Rochelle visited Hamilton Island in January 2021. Unfortunately being the middle of the wet season, it rained basically from the moment she arrived on the island until the moment she left. Despite the rain, she was determined to explore the island. Below are some of her notes on the many trails.
I divided my hiking into two days, one longer day of full exploration and one shorter day.
Important: download a copy of the walking trail map before you go hiking (available at the end of this blog). The map also has a good description of the distances of each hike.
Day 1
I accessed the trails from the Scenic Trail Entrance (this is the entrance at the end of the beach past the resort). From here we hightailed it to Passage Peak which offered incredible views. From the entrance to the peak is about 1.9 km one way. The trail is mostly uphill so be prepared for some hard work. The reward at the end is totally worth it. If you only had time for one hike on the island, this would be it.
From Passage Peak we followed the trail back down, turning off to Cabbage Tree Junction, from here we continued on to South East Head. This would have been an incredible walk if the weather had been better (at this point in the journey the rain increased so we ended up very wet). Despite the rain, we had fun. There is a massive chair with great views at South East Head. The walk to South East Head was relatively flat and not difficult (most of the steep sections had already been conquered on the way to Passage Peak). By the time we landed at South East Head we had clocked up around 4 km.
From South East Head we continued along the trail to Escape Beach. This is a very unique little beach. There is even a wooden hammock, perfect for a small rest and taking in the views. The trail to Escape Beach was also relatively flat. Due to the persistent rain there were a few seasonal creek crossings, nothing that bothered us considering we were already saturated. If memory serves me correctly it was around 1 km to Escape Beach from South East Head.
From Escape Beach we headed back along the loop to Saddle Junction, we then continued on to Coral Cove. Coral Cove is another beautiful secluded beach. This beach has a big swing. The trail from Saddle Junction to Coral Cove was around 1km, or 2km return. This was not a hard walk as it was again, relatively flat, at least compared to the walk up to Passage Peak.
After finishing Coral Cove we started to return to the trail entrance. We took a short (very short) detour to Hideaway Bay. I wasn't that impressed with Hideaway Bay, but perhaps that was the fatigue talking. From Hideaway Bay we then walked back to the Scenic Trail Entrance to finish the day of hiking.
We were pretty happy with our effort for the day. This ended up being a decent day of hiking, it could easily be broken up into separate hikes depending on how long you are staying on the island. I would have loved to have done Passage Peak for sunrise if the weather had been better. If you are considering doing the ATV tour on the island you will likely cover a lot of the same spots.
Day 2:
On the second day I headed off on a solo mission, having visited the island with friends who were not as enthusiastic about hiking as myself. I left them poolside and headed to the Resort Lookout Trail Entrance (different entrance to day 1). This entrance is actually located behind the resort, you will have to park on the street, walk up the hill and behind the resort to locate it.
From the Resort Lookout Trail Entrance I scooted to the Resort Lookout (about 1.7km one way). A large portion of this was uphill, it is quite steep initially. This was my second favourite lookout after Passage Peak. You will capture some great views out over the airport and the resort.
On my way back I made a short detour to the Flat Top Hill Lookout which was also a cool spot. Then made my way back down to the trail entrance. These two walks were shorter than day 1. A fair bit of the trail was up hill and steep, however as the trail is only short it really isn't too bad and worth it for those views.
While you are on Hamilton, I also suggest that you check out One Tree Hill for sunset. Whilst we only really only had one sunset during our stay due to the weather, it was still pretty spectacular! There is also a small bar at the hill for a refreshment after a big day of hiking.
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