Under that proposal, up to five huts or cabins could be distributed across Bonnie Vale, Wattamolla and Garawarra Farm. Camping would still be permitted at Garie Beach, but without the previously contemplated hard-roofed accommodation. (Environment and Heritage)

The draft amendment also referred to reductions in the proposed infrastructure at Wattamolla, although the final number and configuration of buildings at that site have not been publicly confirmed.

The public exhibition of this amendment closed on 20 February 2026. At the time of this review, no final ministerial decision adopting the amendment had been identified. (Environment and Heritage)

Maddens Plains accommodation

The Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area plan of management was amended in February 2023 to enable accommodation associated with the Great Southern Walk at Maddens Plains.

The amendment permits investigation and development of a campground that may include walkers’ huts, other hard-roofed or tented accommodation, walking-track connections, amenities and a vehicle service road. Final siting and design remain subject to environmental and cultural heritage assessment.

Current project material describes Maddens Plains more modestly as a walk-in campground with camping platforms and basic amenities. It is therefore not yet clear whether hard-roofed huts remain part of the final design or whether the site will be developed primarily as a campground. (Environment and Heritage)

The earlier Austinmer Camp is to be closed and rehabilitated rather than retained as the principal overnight site for the walk.

Commercial operator expression of interest

Commercial participation has been part of the Great Southern Walk model from an early stage.

Between November 2022 and January 2023, the National Parks and Wildlife Service conducted an expression-of-interest process seeking either an Aboriginal-owned business or an operator working in partnership with an Aboriginal community or business.

The proposed operator would deliver guided multi-day walking experiences using the new camping and hut accommodation. Earlier planning material also contemplated commercial support services such as guiding, food and supply drops, facility maintenance, transport, and walker pick-up and drop-off services. (Environment and Heritage)

The National Parks and Wildlife Service has stated that the facilities will remain publicly owned and that the appointment of a delivery partner will not prevent independent walkers from using the Royal Coast Track. (Environment and Heritage)

No public announcement confirming the successful operator, contractual arrangements, exclusivity conditions or duration of any agreement was identified during this review.

This is a significant unresolved issue. The eventual operating model will determine whether the Great Southern Walk functions primarily as public walking infrastructure used by both independent and guided visitors, or whether parts of the overnight experience are managed through reserved allocations or commercially packaged access.

Track construction and completed works

A number of physical components have already been delivered.

At Kamay Botany Bay National Park, portions of the Cape Baily walking track have been upgraded, including new boardwalk sections and directional signage. Work has also progressed on the replacement visitor and education centre at Kurnell, which will contain visitor information, exhibition and education spaces, staff facilities and a café. The centre was scheduled for completion during 2026. (Environment and Heritage)

Within Royal National Park, extensive upgrades have been completed along the Royal Coast Track. These have included erosion repairs, boardwalk replacement, track stabilisation and realignments where cliff instability or landslips created safety concerns.

In the Illawarra, new and upgraded links include the Bald Hill to Stanwell Park section, tracks towards Bulli Tops and works connecting the coastal route with the Illawarra Escarpment network.

In July 2026, the NSW Government transferred 5.6 hectares of publicly owned coastal bushland at Stanwell Park to the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The land now forms part of Royal National Park and secures a missing connection between Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Stanwell Park beach and Bald Hill lookout. (NSW Government)

The transfer is notable because it places the connecting land within the protected-area estate rather than relying on a route across land managed for another purpose.

What has changed

The Great Southern Walk has changed substantially since the original Keep It Wild Australia article.

The route has increased from the initially announced 59 kilometres to 67 kilometres and is now described as a five-day, four-night experience.

Garawarra Farm has been added as a proposed overnight precinct. Hard-roofed accommodation is now proposed there rather than at Garie Beach, subject to adoption of the latest plan-of-management amendment.

The original description of a campground and hiker huts at Maddens Plains has also become less certain. Current public updates describe platforms and basic amenities, while the adopted plan continues to allow a wider range of hard-roofed or tented accommodation.

Major track sections have been completed, but the campgrounds and accommodation have not progressed at the same pace. Detailed design and environmental assessment were still underway in late 2025 and early 2026.

