The Great Ocean Walk has lots of really special, not to be missed sights along its route. However, one of our favourites (other than the Great Ocean Walk or course!) is Maits Rest. This beautiful little rainforest walk is only 17kms from Apollo Bay, alongside the Great Ocean Road. It really is the perfect way to see some pristine rainforest if you are short on time, have kids, or if the ‘old legs’ just can’t walk as far as they used to! And, even if you have done the whole 104kms of the Great Ocean Walk trail, this 800m walk is still a favourite of ours at Walk91, so we would still highly recommend a visit if you are in Apollo Bay.
How difficult and how long is Maits Rest rainforest walk?
Maits rest rainforest walk is approx. 800m and it takes approximately 30 minutes to walk around the well-marked circuit. However, by the time you stop and rest on the little benches scattered along the trail; listen to the many birds calling; stop to enjoy the sound of the water dripping through the amazing ferns and trickling under the footpaths, you could be there a lot longer!
The track has recently been refurbished and there is a metal grid on a lot of the track which helps if you have kids in prams or if you have older family members wanting to enjoy the trail. However, we are not sure if the whole trail would be ok for wheelchairs as there are a few sections that are just dirt and not as flat as the gridwork. But you might be able to get around a little bit of the track and then just turn back. It is listed as “Grade 2 / easy / gentle slope” by Parks Victoria.
There is a carpark at Maits Rest, just off of the Great Ocean Road, so there is easy access in and out of your car. There are no toilets here.
How did Maits Rest rainforest walk get its name?
In 1914, around the time of the first world war, Maitland Bryant was the districts first state forests inspector.
Mait would rest his horse in this beautiful patch of rainforest on his regular patrol from Apollo Bay to Horden Vale or the Lighthouse Road to Cape Otway. You can just imagine how quiet it would have been here at this time with only a dirt track from here to Apollo Bay. (The road from Apollo Bay was only sealed in the 1980s!).
For more info on the history of our area, be sure to pop into the Apollo Bay Museum.
Maits Rest and its Cape Otway dinosaur history
When you look around you on this walk, you are not just seeing trees!
This fragile ecosystem is a great example of a cool temperature rainforest and is a rare accessible pocket of ‘unlocked’ forest in the Otway Ranges.
Walking around Maits Rest you will see hundreds of tree ferns and ancient plants. 100 million years ago their relatives would have grown here when dinosaurs roamed around the Otways.
Gondwana existed between 250-165 million years ago and Australia was part of the supercontinent before it spilt up to form the continents; Australia, Africa, South America, India and Antarctica. It’s really cool (and hard) to imagine Antarctica covered in tree ferns like the ones you see all through Maits Rest.
Try and spot the two different types of fern trees – the Slender Tree Fern (Cyathea Cunninghami) and the Soft tree fern (Dicksonia Antarctica).
It is exciting to think that the volcanic rocks and settlements from this period contain the remains of early mammals, plants and dinosaurs. This is a fossilised claw of a carnivorous meat-eating dinosaur that lived in the area 110 million years ago. It was found in Cape Otway by researchers and volunteers from museums Victoria in 2014. The dinosaur was called ‘Australovenator’, otherwise known as the ‘Southern Hunter’.
https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/specimens/2051146
Maits Rest and it’s gold rush history
The 1850s the discovery of gold kickstarted rapid immigration to Australia. It was a time of huge growth in Victoria. There was a massive demand for land to grow food and also a big demand for timber for building. Railway tracks were being built quickly as well as ships and housing.In response to this demand, Apollo Bay‘s first sawmill opened in 1852. Native hardwood forests were being logged way faster than they could ever grow.
These photos are from the Apollo Bay Museum and show the thriving Timber trade at Eliot River in the late 1800’s, early 1900s.
A thriving industry grew and within 100 years of the discovery of gold, nearly all existing giant native mountain ash trees had been locked in the Otway ranges. They were felled manually by hand with cross cut saws and axes.
The flowering Mountain Ash trees in Cape Otway
At Maits rest you can stand next to the world’s tallest flowering plant – the giant mountain ash eucalyptus (Eucalyptus regnans). One of these trees is over 200 years old and can grow up to 100 m tall, straight up.
The tallest recorded Mountain Ash in Australia is named Centurion which is believed to be 400 years old, and stands 110m tall.
Quite impressive as its seed is the size of a grain of sand!
The Myrtle Beech trees at Maits Rest
The Myrtle Beech (Nothofagus Cunninghammii) once grew across Gondwana and they still grow in South America and New Zealand. Fossilised beech trees have also been found in Antarctica. As you walk around Maits Rest, look out for their finger-nail sized leaves scattered on the ground….and then enjoy looking up!
One of Maits Rest Myrtle Beach trees is over 200 years old and is made up of two or three trees which are growing together. It is so unusual that it is listed on the register of the ‘National trust of Australia’ as a tree of significance.
Maits Rest and its endangered species
Keep your eyes peeled too when you are walking around the trail for signs of the Moss Bugs (Peloridiidae). They are only very tiny at 2 to 4 mm long and they originated 153 million years ago in Myrtle Beech forests. That is why this very special bug is currently found on continents on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.
Meet eating land snails also live at Maits Rest, so while you walk on the trail- be careful where you tread! The endangered Otway Black Snail (Victaphanta compacta) lives here. It is very delicate with a thin black glossy shell measuring up to 25 mm in diameter. You should feel very lucky when you see one!
https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/species/8777
Thanks for taking the time to read all about our lovely Maits Rest rainforest walk. Apollo Bay and Cape Otway locals have always loved this spot and as a result Maits Rest became one of the first areas to be protracted in the Otway ranges prior to the declaration of the Cape Otway National Park and more recently the Great Otway National Park in 2010.
And remember, there is so much more wonderful rainforest to explore on the Great Ocean Walk trail. We have walks ranging from 3 Days to 7 Days, varying in levels of difficulty, so we can find the perfect walk for everyone. Just Contact Us if you have any questions 🙂
We would also like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this Gabubanud country, the land on which we walk. We acknowledge and pay our respects to Elders past, present and future.