1000 Steps

A great place to get some exercise, learn some history, and see some nature!
The 1000 steps aka Kokoda Memorial Walk is a little spot in the Dandenong range where locals and tourists come to see a little bit of nature and a great view of Melbourne and surrounding areas. It is a climb of trail and steps, sometimes steep, to the top and then you can decide to keep hiking on other trails or go back down. There are signs along the way that you can read about the soldiers in Papua New Guinea that had to climb through the hills there, which this walk is a memorial dedicated to them.
The up/​down can be exhausting and it does take time especially if it is busy. Beware that some kids and eager hikers may be coming down from the top in speeds that are not safe. They shouldn’t be doing this, but it happens. The steps can be steep and slick if wet so make sure you’re prepared with the right shoes.
There are toilets and a café at the base. Also there is a playground and picnic area and wouldn’t be a bad spot to hangout with friends/​family and BBQ some snags.
The best time to come here is early in the day on the weekend or anytime during the week. Try not to visit on public holidays as the place will be full and parking limited. Bring a camera if you want to capture some shots of rosellas and lorikeets, and possibly a wallaby. Take home your rubbish to keep the trail beautiful for others.

Bring your best pair of lungs and your strongest pair of quads and your best buddy. Just make sure your buddy isn’t fitter than you, or you may be left for dust.
If coming on the weekends, come as early as you can as it has become Bourke St up here these days. Everyone has gotten wind of how lovely it is up here. It’s about 30 – 40 mins drive from the city.
The walk up to the start of the steps is about 10 – 15 mins uphill (a workout itself). Then the steps will take you 15 – 20 mins if you’re of an average fitness.
Be wary of the fitness buffs who do the walk multiple times, some of them a crazy enough to wear weighted vests.
No water at the top so bring a small bottle of water & a towel if you can be bothered carrying it up.
There’s a café at base camp if you need coffee or drinks before you go up.
Keep an eye out for no-​standing zones as there are parking officers!
Have fun & keep hydrated. The hike down is (one of) the best feelings on Earth.
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Get in early or get in late, doesn’t matter, the 1000 steps has a cult following for the tourists, new years resolution exercisers all the way through fitness fanatics.
Test your hip strength and will to live while climbing in what feels like a never ending hill to the top. Hell of a cardio workout. Just don’t be a jerk and run all the way up or down, not enough room for that.

Would probably give it five stars except for the popularity, it does get very crowded. But if you’re into your outdoor exercise this place is iconic and really pumps those legs and gets the cardio going as you climb the steep steps. I always go right at the bottom up the Kokoda Memorial Track (not the Lyrebird Track) as its shadier and the ferns and trees more spectacular. Once up the top you have a raft of choices to extend your walk or take an alternative way back to the car park (eg. Bell view Track).
Visitors to Melbourne if you take a different path back you’re likely to see wallabies, cockatoos, kookaburras and maybe snakes.
A great part of Melbourne right on the city fringes.

As far as a place to exercise goes, this place is pretty awesome! Would you prefer to pay a million dollars at the gym, or go into the great outdoors, hear nothing but birds and the trees and charge up a stack of stairs? Okay, this place can get pretty busy on weekends, and parking is limited, but I still recommend you give it a go. Wear sturdy shoes, light clothes & take a water bottle. The steps are uneven & a bit slimy in places so you may wish to choose one of the other paths (there are a number signposted). Either way, have fun & enjoy a beautiful walk.

A great day trip destination if you are up for some exercise. There are several walks to do and they are well signed.
The 1000 steps are a memorial for the Kokoda track and on my most recent visit I saw that there is now a lot of information and pictures about the war and the track.
This is a popular place for visitors on the weekends so be ready for very enthusiastic visitors running up and down the steps and for more casual visitors taking their time.
The steps can get quite slippery so it’s best to wear shoes with a decent grip. And in the cooler months it may be a good idea to wear layers so you can peel some off if you start to work up a sweat.

My first time doing the steps! Not for the faint hearted! I heard it’s not actually 1000 steps though but it certainly feels like it! Parking might be a hassle because it gets so busy on the weekends. You may need to park further down the road pass the parking area and on the side of the road, you will see all the cars and just follow suite.
When walking to the steps for the first time, the sign can be quite deceiving! There are 3 different ways to go. The path on the left seems to have steps but it isn’t actually the 1000 steps, it’s the one next to it on the right. So the middle route! If you are usually pretty active it should be fine but if you’re aren’t, you will be struggling to find your breath as the air thins the higher you get.
Definitely a great workout!

