Short hikes in southern Tasmania, AU
All of these hikes are in southern Tasmania, within 2 hours’ drive of the capital and biggest city, Hobart. Mt Wellington is next to Hobart and accessible by bus or on foot. Mt Field NP is to the northwest, Hartz Mountains NP is to the southwest, and Cape Raoul on the Tasman Peninsula is to the east. Circumstances limited me to shorter hikes than I would’ve liked.
Descending Mt Wellington, Hobart
I took the Mt Wellington Explorer bus from downtown Hobart, up Pinnacle Rd, to the treeless summit plateau of Mt Wellington (Kunanyi), where there are toilets, a shelter, and a large parking lot (for those who drive their own car). Light snow had mostly melted. Then I walked downhill - it’s not really hiking if there’s not an uphill component - first on steps slippery from snowmelt, then dirt tracks in the forest below. There were several marked intersections with other tracks in the forest.
I continued hiking my chosen route downhill to The Springs Wellington Park, where I got a snack at a cafe, and then further downhill to Fern Tree Tavern, where I had dinner. Near the tavern, at the Fern Tree Park bus stop, I caught a municipal bus back into downtown Hobart.
Pages about the full hike
https://www.discovertasmania.com.au/regions/hobart-and-south/mount-wellington/
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/australia/tasmania/kunanyi-mount-wellington-via-pinnacle-and-organ-pipes (similar to my route, but this one has a loop that also includes the upper eastern and northern slopes)
Panorama over the Derwent River estuary, Hobart, and Storm Bay.
Mt Field NP
I’m grateful to the visitor center staff for helping me identify some of the native plants in my photos. In the future, I will probably use AI for such questions.
Pandani Grove Trail (Lake Dobson Circuit)
From the park entrance, I drove uphill on the smooth but unpaved Lake Dobson Rd, through a forest and then across a pleasant moor, before continuing through a smaller forest to Lake Dobson parking lot. From there, I walked clockwise around Lake Dobson, enjoying the plants on the east and north shores. It took around 33 minutes. AllTrails reports 51m elevation gain over 1.4km.
Other pages
Russell Falls circuit
I walked out the back door of the visitor center and up a rainforest valley to Russell Falls, then returned to the visitor center on the other track on the far side of the creek. I forget why I chose to go clockwise, but as usual there was some reason, however slight. AllTrails reports 37m elevation gain over 1.4km.
Other pages
Hartz Mountains NP
Lake Osborne
I drove up into this park hoping to hike to Hartz Peak and back, but there was too much rain. So after parking at the unstaffed day visitor center, I found a different trailhead on the northeastern edge of the parking lot. From there I took a short out-and-back walk through the lush forest and grassy marsh to the southern shore of Lake Osborne. The marsh part was at least partly on a boardwalk. Due to the weather, I didn’t continue around Lake Osborne to Lake Perry beyond. According to AllTrails, it’s 62m of elevation gain over 2.1km, out and back.
Other pages
Arve Falls lookout
This was an even shorter walk, starting from a small dirt parking lot not far away from the visitor center mentioned above. It ends on a wooden viewing platform over a small waterfall, and I found it less interesting than the track to Lake Osborne. According to AllTrails, it’s 36m elevation gain over 1.3km, out and back.
Other pages
Partway along Cape Raoul, Tasman Peninsula
I parked in the Cape Raoul Trailhead parking lot, then followed the easy track uphill into a small, open forest. I turned right at one fork, to not summit Mt Raoul, then left at the next fork, to not diverge toward Shiptern Bluff. Not long after this second fork, I came to my hike’s best lookout over the dramatic Cape Raoul. I continued up and over the high point, on the western slope of Mt Raoul, and descended to a lookout point (not marked on Google Maps) at around elevation 365m. The vista was hemmed in by branches, making it much narrower than at the previous lookout. I saw a wallaby in the area.
Pages about the full hike
