SOUTHWEST NATIONAL PARK IS TASMANIA’S largest expanse of wilderness and its largest reserve, covering almost 10% of the entire state. It is famous as the home of some of our country’s most challenging multi-day hikes; the Western and Eastern Arthurs, the South Coast Track and the Mt Anne Circuit.
But it’s also home to a plethora of remarkably accessible and spectacular day walks. Head west on the sealed Gordon River Road, and just a couple of hours out of Hobart you are soon driving past rugged mountains, through buttongrass plains and into vistas that make you slam on the brakes and wonder how you can get closer and deeper into the imposing landscape. Hidden in this landscape is a cornucopia of faint tracks and challenging trails that climb up and down just about every peak in sight.
What follows is a guide to five of the best day walks along this road, taking in two ‘Abels’—Clear Hill and Mt Wedge—as well as hidden gems, such as the rugged little Needles track, the wild and remote Mt Sprent, and a jewel of the Southwest, the spectacular Sentinel Range.
This is a true adventurer’s playground. On many of these walks, you’ll have the track—and the summit—to yourself, and you’ll find yourself standing atop a wild peak with thousands of acres of uninhabited land stretching away at your feet, and with you caught in the heart of it all.
LAKE PEDDER - OLD AND NEW
We can’t talk about this region without discussing the elephant in the room—Lake Pedder, both old and new. From every walk described in these track notes, views of either Lake Pedder or Gordon Dam dominate. These two vast bodies of water were created to generate hydroelectricity, and in that process, we lost one of the region’s most scenic natural features—the original Lake Pedder, a stunning, naturally occurring glacial lake 10km2 in area with a famous quartzite beach one kilometre wide and three long.
In fact,. But Pedder doesn’t actually create hydroelectricity; instead, it acts as a vast diversion pond for Lake Gordon to the north where power is generated. However, only the top metre of Lake Pedder is actually diverted; the 14m of water beneath that, sitting on top of the original Lake Pedder, is simply there to elevate the level so it can gravity feed the canal to Lake Gordon. Consequently, current Lake Pedder’s level changes little; beneath its inky waters, the original quartzite beach sits largely intact and undisturbed. There’s now a strong case for restoring the original lake to its former glory. Be sure to visit for a full run down on the remarkable vision of this idea.
