Trek the Cradle Mountain Overland Track

Day 1: Launceston / Cradle Mountain National Park / Overland Track

Welcome to one of Australia’s greatest walks. Your adventure begins with a pickup at 7am. Make your way west from Launceston, through picturesque scenery, to start the Overland Track at Ronny Creek in Cradle Valley. Cross a small grass plain, passing Crater Creek, Crater Lake, and make your way up to Marion’s Lookout for sweeping views, from where you can see the iconic Cradle Mountain and the curved Dove Lake. The track continues past the historic Kitchen Hut, with its unusual double story design, and you’ll traverse the shoulder of Cradle Mountain surrounded by Tasmanian snow gums. Over 700 million years ago the ground beneath your feet was shaped by glaciers grinding through the landscape. Continue on to the Cradle Cirque, passing the turnoff to Barn Bluff, and descend into Waterfall Valley, where you will set up camp for the night.

Accommodation

• Bush camping (with limited facilities) (1 night)

Included Activities

• Overland Track – Ronny Creek to Waterfall Valley Trek
• Cradle Mountain National Park – Marion’s Lookout

Meals Included

• Lunch
• Dinner

Special Information

Please note that the initial welcome meeting will take place at 2pm the day BEFORE departure at the Macpac store, 22-26 Kingsway, Launceston. It is important that you bring your gear to this meeting as our team will check the suitability of your gear for the trek. Pick-up on Day 1 will be at 7am from the Macpac Store. Today’s walk from Ronny Creek to Waterfall Valley is approximately 10km (6.5 miles), which will take about 4-5 hours.

Day 2: Overland Track

Above Waterfall Valley is Barn Bluff, which juts out of the landscape in a distinctive cone-shaped peak. This morning you’ll have the opportunity to climb the bluff if the conditions are right, before continuing on to Lake Windermere in the afternoon. Waterfall Valley is, unsurprisingly enough, full of beautiful cascades, and you’ll pass them as the track undulates across moorlands scattered with pencil pines, myrtles and snow gums. Look out for Tasmanian Devils, echidnas and wombats – though you may see the latter’s distinctive cube shaped poop more often than the mammals themselves. As you crest the moorland you’ll get a view across Lake Windermere, whose dark colour is caused by nutrients and oils leaking from the surrounding grass into the water. Make your way around the shore of the lake to tonight’s campsite, nestled in a scattered forest.

 

Accommodation

• Bush camping (with limited facilities) (1 night)

Included Activities

• Overland Track – Waterfall Valley to Lake Windermere Trek

Meals Included

• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner

Special Information

Today’s walk from Waterfall Valley to Lake Windermere is approximately 8 km (5 miles), which will take about 3-4 hours. This doesn’t include the optional side trip to climb Barn Bluff.

Day 3: Overland Track

You’ve worked your way up to the longest walk of the trip today. Begin with a walk through lightly timbered forest and across buttongrass moorlands to the lookout at Forth Gorge. In the distance the peaks of mounts Oakleigh, Ossa, Pelion East and West, as well as the Du Cane Range, pepper the horizon. Follow some small ascents and descents into the forest glade of Frog Flats, a wet section of forest crossed by the River Forth that’s home to some beautifully coloured mosses and fungi. Climb through forest to Pelion Plains, where the Forth Valley Track diverts off to Old Pelion Hut, which was built by copper miners at the very end of the 19th century. For the next 20 or so years, cattle drovers and trappers plied their trade here, before the area was declared a scenic reserve in 1922. Continue along the shore of Douglas Creek to New Pelion Hut, the largest of the track’s huts, which sits at the junction of the Overland and Arm River tracks. You’ll set up camp nearby the hut.

 

Accommodation

• Bush camping (with limited facilities) (1 night)

Included Activities

• Overland Track – Lake Windermere to New Pelion Hut Trek
• Cradle Mountain National Park – Forth Gorge Lookout

Meals Included

• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner

Special Information

Today’s walk from Lake Windermere to Pelion Plains is approximately 17 km (10.5 miles), which will take about 6-7 hours.

Day 4: Overland Track

Begin today with a gradual climb up to Pelion Gap (1126 m). Here the track hits a crossroads with Mt Pelion to the east and towering Mt Ossa, Tasmania’s highest peak at 1617 metres, to the west. If the weather’s right, there will be the option to climb either of the peaks today. Both summits boast amazing views of the national park and beyond its boundaries, and are well worth the extra effort. From the Pelion Gap crossroads the track passes through the glaciated Pinestone Valley and on to Kia Ora Hut, which sits on a creek of the same name and is nestled below the Ducane Range and Cathedral Mountain on the opposite side. Set up camp nearby the hut.

 

Accommodation

• Bush camping (with limited facilities) (1 night)

Included Activities

• Overland Track – Pelion Plains to Kia Ora Creek Trek

Optional Activities

• Overland Track – Mt Ossa or Mt Pelion East Summit trek – Free

Meals Included

• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner

Special Information

Today’s walk from Pelion Plains to Kia Ora Creek is approximately 9 km (5.5 miles), which will take about 4 hours. Allow an additional 3-4 hours for the optional Mt Ossa or Mt Pelion East side trip.

Day 5: Overland Track

Leave Kia Ora Creek and make your way through myrtle beech rainforest to Du Cane Hut, built in 1910 out of King Billy Pine by a trapper as a base for his trade. Further down the track you will take a side trip to see the falls of D’Alton, Fergusson and Hartnett, which tumble into the Mersey River in spectacular fashion, especially after recent rainfall. Back on the main track, the path climbs steadily to Du Cane Gap (1070 m), where Mt Geryon and the Acropolis (1471 m) of the Du Cane Range are the peaks that dominate the views. From here the track descends through eucalypt forest to Windy Ridge Hut, the newest hut on the track. After setting up camp nearby it’s your spot to share stories on the final night of the trip.

 

Accommodation

• Bush camping (with limited facilities) (1 night)

Included Activities

• Overland Track – Kia Ora Creek to Windy Ridge Trek

Meals Included

• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner

Special Information

Today’s walk from Kia Ora Creek to Windy Ridge is approximately 10 km (6 miles), which will take about 5 hours

Day 6: Overland Track / Lake St Clair / Launceston

Welcome to the final day of your Overland Track adventure. Leaving Windy Ridge camp, descend with the track down the valley of temperate rainforest and eucalypt forest to the Narcissus River. Pass the path which splits off to take walkers to the base of the Du Cane Range and Pine Valley Hut, the base for access to the Acropolis and the Labyrinth. Follow the track down to a suspension bridge over the Narcissus River and the end is in sight – Lake St Clair and the finish of the Overland Track. Give yourself a huge pat on the back and your legs a rest with a ferry ride across the lake to Cynthia Bay. Jump back in the van for the ride back to Launceston, where your trip comes to an end, arriving around 4:30 pm this afternoon.

Included Activities

• Overland Track – Windy Ridge to Lake St Clair Trek
• Cradle Mountain National Park – Lake St Clair Ferry Ride

Meals Included

• Breakfast
• Lunch

Special Information

Today’s walk from Windy Ridge to Lake St Clair is approximately 10 km (6 miles), which will take about 4 hours. Your trip finishes upon arrival back in Launceston at around 4:30pm this evening. Please take this into consideration when booking onward travel.