8 Day Cradle Mountain Overland Track Walking Expedition from Launceston

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The Cradle Mountain Overland Track is one of the most popular wilderness hikes in Australia. See the beauty of this remarkable region and experience the pure solitude of this Tasmanian wilderness. Explore lakes, forests, moorlands and mountains on this seventy kilometer hike. The memories of this wilderness experience will last a lifetime!

The Overland Track from Waldheim near Cradle Mountain to Lake St. Clair is, for very good reasons, the most popular extended walk in Australia. Walkers, from all over the country and overseas, are attracted to this magnificent area to experience the grandeur of its mountain ranges, the beauty of its unique vegetation and the pure solitude of wilderness. This seventy kilometer (forty four mile) walk can normally be completed in five days, but Tasmanian Expeditions allow eight so as to best appreciate the points of special interest along the way.

Your schedule will permit time to visit the summit of some of the highest mountains in the State, possibly even Mount Ossa, the highest of all.

Since Tasmanian Expeditions groups are restricted to a maximum of ten people, a real sense of group identity develops, making this wilderness experience one that you know will be truly memorable.

The Cradle Mountain 8-Day hike includes camping, cooking andeating equipment, high quality tents, backpack, sleeping mat, sleeping bag and sleeping sheet, emergency communication equipment, first aid supplies, all meals and transfers, food drops along track to lighten pack weight and National Park fees.

No special skills are necessary to walk the Cradle Mountain Overland Track although a good level of general fitness is required.

Cradle Mountain National Park

2008 Departure Dates:

• October 04, 11, 18, 25
• November 01, 08, 15, 22, 29
• December 06, 13, 20, 26, 27, 28

2009 Departure Dates:

• January 03, 10, 17, 24, 31
• February 07, 14, 21, 28
• March 07, 14, 21, 28
• April 04, 11, 18, 25
• May 02, 09, 16, 23, 30
• June 06, 20
• July 4, 18
• August 1, 15, 29
• September 12, 26
• October 3, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20, 24, 27, 31
• November 3, 7, 13, 14, 17, 21, 24, 28
• December 1, 5, 8, 12, 15, 26, 27, 29

2010 Departures:

• January 2, 5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30
• February 2, 6, 9, 13, 16, 20, 23, 27
• March 2, 6, 9, 13, 16, 20, 23, 27, 30
• April 3, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20, 24, 27
• May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
• June 5, 6, 12, 19, 26

Meet at 12:45pm at the Mountain Designs Equipment Shop, 120 Charles Street, Launceston.

Meet at 12:45pm at the Mountain Designs Equipment Shop, 120 Charles Street, Launceston.

The expedition concludes at approximately 5:00pm in Launceston on Day 8

Hotel pickup is available from all Launceston centrally located hotels. Please advise your full hotel name and address at time of booking.

The proposed itinerary shown below is flexible enough to allow for extra stopovers in periods of bad weather and so should be considered a guide only. All overnight accommodation is camping.

Day 1: Launceston / Lake Rodway (L, D)

Today you begin your journey to Cradle Mountain. Your guides will pick you up from your overnight accommodation between 12.30pm and 1.00pm and transfer you up to our cabins at Cradle Mountain. The drive to Cradle Mt Lake St Clair National Park takes about 3 hours including a mid journey leg stretch in Sheffield - Tassie's town of murals. This afternoon you have some time to relax and explore the area around our cabins. Your guides will prepare a feast for you tonight - your last dinner before hitting the track! Tonight you sleep in the comforts of a warm and cosy cabin, well fed and rested and ready for the start of our trek tomorrow.

Day 2: Lake Rodway / Waterfall Valley (B, L, D)

Today the group heads for Waterfall Valley. Climbing up from Lake Rodway, pass between the crumbling Talus of Mt Emmett and the end peak of Cradle Mountain, Benson Peak. You will start to see the full grandeur of the Overland Track peaks, in the central area of the Park, with Pelion West and Mount Ossa standing out and showing the way that the group will head, over the next 3 days. To the south, the rugged quartzite tipped Frenchman's Cap in the Wild Rivers National Park. The trail curves around the Cradle Circ where ancient glaciers shaped the landscape 20,000 years ago.

Weather permitting, you will have the chance to climb Barn Bluff which dominates the western horizon. The view from here is fantastic with sweeping valleys filled with many lakes and Tarns, the most notable is Lake Will, a lake you will visit on Day 3.

After returning to your pack, it's just a short descent down to the Waterfall Valley Campsite where you can relax with the wallaby's, wombats and mischievous Tasmania Spotted Quoll, whilst your guides prepare a hearty and well deserved meal.

Day 3: Waterfall Valley / Lake Windermere (B, L, D)

Today, continue south from Waterfall Valley to Lake Windermere. A leisurely day that offers time to explore the waterfalls and a side trip past the diggings of Joseph Will, a coal prospector in the 1800's, to Innes Falls. Enjoy a relaxing lunch by the sandy shores and twisted pencil pines of Lake Will. After lunch, you can stroll to the southern end of the lake to take in Innes Falls.

