McBrides Point forms the northern headland for 2.5 km wide, north facing Ball Bay. Within the bay are three beaches, the small settlement of Ball Bay and the southern national park camping area at Smalleys beach. Both Ball Bay and Smalleys beach are located on separate roads off the Cape Hillsborough Road. Smalleys beach (1094) lies on the eastern side of the creek. It is 1.3 km long and bordered by the creek mouth and a vegetated, rocky knoll in the west, and the prominent 270 m high peak behind Cape Hillsborough in the east. The cape extends 2 km north of the eastern end of the beach. The beach is very protected because of its orientation and the cape, with waves usually very low to calm. As a result the beach consists of a steep, coarse grained, 30 m wide high tide beach and essentially flat, 1 to 2 km wide low tide sand and mud flats, with rocks bordering the cape shoreline. The beach and land east of the creek is part of the Cape Hillsborough National Park. read more

Beach Length: 1.3km