Point Nepean National Park

Point Nepean National Park is a coastal reserve at the tip of the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria that protects the headland guarding the northern side of the Port Phillip Heads. It conserves a combination of coastal vegetation, sea cliffs and significant historic military and quarantine sites.

The park contains a concentration of built heritage and coastal scenery: concrete gun emplacements and observation posts from the coastal defences, the buildings and ruins of a 19th-century quarantine precinct, and short cliff-top walking tracks that give uninterrupted views across the heads to Bass Strait. Interpretive signage explains both the natural environment and the area’s former defence and public health uses.

European-era use of the headland concentrated on quarantine and coastal defence. A quarantine complex was established in the 19th century to isolate arriving passengers and crews, and the headland was later fortified with gun batteries and observation posts that were used across the 19th and 20th centuries. The guns at Fort Nepean are notable for firing on an approaching German vessel in August 1914.

The park sits at the seaward tip of the Mornington Peninsula near the townships of Portsea and Sorrento, on the northern side of the entrance to Port Phillip. It is roughly south of central Melbourne and forms the northern anchor of the narrow channel into Port Phillip.

• Fort Nepean 1914 action: The fort at Point Nepean fired on an approaching vessel in August 1914, an event often cited as the first shots fired by Australian forces in World War I.
• Coastal views: The park protects a narrow headland with coastal walking tracks and sea cliffs offering clear views across Port Phillip Heads to Bass Strait.

What to See #

• Fort Nepean: Coastal artillery works that commanded the entrance to Port Phillip Heads and remain as exposed concrete gun emplacements and observation positions on the headland.
• Quarantine Station: A set of buildings and ruins originally used to isolate arriving passengers and crew; surviving structures include cottages, hospital buildings and interpretive displays about quarantine practice.