How To Find Sea Cliff Bridge Lookout In 2020

Wondering how to find the secret Sea Cliff Bridge Lookout near Wollongong on the Grand Pacific Drive? The second most photographed bridge in NSW (after Sydney Harbour Bridge) is the Sea Cliff Bridge on the NSW South Coast. Opened in 2005 it was named after an 11 year old school girl in a naming competition.

The 665m bridge has seen thousands of people walk across it to admire it’s beauty and can be seen from the Stanwell Tops lookout point in the Illawarra Region.

IMPORTANT INFO

Please be aware someone recently lost their life doing this short hike. If you are going to attempt it, please be VERY careful and stay away from the cliff edge.

Always wear hiking boots and I strongly advise NOT to take children on this walk at all. Although the path I mention isn’t illegal, it’s not to say that it’s a well trodden on track or safe.

Do not go the the illegal way to the Sea Cliff Bridge Lookout by the train tracks, you’ll be fined at least $400 if you’re caught doing do!

Table of Contents

You can get to Sea Cliff Bridge by train!

The view from Stanwell Tops overlooking the bridge in the distance

But, how does one get to the Sea Cliff Bridge near Wollongong spot to really capture the bridge in all its glory?

Good news is, there’s a train station nearby called Coalcliff Station so you don’t necessarily need a car to get there. It’s just 15 minutes to the bridge from the station. If you’re driving from Sydney, it’s just over an hour’s drive to Stanwell Tops.

Visit The Royal National Park On The Way To Sea Cliff Bridge

From The incredible Figure 8 Pools to absolutely amazing walks, you won’t regret detouring to the world’s second oldest national park!

How to find the Sea Cliff Bridge Lookout Entrance

Keep driving down the road from Stanwell Tops and once you drive over the Sea Cliff bridge, you’ll see a small car park on your right at the end of it, big enough for two cars.

This is where the entrance to the path is, but because you’ll be on the other side of the road, just park up round the corner on the side of the road.UPDATE: You’ll now get fined for parking in the above spot.

Other perspective of the secret entrance and other parking at the end of the bridge

Look for this small gap in the bushes to enter the path

Once you walk into the bushes, you’ll see a massive tree with a million branches. This obviously doesn’t look like the right way, but it actually is.

There will look like various paths along the way which is confusing. As long as you stay to the right and work your way up through the hill, you’ll come to the top to view the bridge.

This is what you’ll see once you walk into the bushes – keep right and make your way up the hill.

When you make your way up to the Sea Cliff Bridge lookout, you’ll see the path continues on. Just walk up another minute or so and the view gets even better! This entire walk took 10 minutes to get to the top so it’s not too difficult.

Things to know before you go to the Sea Cliff Bridge Lookout

I would strongly recommend wearing hiking boots as it’s not the safest climb in the world.

DON’T TAKE CHILDREN – I also definitely wouldn’t recommend taking children up there as it’s quite steep in sections and there’s not a lot to hold onto. Because I went up there in the afternoon, the light wasn’t great so I’d recommend going early in the morning to catch the sunrise.

I have heard there’s another way up to the hill by the art college and playground, and along the railway tracks. This track is actually illegal so I wouldn’t be trying that one as an Instagrammer pointed out to me that the police caught him and his friends going along this path and they were all fined $400 each!!!

After you finish your Sea Cliff Bridge walk, head over to The Scarborough Hotel for lunch. It’s a cracking pub on the cliff which you can read all about in this post. Or check out our amazing things to do in Wollongong post below!