Three Capes Track booking guide for 2026/27

Unlike the Overland Track, there's no release morning to set an alarm for. Parks takes Three Capes bookings year-round on a rolling basis, so the question isn't when booking opens but how quickly your dates fill. Parks says demand runs high from September to April, and the summer weekends go first.

The one gap in the calendar is the annual maintenance closure, when the track shuts for two weeks of works and fuel reduction burns. For 2027 that's 5 to 18 April, and Parks has already published the dates for 2028 (24 April to 7 May) and 2029 (9 to 22 April). Plan an autumn trip around them.

1. Check who's coming. Only someone 18 or over can make the booking. Children (3 to 17) pay the child fare and must walk with an adult, and no adult can be responsible for more than three children. Infants under 3 need Parks' approval before you book: email the Three Capes team first, or the booking can be cancelled.
2. Pick a departure date and boat time. Your walk starts with a cruise of up to 75 minutes from Port Arthur to Denmans Cove, and there are two boats a day: 11:30am and 2:00pm from October to April, 11:30am and 1:30pm from May to September. Choose the one that suits your drive down.
3. Booking with friends separately? Use the comments box to give a group name or list everyone's names. Rooms are shared and allocated by the Host Ranger at each cabin, and that's how they know to keep you together.
4. Pay in full. Visa or Mastercard, at the time of booking. Your receipt comes by email; if it hasn't arrived within two days, contact the Three Capes team. Concession fares need a valid Pension Card, Health Care Card or state Seniors Card (not a Seniors Business Card) at check-in, or you pay the difference there.

You make your own way to Port Arthur, about 90 minutes south-east of Hobart. Drive and leave the car in the walkers' long-term car park, or take one of the regular coach services from Hobart run by Pennicott Wilderness Journeys, Gray Line or Tassielink. Check in at the Port Arthur Historic Site Visitor Centre at least 90 minutes before your boat. Four days later the included bus brings you back from Fortescue Bay, leaving at 2:30pm or 4:00pm.

The itinerary is fixed. You spend one night at Surveyors, one at Munro and one at Retakunna, in that order, with no extra nights and no skipping ahead. Bunks are assigned at each cabin, not when you book. Once you have a date, our Three Capes Track packing list covers what the cabins provide and what you carry.

Prices are per person, in Australian dollars, and Parks reviews them every year in line with CPI.

That fee buys three nights in the cabins, the Pennicott boat from Port Arthur, the bus from Fortescue Bay, the "Encounters on the Edge" guidebook, entry to the Port Arthur Historic Site (valid for two years), car parking and lockers, and park entry for your walk plus a day either side. The fee is the same whether or not you use every part of it. Parks sometimes runs an off-season deal: new bookings for winter 2026 departures (1 July to 31 August) were $485.

Changing dates. Changes are made by phone or email in business hours, not through the booking website, and only if your new date has space. Ask at least three business days before your departure and there's no extra charge. Inside three days, a successful change costs a further 100% of the fee. The new trip has to be completed within two years of when you first booked.

Cancelling. Cancel at least 14 days out and you get 75% back. Cancel 13 days or less before departure, or don't show up, and there's no refund. Parks' FAQ says the 25% fee applies even to medical cancellations, though its terms let it offer a new date or a full refund with a medical certificate at its discretion. Bookings can't be transferred to someone else unless Parks agrees. If Parks cancels your trip before you start, you get a full refund or a new date.

There's no waitlist, and Parks' own advice for a full date is to keep checking the availability page because "spaces may open if other walkers change or cancel their bookings". Changes and cancellations are processed in business hours, 9am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday, which is when those spaces tend to reappear.

Spotbagger watches for them so you don't have to. Put a watch on the Three Capes Track with your dates and party size, we check the booking site often, and we tell you the moment a departure opens up so you can book it yourself before someone else does. For more on why dates come back, read Three Capes Track booked out?

Do you need to book the Three Capes Track?

Yes. Parks says bookings are essential, and the boat to the start at Denmans Cove is the only access, so there's no walking it without a booked departure.

How much does the Three Capes Track cost?

$650 for an adult and $515 for a child or concession card holder. That covers the boat, three nights in cabins, the bus back to Port Arthur, Port Arthur Historic Site entry and park entry. Food and getting to Port Arthur are extra.

Can you stay more than one night in a Three Capes cabin?

No. The four-day, three-night itinerary is fixed: Surveyors, Munro, then Retakunna, one night each. You can't add nights or walk it faster.

Is there a waitlist for the Three Capes Track?

No. Cancelled places go back on the booking site, usually during weekday business hours, for whoever happens to be looking. A watch on your dates is the easiest way to be first.