Free at Pacific Palms is not a stretch: from Shores Elizabeth Beach you can walk to a national park beach, two headland lookouts and an 8 kilometre loop track without spending a dollar. Here are six genuinely free walks and beaches within ten minutes of our villas, plus the one park fee worth knowing about.
Elizabeth Beach: how good is the beach on your doorstep?
Distance: A 3 to 5 minute walk from our front door. Directions: Take the path through the dune reserve in front of the property. Hours: Always open; patrolled in summer only.
Genuinely one of the prettiest beaches on the Barrington Coast, and free if you arrive on foot. Elizabeth Beach faces north, so it holds calmer water than the surf beaches either side, and in September the sand is often close to empty midweek. What is free: the beach, the headland views and the rock pools under Charlotte Head at low tide. Best time of day is morning, before the sea breeze arrives. Logistics: the national park picnic area behind the beach has toilets and picnic tables, but driving in attracts Booti Booti’s 8 dollar daily vehicle fee, so walk in from the villas and skip it entirely.
The Booti walking track: what does the 8km loop actually cover?
Distance: Starts at the Elizabeth Beach picnic area, a short walk from the property. Directions: Follow the signposted trailhead behind the picnic area. Hours: Open every day; allow 2 to 3 hours.
The park’s signature walk, and it costs nothing on foot. The Booti walking track is an 8 kilometre grade 3 loop that climbs to a lookout over Charlotte Headland and Shelly Beach, runs north through rainforest and woodland to Seven Mile Beach, passes The Ruins campground, then comes home along the Wallis Lake shore through palm gullies. What is free: all of it, self-guided. Best time of day: start by 8am in September for cool walking and the best birdlife. Logistics: toilets at the picnic area and The Ruins; carry water because there is none on the track.
Shelly Beach: the quiet cove around the headland
Distance: About a 20 minute walk via the headland track, or a 5 minute drive. Directions: Take the Booti track from the picnic area and branch to Shelly Beach, or drive north on The Lakes Way and follow the signs. Hours: Always open, unpatrolled.
A small, sheltered cove tucked between headlands just north of Elizabeth Beach, with bush behind and usually only a handful of people on it. What is free: the beach, the lookout above it and some of the clearest water in the park for a snorkel on a still morning. Best time of day is mid-morning once the sun clears the headland. Logistics: no facilities at all, so bring water and carry everything out. Guests keep mentioning it as the beach they end up going back to.
Seven Mile Beach: where are the genuinely empty sands?
Distance: About a 5 to 10 minute drive north. Directions: North on The Lakes Way; park at The Ruins campground day area below Booti Hill. Hours: Always open, unpatrolled.
Seven miles of open sand backed by nothing but dunes and Booti Hill. Outside the holidays you can walk for an hour and pass nobody, which is precisely the point. What is free: the beach itself and the long walk along it; beach fishing is popular here too. Best time of day is late afternoon, when the light goes gold against the hill. Logistics: access via The Ruins is inside the national park, so the 8 dollar vehicle fee applies if you drive in; toilets and picnic tables at the campground day area. September bonus: humpbacks are still moving along the coast, so watch the horizon.
Wallis Lake foreshore: the free BBQ lunch spot
Distance: About a 7 minute drive north. Directions: North on The Lakes Way to the Green Point and Tiona foreshore reserves on the lake side. Hours: Daylight hours.
The lake edge is where a free day gets its lunch break. The grassed reserves along Wallis Lake have picnic tables, shade trees and BBQ facilities, with flat, calm water in front for a paddle. What is free: the reserves, the BBQs, the swimming and some of the best pelican-watching on the coast. Best time of day is midday, when the beaches are at their brightest and the lake shade is welcome. Logistics: these council reserves sit outside the park gate, so there is no vehicle fee; BYO food, and weekends fill up by noon.
Boomerang and Blueys lookouts: the five-minute sunset stops
Distance: About a 5 minute drive south. Directions: South on The Lakes Way toward Boomerang Point; the lookout pull-offs are signposted off Boomerang Drive. Hours: Always open.
The headland between Boomerang Beach and Blueys Beach carries short, free lookout paths with long views up and down the coast. What is free: the lookouts, the whale-watching in September and the walk down onto either beach. Best time of day is sunset, when the whole coast turns pink and the day-trippers have gone home. Logistics: street parking on Boomerang Drive is free; combine the stop with a takeaway coffee from the Blueys village strip and the total spend for the evening is the price of the coffee.
FAQs about free things to do at Pacific Palms
Is Elizabeth Beach free to visit?
Yes, walking in from our property costs nothing. The one charge to know about is Booti Booti National Park’s 8 dollar per vehicle daily fee, which applies if you drive in and park at the Elizabeth Beach picnic area. On foot from Shores, the beach and headland tracks are completely free.
Which beach is quietest in September?
Seven Mile Beach is the pick. It runs for kilometres below Booti Hill with no village behind it, so outside summer you often share it with more oystercatchers than people. Blueys and Boomerang stay quiet midweek too, before the October school holidays arrive.
Are there free BBQs and picnic tables nearby?
Yes. The Wallis Lake foreshore reserves around Green Point and Tiona have free picnic tables, shade and BBQ facilities, and the Elizabeth Beach picnic area in the national park has tables and toilets. Bring your own food and the day costs you nothing beyond the drive.
Do you need a booking or a guide for the walks?
No. Every walk here, from the short Elizabeth Beach to Shelly Beach track to the full 8 kilometre Booti walking track loop, is self-guided and open every day. Grab water, sun protection and reasonable shoes, and start from the picnic area or straight from our front path.
When are the beaches patrolled?
Elizabeth Beach is the patrolled beach in Pacific Palms, with lifeguard patrols over summer and the volunteer surf club active on peak weekends. In September you will usually swim unpatrolled, so stick to the calmer northern corner and keep an eye on conditions.
The best argument for a September stay at Pacific Palms is that the good stuff here was never ticketed. Beaches, headlands, lake shores and an entire national park loop start within walking distance of our villas, and most of it costs exactly nothing. Base yourself in the middle of it: browse our Barrington Coast guide for more ideas, then check villa availability for a spring escape.
Image credit: Barrington Coast