Returning to your pack, back at the turn off to Lake Holmes, head back across the rolling button grass plains towards the campsite at Lake Windermere. Camping amongst the Richea Pandanifloia, Eucalypts and many beautiful flowering endemic plants. Spend the afternoon relaxing, taking in the fabulous views and maybe a swim in the lake. Lake Windermere is also a great place to meet some of Tasmania's native animals.

Day 4: Lake Windermere / Pelion Plains (B, L, D)

A wild day of moorlands and mountain views. In the morning, you will come across Pine Forest Moore, offering stark landscape and views east across the Forth River Valley to the heights of Mount Oakleigh and to todays destination, Pelion Plains, at its base. From undulating buttongrass vistas into the forested slopes of Mount Pelion West, the group will descend around the mountain to a popular lunch spot at Frog Flats. Surrounded on all sides by towering dolerite peaks, this is the head waters of the Forth River which spills off the plateau into the Lemonthyme Valley. In the afternoon, travel up onto Pelion Plains for marvelous views of fluted Mount Oakleigh and some of the biggest wombats the guides have seen in the park!!! The group will make camp near Douglas Creek.

Day 5: Pelion Plains / Kia Ora (B, L, D)

Waking to the calls of several of Tasmania's native birds, most notably the Karrowong and Yellow Throated Wattle Bird - A spectacular day in the mountains!

Climb off Pelion Plains through beautiful green forests of Sassafras and Myrtles covered in rich mosses and lichens, as the group climbs up, you will start to come into Eucalypt forest, then before your eyes, the view opens up to revel Cathedral Mountain. To your left, Pelion East comes into view, followed by Mount Ossa on the right. There is time for a rest at the saddle (1113m) between Mount Pelion East and Mount Ossa (1617m). Mount Ossa, Tasmania's highest peak, is without a doubt the highlight of the Overland Track. In fine weather, there may be time to climb one of these peaks and perhaps even eat lunch at the top. With magnificent views in all directions, continue south into beautiful Pinestone Valley. Depending upon the day's activities, camp will be set up somewhere between here and Du Cane Hut, once the bush home of trapper Paddy Hartnett and his wife.

Day 6: Kia Ora / Windy Ridge (B, L, D)

Wake up in your warm tent, nestled beneath the crags of the Cathedral Mountain and Mount Massif. After breakfast, the group will head off for a day surrounded by towering rainforests of Leatherwood and Sassafras trees, heading towards three of Tasmania's largest and most spectacular waterfalls. The first visited is Ferguson Falls, named after a former ranger at Lake St. Clair, followed by Dalton Falls. The third fall visited is Hartnett Falls, once again named after the eccentric bushman with the bowler hat, Paddy Hartnett. Hartnett Falls makes a great place to have lunch and relax in the afternoon sun, before returning to your pack and heading for Du Cane Gap and down into the rich Myrtle forests. The group will set up camp around Windy Ridge. This Valley is a great example of a U-shaped Glacier, coming down into this valley, you will notice large boulders just sitting there, these were moved slowly down the Valley by the last great ice age.

Day 7: Windy Ridge / Pine Valley (B, L, D)

After a leisurely departure, turn right and leave the Overland Track for the night to visit the stunning Pine Valley, nestled beneath the misty heights of the Du Cane range. En-route you will pass open Eucalypt forests and an unusual little place called the bowling green. Here you can see the majestic Mount Acropolis. Returning to the track, continue south and turn off towards Pine Valley. Crossing the bridge, you will start to return into the lush rainforests the group has come to know over the last 7 days. Camp is next to the Cephissus Creek, surround by beautiful rain forest.

After setting up camp you will have the chance to go for a stroll, up to the foot of the Acropolis or to look down on the beautiful Labyrinth with its fantastic lakes and towering mountains in the back drop.

Day 8: Pine Valley / Lake St Clair / Launceston (B, L)

After packing your backpacks for the final day on the track, you will be guided through dry sclerophyll forest toward the shores of Lake St Clair. Bird song drifts down from the foliage where wind tugs at the treetops. As you near the lake, gaze up to the peaks of the Labyrinth and forward to majestic Mount Olympus. From Narcissus, catch the ferry service for a 20-minute trip down Lake St Clair, the deepest natural lake in the southern hemisphere. Enjoy a spectacular conclusion to your Overland Track trek as you look back upon the mountains you've just traveled through.

After some time to inspect the visitor center and indulge in a beverage, board the bus for the return drive across Tasmania's Central Plateau to Launceston. You can collect your luggage at the Tasmanian Expeditions office upon return and, after returning group and hire gear, you will be dropped to your Launceston accommodation by about 6:00pm.