Mt Field National Park, Tasmania

Mt Field National Park - Russell Falls Mt Field National Park is Tasmania’s most accessible national park (90 minutes’ drive west of Hobart on the Rivers Run route or B61) with a diverse glacial landscape showing the island’s geological links to Antarctica. The rocks you walk are at least 170 million years old and the plant life includes giant swamp gums, snow gums, myrtle, sassafras, King Billy pine and Australia’s only endemic deciduous tree the fagus or beech. If you are visiting in late April early May the forests that surround Tarn Shelf are a riot of gold red and orange.

Russell Falls, with its three-tiered drop, is the most visited spot in the Park. You can climb an easy path to the top of the Falls and then continue on to the Tall Trees Walk. Mt Field National Park is home to many of Tasmania’s unique animals such as platypus, echidna, spotted-tail and eastern quoll, Tasmanian devil, bandicoots, wombats, possums, bettong pademelon and much more. The last Tasmanian tiger, on show in the old Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart until 1936, was trapped in the nearby Florentine Valley in 1933.

The visitor centre features interpretation displays, shop and a bistro. Picnic and camping facilities are nearby. Access to the alpine area is via the Lake Dobson Road, which climbs for 16 km through a succession of forest types to reach Lake Dobson and its walking tracks.

Free day and nighttime activities guided by Park Rangers are available during Tasmanian summer school holidays.

Articles

A walk on the wildside

Visit Mt Field National Park for swamp gum forests, massive tree ferns and rainforest. See the famous Russell Falls, or stroll between some of the tallest trees in the world. Near Lake Dobson you'll find day walks and skiing areas. Dramatic mountain scenery and alpine plants feature in the higher areas.

Glacial lakes

Tarn Shelf is a delightful series of small glacial lakes that can be reached via a well-marked track that leaves from the ski fields. The shelf was carved out by the force of glaciers from the Ice Age. In autumn, the mountain slopes that back onto the shelf become a blaze of colour as the deciduous beech trees turn red, orange and gold.

Glimpse rare animals

Animals that are either extinct or endangered on the Australian mainland can be found in Mount Field National park, such as the eastern quoll and the eastern barred bandicoot. The last Tasmanian tiger seen in Hobart Zoo was caught nearby in 1933.

Timing it right

A visit to Southern Tasmania can be timed to enjoy the local seasons – lambs and calves are born in August, shearing is in June and October, and leaves turn colour in April in nearby Mt Field National Park.

Triple-tier cascade

Russell Falls, a triple-tier cascade and the most spectacular waterfall in Tasmania, is a pleasant one hour round-trip walk along a track from the park entrance through old-growth rainforest and groves of man ferns. Wheelchairs can use the track.

Unusual flora

The diversity of plant species in the park, curiously, increases with altitude, and some of the more unusual alpine species can be found on the Pandani Grove walk around Lake Dobson. With luck and patience, visitors might also see a platypus in the lake.

Walking and skiing

The park is a delight for walkers – from easy 15 minute strolls to overnight and extended walks into the mountains. In winter, it becomes a venue for both cross-country and downhill skiing. Tows operate on the slopes.