Spit Bridge to Manly
Walk Highlights
- Distance: 10km one way
- Time: 3 hours
- Location: Spit Bridge, Mosman/Seaforth, Sydney
- Facilities: toilets, fresh water, barbecues, cafes along the way
- Getting There: Catch a bus from the city to Spit Bridge, and later, catch a ferry from Manly back to Circular Quay, Sydney.
- Highlights: Coastal cliffs, views of Middle Harbour and the Pacific Ocean from Dobroyd Head, inner harbour beaches (pack your bathers), Aboriginal rock engravings
Walking Track Description
The Spit Bridge to Manly Scenic Walkway is a series of short tracks, mostly less than 1-2km, including the Fairlight, Dobroyd and North Harbour walks. Each track covers a themed section of the harbour, so covering all of them in one walk is a great way to experience the diversity of Sydney Harbour’s bays, beaches and bushland.
The walk is well-signed and offers a number of detours for those looking to get off the “beaten track”, such as the views of the harbour from the old Grotto Point Lighthouse. There are a real variety of things to see and do along the way, from swimming to wildlife and whale watching, as well as learning about Sydney’s rich colonial history. For example, Forty Baskets Beach was so-named because of the fish caught there in the 1880s to feed Sudanese soldiers detained at the Quarantine Station, positioned across the harbour at North Head.
There are a few beach passages of the track that are prone to flooding at high tide, and walkers get wet at these stages of the walk, particularly at Castle Rock Beach. The tide is rarely more than knee-high, and if wading isn’t an option, one can always backtrack a little to follow the road around the beach.
If completing the whole walk is beyond reach, don’t miss the view from Dobroyd Head, about halfway along the walk, and easily accessed by car. This elevated view is sensational, exposing almost 270 degrees of the harbour, and offers a perfect spot to catch your breath mid-walk.
Short Walks RSS
This is one of my favorite Sydney walks, although a little bit long for my preferred short walk length of 2 hours. I recommend it to all my friends who visit Sydney.
Don’t forget to grab a well earned beer on the deck about the Steyne when you are done!
Good advice, and there’s all those icecream joints near the Manly Aquarium too, great for the little-tackers.
[...] increased in length and that’s led to some really lovely weekends. Yesterday we did the Spit Bridge to Manly walk, and last Sunday we did an amazing walk at Fortescue Bay in Tassie. Next weekend looks like it [...]
[...] travellers. There’s a great description of the walk at the NRMA Travel site and at the Short Walks site, or you can read the brodhure: Manly Scenic [...]
how long does the spit to manly take? it says 3hours on this site, but is that fast walking or a nice ‘sunday’ pace? And is that one way?
yes, it’s about 3 hours at a leisurely pace, can definitely be done in less time. and yes, that’s one way. i usually bus to the spit then walk to manly and ferry back to city.
We are planning a group walk from Clonnys to Manly. How many km is the walk from Clonnys to manly..? and how long would you say and a good pace..?
Hi Barbara, From Clonnys the walk is only one or two kms shorter, so around 8km. I’d give it a good two hours allowing for stops on the way.
[...] Sunday, I met up with Lauren Anderson in Mosman. Together we did the Spit Bridge to Manly Beach Scenic Walkway. It’s about a 10 kilometer walk (6.2 miles). We started around 9 a.m. and were done about [...]
Hallo,
is there a bus from “Circular Quay” to “Spit Bridge”?
Thanks
Most of the buses to the spit bridge leave from behind Wynyard Station, for example the 169 bus.
If walking from Manly to the Spit Bridge, which bus will get us back to Manly from the Spit Bridge?
[...] saw me getting back to hiking, something I’ve not done for a couple of months. I did the Spit to Manly walk, one of the best-known ones around Sydney. It was a great hike, with the first third being [...]