The project has therefore evolved from a broad walking and accommodation concept into a partly constructed route with an accommodation model that is still being adjusted.

Commercial tourism implications

The Great Southern Walk is publicly funded and is being planned and constructed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Its trails, campgrounds and accommodation facilities are intended to remain in public ownership.

It nevertheless has a defined commercial tourism component. The government has actively sought an external delivery partner to run guided walks and camping experiences using the new facilities. The plans also permit commercial support services associated with the walk.

This is more significant than ordinary licensing of independent guides. A delivery partner involved in operating camping experiences or managing accommodation may have a role in bookings, maintenance, packages, food services and allocation of overnight capacity.

The degree of commercial control has not yet been disclosed. There is no confirmed evidence that an operator will receive exclusive use of the huts or camps, but the outcome of the expression-of-interest process has not been made public.

The project should therefore continue to be monitored for:

  • appointment of a commercial operator;
  • accommodation leases or licences;
  • reserved bed or campsite allocations;
  • pricing and booking arrangements;
  • access available to independent walkers; and
  • any distinction between ordinary campsites and commercially packaged accommodation.

Why this project matters

The Great Southern Walk links three highly significant protected landscapes on the edge of Australia’s largest city.

Royal National Park is Australia’s oldest national park and one of the most heavily visited parks in New South Wales. Kamay Botany Bay National Park contains nationally significant cultural and historic places, while the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area protects rainforest, escarpment habitat and an important regional wildlife corridor.

The project will formalise a major multi-day walking destination across these areas, supported by new camps, potential huts, visitor facilities and upgraded track connections.

The model is important because it combines public ownership with planned commercial delivery. The central question is not whether guided walks should be permitted, but whether a selected operator will receive special control or preferential access to accommodation built inside the protected areas.

The relocation of hard-roofed accommodation from the heavily visited Garie precinct to previously disturbed land at Garawarra Farm shows that the project is still capable of being modified in response to site constraints. It also demonstrates the value of scrutinising the details of accommodation location and scale rather than treating the Great Walk as a single fixed proposal.

Confirmed

The Great Southern Walk is planned as a 67-kilometre, five-day and four-night route through Kamay Botany Bay National Park, Royal National Park and the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area.

Major sections of existing walking track have been upgraded, and new connections have been constructed or are being developed.

Overnight facilities are proposed at Bonnie Vale, Wattamolla, Garie Beach, Garawarra Farm and Maddens Plains.

The Illawarra Escarpment plan of management was amended in February 2023 to permit accommodation at Maddens Plains.

A further draft amendment proposes moving hard-roofed accommodation from Garie Beach to Garawarra Farm.

The public exhibition of that amendment closed in February 2026.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service conducted an expression-of-interest process for an Aboriginal-owned or Aboriginal-partnered operator to deliver guided walking and camping experiences.

The proposed facilities will remain owned by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

A 5.6-hectare parcel at Stanwell Park was transferred to the National Parks and Wildlife Service in July 2026 to complete a missing route connection. (Environment and Heritage)

Not yet confirmed

The final opening date for the complete Great Southern Walk.

Whether the latest Royal National Park plan-of-management amendment will be adopted without further changes.

The final number, location and capacity of huts, cabins, tent platforms and campsites.

Whether hard-roofed accommodation will ultimately be built at Maddens Plains.

The identity of any commercial delivery partner selected through the 2022–23 expression-of-interest process.

The terms, length and exclusivity of any operating agreement.

Whether an external operator will manage bookings or receive reserved accommodation allocations.

The prices that independent and commercially guided walkers will pay.

Whether all overnight facilities will be available to independent walkers on equivalent terms.

The final project cost and construction program.

Sources and documents

  • NSW Environment and Heritage: Great Southern Walk
  • Great Southern Walk project updates, 2022–2025
  • Royal National Park, Heathcote National Park and Garawarra State Conservation Area Draft Amendment to the Plan of Management
  • Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area Plan of Management
  • NSW Government: Royal National Park expansion provides missing link in the Great Southern Walk
  • NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service: NSW Great Walks
  • Great Southern Walk commercial operator expression-of-interest material