Rock Scrambling from St Helen's Point to Beerbarrel Beach

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I was staying with my sister at her shack at Scamander on my yearly trip home to Tasmania. My niece Becca from Hobart had come up and we had already done a few walks including climbing Mt Roland near Sheffield, South Sister lookout and Gray Mares Tail at St Mary’s.



We were thinking of some other walks we could do around the area. I had previously been to Binalong Bay and other beaches around the Bay of Fires area.



My nephew Dan suggested we might enjoy a walk from St Helen’s Point to Beerbarrel Beach. He said there was a track, but it would be more fun to rock-hop along the beach, so that is what we did.



Becca and I drove to St Helen’s Point where we left the car in the Burns Bay Boat Ramp car park at the northern tip of the St Helens Point Conservation Area peninsular.



We then walked down to the beach and started our hike along the beach and rocks. It started out fairly easy but got more adventurous as we progressed. The beautiful red coloured rocks got bigger and we needed to climb over and around them. It was very interesting though and we didn’t see one other person until we got to Beerbarrel Beach. It was just us with the seagulls. We did, unfortunately, come across a large dead bird on one of the small isolated beaches.




The rocks were ok and not slippery, although I think in wet weather they could be a bit dangerous. You also have to be careful close to shore that large waves don’t come in and take you out.



There was a lot of gorgeous orange lichen on the large granite rocks, which are found in the Bay of Fires in Tasmania and shorelines in Western Australia. The lichen is a combination of algae and fungus that live together in a symbiotic relationship.



Tourism Australia recently named the Bay of Fires, Australia’s best beach. It is technically a 10-kilometre stretch of beach.

Tourism Australia’s beach ambassador, Brad Farmer AM, curates the list each year, which picks the top 10 from almost 12,000 beaches on Australia’s mainland and islands. This was the first time a Tasmanian beach had won the award.



The Bay of Fires (palawa kani:larapuna) is a bay on the northeastern coast of Tasmania from Binalong Bay to Eddystone Point. The bay was named in 1773 by Captain Tobias Furneaux. He saw the fires of Aboriginal people on the beaches from the Adventure.
Roz climbing around rocks

The Bay of Fires is famous for its pristine white sand beaches, clear turquoise waters, and distinctive orange-hued granite rock formations.



You can access Beerbarrel Beach and Bay of Fires locations via a drive from St Helens. I did read that Beerbarrel Beach is considered part of the Bay of Fires region of Tasmania, but I’m not sure as most articles say the Bay of Fires finishes at Eddystone Point. The beautiful beach is located in Akaroa and is about 1 kilometre long with white sand and crystal clear water.


Beerbarrel Beach is named after the Beerbarrel rock formation located offshore. It is a popular spot for scuba diving and has lots of marine life. I think you would need a good wetsuit, as Tassie water can get pretty cold. Beerbarrel Beach is also a good area for swimming, surfing, kayaking, paddle boarding and fishing.


There is free parking at Beerbarrel Beach. After we explored the area around the beach, we found the track back to St Helens Point where we had left our car. It was a nice, easy thirty-minute track walk through the bush.



I really enjoyed my rock-scrambling trip to Beerbarrel Beach. I couldn’t find any other descriptions of the trip we did online. Most of the online walks people had done in the area were out and back along the track, not along the rocky beach headland. So if you are visiting Tassie and want a little adventure, head out to St Helen’s Point and rock hop along the beach to Beerbarrel Beach.




#walks
#adventure
#outdoor
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