Wilsons Prom alerts

What is closed at Wilsons Prom right now?

Stockyard Campground and its toilet block, the Big Drift Walk and the Big Drift and Stockyard car park. Everything else on the alerts list is a delay or an overnight closure.

Both closures are in the north of the park, near the entrance, a long way from Tidal River. Parks Victoria says Big Drift will reopen when its critical infrastructure works are finished; no date is given for either. The main day-visit spots, Tidal River, Squeaky Beach, Telegraph Saddle and Mount Oberon, have no alert on the park page.

How long are the road works at the Wilsons Prom entrance?

Until 20 November 2026. Works on the entrance road started on 12 October; the exit road was done from 31 August to 9 October.

Parks Victoria warns of temporary traffic management and delays at the park entrance. In practice that means stop/go signs, so build in a few extra minutes on the way in. Tidal River is still 30 km south of the gate, about 30 minutes, and the whole drive from Melbourne is about 3 hours. Bring food and water in case you wait in traffic, and fill up before you arrive: there is no fuel at Tidal River.

Driving times and the route via Meeniyan are in our Melbourne to Gippsland guide.

Where is the deer control at Wilsons Prom, and does it affect a day trip?

From 9 to 14 November 2026, between 5 pm and 8 am, there is no access to Stockyard Campground, Big Drift, Yanakie Cemetery, Shallow Inlet Walk via Hourigan Camp Lane, and Cotters Lake and Cotters Beach. Day visits are not affected.

These are overnight closures on the northern side of the park. Parks Victoria adds that other visitor areas and some management tracks may close for short spells overnight during the operation, so stay on open roads after dark and follow the signs. A separate invasive species control program runs from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2027, with no access limits listed.

Driving out after dusk? Watch for wildlife on the roads around sunrise and sunset. Wombats, kangaroos and emus are the Prom's reason for a slow drive.

Is Sealers Cove open?

We have seen conflicting reports this month, so check Parks Victoria's Change of Conditions notices for Wilsons Promontory before you plan the Sealers Cove Walk.

The walk is 9.5 km, about 3 hours one way, per Parks Victoria, and it is a long day there and back. If it is not open on your date, pick a shorter classic: Mount Oberon (6.8 km return, about 2 hours), Mount Bishop (7.4 km return, about 2.5 hours) or the Lilly Pilly Gully Nature Walk (5.2 km return, about 1.5 hours).

You can still see Sealers Cove from the water. The whale cruise from Port Welshpool runs past Rabbit Island, Sealers Cove and Refuge Cove, per its listing, while the season lasts.

What still runs as normal at Wilsons Prom?

Nearly everything a day visitor comes for: Tidal River, the Visitor Centre, the General Store, the Mount Oberon walk, Squeaky Beach, the day tour from Melbourne and the cruises from Port Welshpool.

The Tidal River Visitor Centre reopened on 17 August 2026 after its upgrade and is open daily from 9 am to 4 pm. There is still no entrance fee. The Wilsons Prom day tour is built around open walks: the guide offers Mount Oberon, Mount Bishop or Lilly Pilly, then Squeaky Beach, with transport from Melbourne. Siti (Aug 2026): “Locky guided each of us in choosing a hike that suited our individual preferences and abilities.”

The cruises do not use the entrance road at all. The full-day Prom cruise leaves from 84 Lewis Street, Port Welshpool, for Skull Rock, the lighthouse and a stop at Refuge Cove; it is a newer, smaller listing with 3 reviews so far and a 4.8 rating. More on the park in our Wilsons Promontory guide.

Which Wilsons Prom tours run during the works?

All of them. The day tour drives in past the works, and both Prom cruises leave from Port Welshpool by sea.

Every option below has free cancellation up to 24 hours before, so if Parks Victoria posts a new alert for your date you can move the day. For more ways to spend the rest of the week, see things to do in Gippsland.

A 12-hour small-group day from Melbourne: lookouts, a self-guided hike on an open trail and Squeaky Beach, with the drive done for you.

★ 4.8 · 12 hours · from $104

Explore the Wilsons Prom day tour → Tour details

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