Getting fit in Tasmania means lacing up your hiking boots and striking out into the great outdoors. Of all the things to do in Tasmania, hiking should be at the top of your list. So forget the gym and hit one of these five Tasmania walks. Hiking Tasmania offers the opportunity to get outdoors and enjoy nature.
From short walks to multi-day hiking trails, Tasmania is a fantastic destination for walkers with a range of hiking experiences. With 19 National Parks and
Best short Tasmania walks
1- Climb “The Nut”
In rock climbing lingo there’s a nut, that teeny metal wedge threaded on the wire that helps save your life.
In Tasmania, there’s a pancake flat mountain known as “The Nut” that looms over the coastal town of Stanley.
You can take the lazy way and ascend by chair lift to reach the Nut but if you want a real work-out take a walk on the wild side.
Be prepared for a short but steep trek to reach the stumpy flat ridge by the sea.
Duration: Depending on your fitness level expect a 10- to 20-minute hike over steep terrain until you reach the plateau.
2- Hike the Neck of Bruny Island
Stand on the neck of Bruny Island with its to-die-for-views. It’s known as the Truganini Lookout.
Best bet is to ascend the steep timber staircase to get there. Still one of the nicest discoveries about Bruny Island besides its gob smacking gorgeous vista is the span of green.
A big patch of the island is the South Bruny National Park and that means exploring other great walks.
Duration: Return trip is 15 minutes but you’ll want to stay longer to soak in the spectacular 360-degree panoramic view.
3- Dove Lake Circuit
One of the most stunning parts of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area is Cradle Mountain – Lake St. Clair National Park.
While there are a number of hiking trails in Cradle Mountain to choose from, the most famous short walk is the Dove Lake Circuit.
Highlights on this 6km Tasmania walk includes Glacier Rock and the cool temperate forest of Ballroom Forest.
Duration: Dove Lake Circuit is a two-hour hike. Check it out here.
Best Suspended Tasmania Walk
4- Tahune AirWalk
You will be able to sense what it feels like walking on air at Tahune AirWalk south of Hobart.
Hikers traverse across a swinging suspended bridge over the Huon and Picton Rivers.
The whole time you are walking on this suspended walkway high above the forest you get to experience incredible views.
The last section, the cantilever, sits 48m above the river. This is where you will get the best views. Photogs should bring lots of memory cards.
If you prefer a gentle ramble through the forest or are up for a more challenging hike, one of Tahune’s three walking trails is sure to fit the bill.
Best Multi-Day Hiking Tasmania
5- Three Capes Track
Hike the hottest new experience
You know the old adage, “all good things come in threes?” That saying goes for the Three Capes Track in southeast Tasmania, which was anointed as “the world’s hottest new experience” despite the vigorous trek being incomplete.
The track offers access to some of the most dramatic coastal cliffs in all of Australia in a comfortable way.
The 46-km track is a multi-day walking experience showcasing Cape Pillar and Cape Hauy on the Tasman Peninsula.
There’s jaw-dropping natural scenery including Australia’s highest sea cliffs and spectacular ocean views.
Starting and ending at World Heritage-listed Port Arthur Historic Site, the four-day walk offers panoramic views of some of Tasmania’s best scenery.
Part of the experience of the Three Capes Track is each night you’ll sleep in a communal cabin, where you’ll get the chance to make new friends around the dining table.
Cabins have been thoughtfully designed to reduce the impact on the environment.
Initiatives include facilities to collect rainwater for drinking, cooking and hand washing to windows that slope downwards to avoid the risk of bird strike. Communal areas are equipped with gas cooktops and pellet heaters that utilise waste timber.
Combine the walk with Pennicott Wilderness Journeys Tasman Island Cruise for an unforgettable experience.
Online-bookings for The Three Capes Track fill up pretty quickly.
Best Island Hiking in Tasmania
6- Maria Island Walk
The four-day Maria Island Walk is the best way to explore the remarkable diversity of landscapes and experiences on Maria Island, Tasmania’s only national park located on an island.
One of the Great Guided Walks of Australia, the multi-award-winning Maria Island Walk offers a terrific combination of walking with engaging and knowledgeable guides through a diverse and pristine island landscape, the very best Tasmanian gourmet food and wine, and accommodation in two exclusive wilderness camps as well as a final night in the heritage-listed Bernacchi House.
In short, it offers great exercise in the outdoors and terrific insights into the inland’s natural and human history with all the creature-comforts at the end of the day.
The guides tell fascinating stories about the Baudin expedition explorers, who gave French names to all the landmarks and recorded detailed descriptions of the local Aboriginals.
They point out middens, explain about the Tasmanian devil reintroduction project, and identify all the weird and wonderful wildlife that are a highlight of the walk.
Maria Island Walk’s private boat delivers you right onto the beach at Shoal Bay and you walk across the isthmus and down the ocean beach to the Casuarina Beach Camp on the rarely visited South Maria Island.
From there you explore the orange lichen-covered granite boulders at Haunted Bay and peak into fairy penguin burrows.
Day two’s walk is along five powdery white-sand beaches, with a lunch break at a convict station.
You continue over heathland, where dozens of wombats graze, and through Tasmania’s largest stand of blue gums to the White Gums camp followed by a swim at Four Mile Beach.
On Day three, you follow the coastline and see convict limestone quarries and the swirling colours of the spectacular sandstone Painted Cliffs. You can do an optional climb up the soaring dolerite Mount Bishop and Clerk for stunning views.
Day four brings fascinating ancient sea fossils embedded into the cliffs and the town of Darlington.
Darlington was a convict probation site and home to one of Tasmania’s most eccentric entrepreneurs, Italian Diego Bernacchi, who developed vineyards, silk works and even a cement factory on the island in the early 20th Century.
The Ultimate Tasmania Walk
7- Overland Track
Hiking Tasmania that’s not for the faint of heart
Revered as one of the world’s great wilderness bush walks, the Overland Track is Australia’s premier alpine walk.
Start at Cradle Mountain in mountain wilderness.
Find your footing through the glacially-carved valleys marred by ancient rainforests and dense alpine meadows.
Smell the fragrant eucalyptus passing the thick forests.
You finally finish at Lake St Clair, Australia’s deepest lake.
A must-do diversion: Hit the summit of Mount Ossa. The effort’s worth it. Tasmania’s highest peak totally mesmerizes with its breathtaking panoramic vista.
Duration: Over 65km, expect a five- or six-day gruelling hike carrying a heavy duty survivalist backpack.
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