Five of Australia's multi-day walks side by side: distance, days, daily limits, fees, when bookings open, cancellation terms, and which ones have a live cancellation market you can watch.
The table
| Overland Track | Three Capes Track | Jatbula Trail | Wilsons Prom Southern Circuit | Larapinta Trail |
|---|
| State | TAS | TAS | NT | VIC | NT |
| Distance | 65 km | 48 km | 62 km | Varies; 25–60 km loops | 223 km (sections possible) |
| Typical days | 6 | 4 days / 3 nights | 5–6 | 2–4 | 12–16 full; sections of 1–3 |
| Daily limit | 34 departures | 48 departures | 15 departures | Per-camp permit caps | Camp bookings, no departure cap |
| Season | Booked 1 Oct–31 May; winter free | Year round, 2-week April closure | 1 June–30 Sep | Year round | Best April–September |
| Fee | A$312 adult, A$272 child/concession | A$650 adult, A$515 child/concession | Set in booking system | Per-person camp fee | Camping fees; walker fee per NT Parks |
| Accommodation | Huts (not guaranteed) + tent | Cabins, bunks | Bush camps | Bush camps | Bush camps, some shelters |
| Bookings open | First Tuesday in July, 9am AEST | Rolling | Early February, 9am ACST | Quarterly Parks Vic release | Rolling, NT Parks |
| Cancellation | 25% fee at 14+ days; none inside 14 | 75% refund at 14+ days; none at ≤13 | NT Parks terms | 100% at 30+ days, 50% at 8–29 | NT Parks terms |
| Waitlist | None; real-time | None | None; real-time | None | n/a |
| Monitored by Aussie Camp Alerts | Yes | Yes | No (bot-protected) | Yes | No |
Sources: Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania (Overland, Three Capes), NT Department of Tourism and Hospitality (Jatbula), Parks Victoria (Prom), NT Parks (Larapinta). Fees as published October 2026; all are reviewed annually.
Overland Track
Australia's best-known alpine walk, Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair through the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Grade 4, almost half of it above 1,000 m, snow possible in any month. During the booking season you must walk north to south and carry a tent, because a booking confirms your departure date, not a bunk.
What makes it distinctive from a booking point of view is that the entire season goes on sale on one morning: the first Tuesday in July. In 2026, 5,805 people had booked by 4pm and summer was gone by 2pm. After that it's a cancellation market, and PWS confirms cancellations hit the booking site in real time with no waitlist. The 14-day refund cut-off (25% fee before, nothing after) makes the fortnight before each date the busiest for cancellations.
Guide: Overland Track booking and cancellations. Watch it: Overland Track.
Three Capes Track
The "comfortable" one. Boat from Port Arthur, three nights in architect-designed cabins with bunks, mattresses and cooking facilities, 48 km of dry-boot track along the Tasman Peninsula's sea cliffs, bus back. Grade 3. You carry a sleeping bag and food, not a tent.
Bookings are rolling rather than one-day, so it doesn't have the July scramble, but summer and Christmas sell well ahead at 48 people a day. Cancellations and changes go through the booking team during business hours, with a 75% refund at 14+ days and nothing after. There's an annual two-week closure in April (5–18 April 2027).
Guide: Three Capes Track booking and cancellations. Watch it: Three Capes Track. Choosing between the two Tasmanian walks: Three Capes vs Overland.
Jatbula Trail
Nitmiluk Gorge to Edith Falls along the Arnhem Land escarpment, waterfalls and swimming holes at every camp, walked one way over five or six days in the dry season. The hardest of the five to get a place on: 15 walkers a day, 1,830 places a season, of which 468 went to tour operators in 2025, and the whole season sells on one morning in early February (2,300 people tried in 2025). No ballot, no waitlist, cancellations released instantly.
We can't monitor it (the NT Parks booking site is bot-protected), so the cancellation hunt is manual. Guide: Jatbula Trail booking guide.
Wilsons Prom Southern Circuit
Not one walk but a network: Telegraph Saddle or Tidal River to Sealers Cove, Refuge Cove, Little Waterloo Bay, Roaring Meg (for the Lightstation and South Point) and Oberon Bay. Two to four nights depending on your loop, beach camps all the way, and the only one of the five within three hours of a capital city.
It's booked as per-person permits for named camping areas, two nights maximum per area, released on day three of each Parks Victoria quarterly release. Christmas and Easter go on release day; shoulder season is relaxed. Parks Victoria's 100%-at-30-days refund makes the late-November cancellation wave real here too. Watch out for the Sealers Cove boardwalk closure, which currently turns the day-one walk into a 25 km detour.
Guide: Wilsons Prom overnight hikes and permits. Watch the camps: Sealers Cove, Refuge Cove, Little Waterloo Bay, Oberon Bay, Halfway Hut, Roaring Meg.
Larapinta Trail
223 km along the West MacDonnell Ranges from Alice Springs to Mount Sonder, in 12 sections that can be walked individually. NT Parks requires you to book a campsite for each night and pay camping fees online, but there's no cap on daily departures the way there is on the Jatbula or the Tasmanian tracks, so "sold out" is rare outside the most popular trailhead camps in the peak July school holidays.
We don't monitor the Larapinta; there's no scarcity to monitor. It's on this list because people ask, and because it's the walk to do if you missed out on the Jatbula.
Which one to book
- You want the classic, you're fit, and you can be online on a Tuesday in July: Overland Track. Miss July? Set a watch; summer places do come back.
- You want scenery without carrying a tent, or you're walking with less experienced people: Three Capes. Easier to book, pricier.
- You want hot, remote and waterfall swimming, and you can commit in February: Jatbula. Prepare for the hardest release in Australia.
- You want a weekend, from Melbourne, with beaches: Wilsons Prom. Book on the quarterly release, or watch for permits.
- You want long, dry and self-paced with no booking pressure: Larapinta, in sections.
The three we monitor, with live availability, are on the Great Walks hub. Set a watch and we'll alert you when places open for your dates, so you can book on the official site. Free for one watch; Summer Pass for instant alerts and up to 10.
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