Maitland Bay Track, Central Coast, NSW

The Maitland Bay Track on the Central Coast of New South Wales heads through the Bouddi National Park to Maitland Bay Beach. Here, you can see the wreck of the SS Maitland.

What is the Maitland Bay Track?

The Maitland Bay Track is a popular bushwalking trail located in Bouddi National Park on the Central Coast of New South Wales. The trail leads from the Maitland Bay Information Centre the secluded Maitland Bay Beach.

How long is the Maitland Bay Track?

The trail is approximately 2km kilometres long and takes between 15 and 20 minutes to walk down and double that to get back up. The track is classified as a grade 3 walk, which means it has short steep hills, some steps and the occasional obstacle.

That said, the walk back up is considerably tougher going.

Along the Maitland Bay Track, walkers are treated to views of Hawkesbury sandstone, gullies, rock landings and patches of rainforest.

Maitland Bay Beach

The real reason to walk the Maitland Bay track, however, is to get to Maitland Bay Beach at the bottom. The only other way to get to this 0.6km-long beach is by boat.

Once at Maitland Bay Beach, you can swim, but there are no lifeguard patrols. The water also gets deep pretty quickly.

SS Maitland shipwreck

Come at low tide, however, and you can see the remains of the SS Maitland. This wrecked ship ran aground in 1898 and has been bashed by the waves ever since.

Other highlights of Bouddi National Park include the Bouddi Coastal Walk from Putty Beach to Macmasters Beach. This walk passes Maitland Bay.

You can also try the Bulgandry Rock Art Site and Killcare Beach.