8 Of The Best Running Trails Around Australia

Hinchinbrook Island, Queensland

One of the top 10 trails on Earth, the Thorsborne Trail on Queensland’s Hinchinbrook Island is kind of a big deal. Packed with white sandy beaches, thick rainforest, cascading waterfalls, and towering mountains shrouded in mist, this lesser-known island’s the running trail has adventure around every corner and is just waiting for you to explore it. With only 40 people given a permit to be on the island at any time, you’ll uncover a wilderness on Hinchinbrook that has beauty in its seclusion, it’s ruggedness, and it’s ancient allure.

Kings Canyon, Northern Territory

The Cotterilis Lookout and Rim Walk is a moderately trafficked 7.2 kilometre loop trail located near Kings Canyon in the Northern Territory. Featuring a river and rated as moderate, the suggested window to run the Kings Canyon trail is between May and September.

Cape to Cape, Western Australia

Going for 123 kilometres along the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge, Western Australia’s Cape to Cape trail in the far south west of the state runs between Cape Leeuwin lighthouse and Cape Naturaliste lighthouses. Featuring spectacular forest and coastal scenery, this trail boasts ever-changing displays of wildflowers and other vegetation, along a fascinating geology of rock formations such as headlands, cliffs, and caves.

Wineglass Bay, Tasmania

One of Tasmania’s most photographed attractions, the Wineglass Bay running trails in Freycinet National Park offer some the finest views that the spectacular east coast has to offer. Starting out about 200km from Hobart, on the northern side of the National Park at Coles Bay, these well-made trails have a steady incline that’s generally both manageable and enjoyable. With a variety of different distances available to choose from, the trails at Wineglass Bay are most definitely worth the journey across Bass Strait.

Wilpena Pound, South Australia

Located in the heart of South Australia’s Flinders Ranges around 430km north of Adelaide, Wilpena Pound is a massive flat plain of trees and scrub which is completely surrounded by a rim of remarkable jagged hills. This creates a natural amphitheatre covering an area of almost 8000 hectares that looks like a rugged low mountain range from the ground which can easily be traverse, yet looking across the plain after reaching the top, and can clearly see hills all around the edges.

12 Apostles, Victoria

Located around 200 kilometres south-west of the city of Melbourne, The Great Ocean trail stretches approximately 100 kilometres from the Apollo Bay resort town in the east, passing through Otway National Park, and finishing in the west at the iconic Twelve Apostles rock formation near the Glenample Homestead in Princetown. The running trail increases in difficulty along the way, and some sections can either be dangerous or even completely impassable at high tide.

Lake Burley Griffin Loop, Australian Capital Territory

Looping around Lake Burley Griffin, going over two bridges, and through Commonwealth Park, this is without a doubt the highlight of Canberra running trails for many. A refreshingly breezy route, this trail shows off some incredible views of the lake’s signature geyser, The National Carillon Tower, and of course the fascinating and architecturally significant Parliament House.

Mount Kosciuszko, New South Wales

Starting at the Thredbo’s Kosciuszko Express chairlift, this popular trail will show you the view from Australia’s rooftop. The running trail takes you past Ramshead Range’s outcrops of rocky granite, alongside pretty alpine wildflowers in Spring, before crossing the head of The Snowy River, rising over Lake Cootapatamba, and then on to Rawson Pass. It’s a gradual climb from there to Mount Kosciuszko’s 2228m summit with sweeping 360 degree views across the Victorian High Country and the Snowy Mountains.

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