Views and Lookouts That Handsomely Reward the Effort of the Climb
Lookouts across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane that make you work for the view.
These views charge an entry fee paid in effort, not dollars — a set of stone steps, a stretch of fire trail, a scramble up loose scree — and hands back sandstone engravings cut more than a thousand years ago, a red gum gorge slicing through the middle of the city, or a ring of mountains you'd otherwise only ever see from a plane. Whatever's at the top, none of it is visible from a car window.
The Blue Mountains' South Lawson Waterfall Circuit packs five waterfalls into a single 2.6-kilometre loop, dropping from dry eucalypt forest into cool, fern-lined gullies. Further north, the climb up to Barrenjoey Lighthouse turns steep and sandy fast, but the 1881 lighthouse at the top looks out over Pittwater on one side and the Hawkesbury on the other, with a decent chance of spotting a humpback whale mid-migration in winter. In Victoria, Flinders Peak in the You Yangs is the same granite outcrop Matthew Flinders climbed to chart Port Phillip Bay in 1802, with Geelong laid out on one side of the summit and Melbourne's skyline on the other. And in Brisbane, White's Hill Reserve's original 1873 house was built with a round living room for one reason: a full sweep from the CBD to Ipswich and out to Moreton Island, a view so good it once out-drew Mount Coot-tha as Brisbane's day trip of choice. Presented by Honda ZR-V, here are nine reminders that the best views are free.
Read other guides in our A to Z with Honda ZR-V series:
Sunset Picnic Spots to Stake Out and Claim Early Before the Crowd
Road Trips Just Outside of Town to Fill an Entire Day Out
Unconventional Outings to Round Up the Crew for Something Different
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Things to DoPlenty Gorge Park
25 Linacre Drive, Bundoora
Twenty kilometres from the city, walking tracks climb to the Middle Gorge platform for a view over turquoise Blue Lake, with Kinglake National Park’s ranges rising in the distance.
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Things to DoYarra Bend Park
Yarra Bend Road, Fairfield
Melbourne’s largest stretch of natural bushland, 260 hectares of it, hosts up to 30,000 grey-headed flying foxes, visible streaming out low over the river each evening from Bellbird Picnic Reserve.
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Things to DoThe You Yangs
Turntable Drive, Little River
Its granite peaks rise straight out of flat farmland, giving one of the few spots to see Melbourne and Geelong at once, laced with over 50 kilometres of walking and riding trails.
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Things to DoBarrenjoey Lighthouse
1199D Barrenjoey Road, Palm Beach
Still wearing its original 1880s sandstone, this lighthouse sits 91 metres above Broken Bay at the end of a one-kilometre climb, doubling as one of the state’s most reliable whale-watching perches.
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Things to DoSouth Lawson Waterfall Circuit
72 Honour Avenue, Lawson
A three-kilometre loop past four falls, Adelina, Federal, Cataract and Junction, this circuit sits just outside the national park boundary, making it one of the few Blue Mountains walks that welcomes dogs.
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Things to DoSpit to Manly Walk
Manly Cove, Manly
Nine kilometres of harbourside track link Spit Bridge to Manly Wharf, with Sydney Harbour views the whole way and three beach breaks for a swim, dogs welcome off-leash at Spit Reserve and Sandy Bay.
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Things to DoJollys Lookout
Mount Nebo Road, Jollys Lookout
A 180-degree sweep takes in the D’Aguilar Range, the Glass House Mountains and Moreton Bay from Brisbane’s oldest formal lookout, built in the 1920s with picnic tables and free barbecues.
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Things to DoMount Coot-tha
1012 Sir Samuel Griffith Drive, Mount Coot-tha
At 226 metres, this is Brisbane’s best-known view, the whole CBD and its surrounds laid out beyond a 1950s timber kiosk and terrazzo lookout deck that draws a steady sundowner crowd.
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Things to DoWhites Hill Reserve
205 Jones Road, Camp Hill
170 hectares of eucalypt forest and Sankey’s Scrub rainforest climb to a summit lookout where the city appears through native trees, with bush trails, a dog park and picnic grounds spread below.
This guide was produced in partnership with Honda ZR-V. To learn more about the ultimate car for urban discovery, click here.