From my first, shamefully short visit to Tasmania, I remembered Mount Field National Park as a place of lush rainforests and gushing waterfalls.
On this second visit, however, I had a lot more time. And although the forests and streams were still as beautiful as ever, the highlight was a long day walk in the upper, alpine reaches of the park: the Tarn Shelf Circuit.
The trailhead is found at the car park by Lake Dobson, a stunning short walk in itself. Colorful snow gums grow all along the shore. This particular one is one of my favorite trees in all of Australia (the other is a river red gum somewhere in Victoria, but that is another story…).
At dawn and dusk, you may be lucky enough to watch a platypus swim in the dark blue waters of the lake. This one came up at the surface right below me as I sat on an overhanging rock.
Lake Dobson is quickly left behind as altitude is gained on the rocky Snowgum Track.
Contorted snow gums make interesting subjects.
A few hardy mountain skinks are out, sunning themselves on rocks. Now, I’m no expert, but I reckon it must be bloody hard work being a solar-powered lizard in Tasmania!
As we reach the treeline, we get our first views on the vast expanse of Lake Seal spread out below.
Zooming in on the rich details of the lake shore – different colors and textures all complement each other subtly.
The plateau at the top is crisscrossed by a network of boardwalks.
Panoramic view on Tarn Shelf, where we’re headed.
It’s bad hair day for the pandanus! I love the funky look of those curly leaves which call to mind an Alice in Wonderland feeling.
Panoramic view on Tarn Shelf and Lake Seal – it doesn’t get much better than that!
One of the many tarns of Tarn Shelf.
The tarns also provide lovely reflections of the sky and clouds.
An immaculately white dead gum stands sentinel above the wilderness of Mount Field.
Some of the rock pools we come across on Tarn Shelf almost look like a manmade Japanese garden…
The track goes through a loose “grove” of dead gums. It looks like a forest out of a fairy tale.
Lake Newdegate.
Photographing the trees near Twisted Lakes.
An old ski hut is still standing, albeit a little bit awry, by Twilight Tarn. A very secluded, kind of romantic spot if you ask me…
Inside the hut there’s a few relics of the past, including old wooden skis and those wonderful hiking boots which must have seen quite a lot of action in their day!
Last Visited: 10/03/2011
Length (km): 13 km
Time (hrs/min): 6 hrs
Grade: Moderate
Return / Circuit / One-Way / Partial Circuit: Circuit
Region: Hobart
Park: Mount Field National Park
Closest Town: New Norfolk
Maximum Elevation: approx. 1200m
Total Ascent: approx. 700m
Car Access: From New Norfolk (approx. 35 km northwest of Hobart) follow highway B62 (Glenora Rd) west. Drive through Glenora staying on the same road, which becomes the B61 (Gordon River Rd). Keep going until you reach the turn-off into the park, approx. 40 km from New Norfolk. Once in the park, drive past the information center and follow a 16 km gravel road winding its way up the hill to the Lake Dobson car park. Road may be closed or require chains in snow conditions.
Length (km): 13 km
Time (hrs/min): 6 hrs
Grade: Moderate
Return / Circuit / One-Way / Partial Circuit: Circuit
Region: Hobart
Park: Mount Field National Park
Closest Town: New Norfolk
Maximum Elevation: approx. 1200m
Total Ascent: approx. 700m
Car Access: From New Norfolk (approx. 35 km northwest of Hobart) follow highway B62 (Glenora Rd) west. Drive through Glenora staying on the same road, which becomes the B61 (Gordon River Rd). Keep going until you reach the turn-off into the park, approx. 40 km from New Norfolk. Once in the park, drive past the information center and follow a 16 km gravel road winding its way up the hill to the Lake Dobson car park. Road may be closed or require chains in snow conditions.
Have you visited Mount Field? If you have any stories, updates or corrections, please let us know by commenting below.
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I went along the tarn shelf and stayed in the ski hut at Twilight Tarn in the late 50’s and early 60’s in winter skiing there and also in summer when helped with repairs to the hut. Still just the same looking at the pics, just beautiful! the hut at that stage was still stocked withe dehydrated food and coffee from the 1930’s, I remember trying the coffee but pretty average! There were trout in the tarn then, I wonder if they are there now? I would love to go back but I guess I am past it now. Any body thinking of going GO!!
Wow, Peter! Fantastic story. Thanks for sharing. It’s great to hear that things still look the same!
Cheers
Neil
truly beautiful and frighteningly austere.We love the platypus photo
Thanks for commenting! The platypus is my favourite too!
Did this walk in February, 3 years ago and it was fantastic. Only disappointment was they had restricted access to Twilight Tarn Hut. Hopefully I’ll get back there and camp overnight, there should be some great early morning photos.
Thanks for commenting Ken… It looks amazing! I’ll get there myself one day.