A mother held her arms up to protect her young baby from blows as she was attacked with a wooden garden stake and robbed in the middle of the afternoon in Geelong.

The 31-year-old woman was on a popular walking track with her five-month-old son in a sling across her chest, just before 3.30pm on Tuesday, near the corner of Drysdale Avenue and Hillwood Close in Geelong.

The walking track in Geelong where the attack occurred. Credit:Seven News

A man appeared from behind some bushes and approached the woman, mumbling something before he began hitting her with a wooden stake.

He hit her on the legs and face several times while she protected her baby, police said.