This place puts even the fittest of fit to shame. If you think this is just a nice stroll up the mountain, you’ll wish you wore your exercise clothing instead.
In case anybody wonders (and people always do), there are actually less than 1000 steps. But the walk uphill before the actual stairway makes up for the shortage of steps of the stairway.
Before you start, there is a sign that tells you to leave your water bottle and other belongings. As long as you know not to litter, you can disregard that sign.
I’d recommend going up the stairs and then taking the other non-​stair path back down. But then everybody has their own preferences.
Plenty of shade, so you won’t be baking in the sun. On the other hand, you can’t actually see your progress since all you’ll see are more and more stairs. There are certain parts that are leveled, and you’ll see a few benches available to sit.
Most people we encounter along this trail seem to be at least somewhat fit. The most resilient hikers end up being the older individuals.
Overall, it’s a great place to get a good exercise. You’ll be compelled to finish the trip the moment you start.

Challenging if you aren’t in great shape which I wasn’t when we went. There are people running up like it’s nothing, so prepare to be a little discouraged if you’re huffing and puffing just walking up ;) It was a fun hike though. Shaded which is nice since we went on a hot day. We did the hike in the early afternoon before heading to Philip Island to check out the penguin walk. Overall a pretty good day if you’re a tourist in Melbourne and have access to a car.

Took the drive to Mt. Dandenong on a Sunday to have a go at the 1000 Steps a few people had gone on about. It was a bit wet which made the steps quite slippery but as long as you didn’t run it was fine (a few people were running — mad!).
The car park was full so we had to park across the road and wait for a gap in the traffic. Once we started the walk toward the steps, we regretted wearing long sleeves and pants. Shorts and a t-​shirt is definitely the way to go!
At the bottom of the steps, there were a heap of people psyching themselves up to start the climb, one guy boxing with an invisible opponent while others gave him plenty of room. We started up the steps and it is quite the workout for an unfit bloke such as myself! We had a few breaks along the way (there are benches to sit on and plaques with Kokoda facts) and eventually made it to the top. The scenery is quite nice but at the top there isn’t really anything. They are building a second lot of steps which will hopefully take the runners and these seemed to be almost finished.
Down we went making sure to hang onto the rail at the narrow parts to make sure the runners coming up (or down from behind) didn’t crash into us. There seemed to be quite a few parents dragging along toddler aged kids which I thought was a bit cruel!
Nice walk, nice scenery and good to get some exercise. Will definitely go back soon.

Awesome place to go to get some exercise or to train for events such as Oxfam and the Kokoda track. In the summer it is advisable to get there early to get a carpark and to beat the rush. It is about a 1 km walk up to the steps, so be prepared! They are in the process of building a second set of «fitness steps» on teh alternate track up the mountain the lyrebird track. This new fitness track is aimed at people who are trying to increase their fitness level and will have markers along the way so you can track you personal best and beat it.
The 1000 steps is such a beautiful location and is so nice to be able to be out and about in the great outdoors getting some exercise. The track is really well maintained, however in the wet it can get quite slippery.
At the bottom of the steps there are BBQs and picnic shelters if you want to bring along some brekkie to recharge after you’ve sweated it out up the stairs! There is also a café there which serves coffee, drinks, cakes and breakfast to refuel.

This is a very popular trail, which seems to suggest that Melburnians are fitness freaks (or masochists). The steps themselves (I hear there’s only 996, but some days it feels like 10,000) are narrow and steep, but there are benches here and there to stop and rest.
Do: bring water, wear shoes with some grip (it gets slippery coming back down).
Don’t: wear jeans.
On Saturdays and Sundays it’s jam packed, so consider going early or late in the day to avoid crowds.

This 1000 step climb up the mountain is a popular activity for fitness fanatics’ as well as tourists and locals.
Every single time I have been, there always seem to be people trudging along up the stairs or running down them.
The journey starts at the top of the carpark, where you walk for around 800m before coming to the bottom of the stairs.
These stairs are actually quite narrow at times and only allow for 1 person to pass at a time, so best not to be running with your head down incase someone is coming back down them.
I would also take caution on wet days, as the area can become quite slippery and dangerous if you’re not attentive.
On the weekends this becomes a very popular activity, where the stairs can become quite crowded, simple rule of thumb is to stick to the left unless over taking.
When you arrive at the top, there isn’t actually anything there– no view or drink tap or anything, just a landing halfway up the mountain. From here you can chose to go back down the stairs, or jog down the winding dirt road.
This is a great workout; even if you’re not running. It’s nice just to be out in the fresh air.