With an area of more than 1 million hectares, and comprising a fifth of the island state of Tasmania, the Tasmanian Wilderness is one of the largest remaining temperate rainforests in the world.
A place of peaks, gorges, rivers, caves, endemic flora, rare and endangered fauna, and — in so many parts of it — impenetrable forests, the Tasmanian Wilderness is a place for explorations, adventure and simply being with Nature at its most pristine.
Unique character
Inscribed by the United Nations as a World Heritage Area because of its unique character, the Tasmanian Wilderness may sound, for less adventurous visitors, a forbidding place.
True, it has places you may never reach, nor want to reach, but the Tasmanian Wilderness area encompasses several national parks and reserves, parts of which are accessible to visitors.
National parks
Probably the most accessible and best known of these is Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park where, if you wish to, you could hike the Overland Track.
The other national parks in the Tasmanian Wilderness area are Walls of Jerusalem, Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers, Southwest and Hartz Mountains. There are also the Central Plateau and Adamsfield conservation areas.
Unique species
The tallest flowering plant in the world? That's the swamp gum (Eucalyptus regnans), rising to heights of more than 100 metres, and you'll find it in the Tasmanian wilderness.
A 250-million-year-old species of invertebrate fauna. That's the mountain shrimp (Anaspides tasmaniae), said to be one of the most ancient representatives of the crustaceans.
The three largest carnivorous marsupials in the world — the Tasmanian devil, the spotted-tail quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) and the eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus) — can be found in the Tasmanian wilderness.
These are but three of many unique species of flora and fauna found in the Tasmanian wilderness.
Water and land adventures
Some of Australia's best wild river rafting occurs on the Franklin River.
For those who love bushwalking, the long distance tracks include the Overland (five days), Frenchmans Cap (three days) and the South Coast (seven days) tracks. Shorter tracks are to be found at major visitor service points such as the Cradle Mountain, Lake St Clair, Hartz Mountains and Franklin River trails.
Access to many of the Tasmanian Wilderness caves requires a permit and is limited to speleological club members due to the fragility of these environments and attendant caving dangers. One cave open to the public is Marakoopa Cave, south of Mole Creek, which attracts some 25,000 visitors yearly.
Other activities
Fishing is the second most popular activity, after bushwalking, in the Tasmanian Wilderness region. The Central Plateau area, known as the land of a thousand lakes, is particularly famous for trout fishing. Lake Pedder in the Southwest National Park, Lake St Clair, Macquarie Harbour and the Gordon River are also popular trout fishing areas.
Bikes are not allowed on Tasmanian Wilderness walking tracks. You can go biking only on roads open to motorised vehicles. Bicycle touring on the Lyell and Lake highways is popular.
You can go horseriding in the Central Plateau Conservation Area and two small areas in Cradle Mountain–Lake St Clair National Park. You have to be an experienced rider, particularly on rough ground, and some areas require permits and have restrictions on numbers.
Access roads
A major vehicular access road is the Lyell Highway which cuts across the Tasmanian Wilderness between Derwent Bridge and Queenstown. To reach the southern part of the Tasmanian Wilderness to Strathgordon, leave the Lyell Highway and branch into the Gordon River Rd. To access the northern section, take the Cradle Mountain route.
