Mount Field National Park
- Introduction
- Fact file
- A look at the past
- Aboriginal culture
- Natural features
- Native plants
- Wildlife
- PWS 1300 135 513
- PWS Mount Field (03) 6288 1170
- Visitor centre (03) 6288 1149
- Camping details (03) 6288 1526
- Road/snow conditions (03) 6288 1319
- ADMIRE the colourful ‘turning of the fagus’ along Tarn Shelf in autumn
- INHALE the wonderful smell of rainforest moss and fern beside the Tyenna River
- PICNIC with the family or friends on the lawns at the park entrance
- SEE the spectacular multi-tiered Russell Falls where veils of cascading water drop over sheer, moss-covered rock ledges
- BREATHE in the crisp alpine air at the top of the Lake Seal cirque
Introduction
Mount Field, one of the oldest national parks in Tasmania, displays a wonderful natural diversity. Rainforest communities comprise cool mossy forests, ethereal fern glades and primeval stands of deciduous beech. Alpine bogs and moorlands feature glacial lakes and rocky tarns, where stunted shrubs and dwarf conifers seem impervious to the cold. Added to this is Russell Falls, the most beautiful and majestic waterfall in the state.
Fact file
Access
From Hobart via A10 to New Norfolk then B62 and B61 to Westerway
Best Season
All year
Location
75 km north of Hobart
Park Information
Permits
Park entry fee payable
Size
15 880 ha
Where to Stay
Lake Dobson cabins, for self-sufficient
campers (03) 6288 1149
National Park Hotel (03) 6283 1103
Russell Falls Cabins (03) 6288 1198
YHA Hostel, National Park
(03) 6288 1369
A look at the past
In the early 1800s Mount Field’s dark forested valleys were the realm of fur trappers, outlaws and bushrangers. By the 1860s the region’s botanical treasures had begun to attract attention and the area’s natural beauty prompted the creation of Tasmania’s first nature reserve at Russell Falls in 1885. In the following decades families came by train and horse-drawn cart to enjoy ‘its sublime grandeur’ and the tradition continued into the 1960s. Mount Field National Park was formally declared in 1916 to protect its magnificent forests.
Aboriginal culture
The original custodians of this land were the Pangerninghe people of the Big River tribe. They hunted for Bennett’s wallaby, wombat and platypus, and traded with other groups for coastal resources and ochre. The park has several cultural sites with artefacts dating back 10 000 to 30 000 years.
Natural features
The park is a massive glaciated plateau dotted with hanging lakes, deep cirques and broad sweeping valleys scoured by ancient glaciers. The mountain slopes are steep; in places freezing and thawing has split the dolerite rock over thousands of years, creating vast ‘streams’ of boulders that inch imperceptibly downwards. The lower regions of the park comprise 200-million-year-old sandstone and mudstone over which molten dolerite once poured like icing over a cake. These ancient sediments are visible at Russell and Lady Barron falls.
Native plants
Almost every type of cool-climate plant community is found here from towering swamp gum and tree fern forests around Russell Falls to dwarfed alpine meadows of cushion plant and pineapple grass on the ridge tops above Tarn Shelf. Lake Dobson Road passes through wet forests of swamp gum, the tallest flowering plant in the world, before entering myrtle rainforest. Higher still there is subalpine woodland of smooth-barked snow gum. Up on the plateau, dwarf conifers grow among sphagnum moss and ferns with occasional patches of snow gum, waratahs and the endemic deciduous fagus, famous for its autumn colours. Small scoparia plants and giant pandanis lend a prehistoric atmosphere.
Wildlife
The lawns near the park entrance are a favourite haunt of Bennett’s wallabies and Tasmanian pademelons. Brushtail and ringtail possums are common, along with southern brown and eastern barred bandicoots. Wombats and echidnas are often seen on the open moors. There are six species of bats and over 80 species of birds, including yellow-tailed black-cockatoos in the eucalypt forests, superb lyrebirds in the rainforest and wedge-tailed eagles in the higher altitudes.
Featured Activities in the National Park
Introduction
At the visitor centre a children’s playground made of local timbers provides entertainment as well as information about the park. Beside the Tyenna River there are lovely picnic areas with shelters and electric barbecues; Lake Dobson has a shelter and picnic tables; and Sitzmark Lodge on Mawson Plateau has a heated public shelter open during the winter months. Lake Seal lookout has panoramic views.
Bushwalking
From Russell Falls carpark, Russell Falls walk (30 minutes return), a favourite for almost a century, is a flat, wheelchair-accessible stroll following the Tyenna River, between massive swamp gums and through groves of tree ferns to picturesque Russell Falls. A network of linked tracks heads from here to Horseshoe Falls (an additional 30 minutes return), Tall Trees circuit (30 minutes return) with informative signs about the plant communities, and Lady Barron Falls (1 hour return). Lyrebird Nature Trail (15-minute loop) winds through myrtle and sassafras rainforest from Lake Dobson Road. At Lake Dobson, Pandani Grove walk (40 minutes return) beside the lake takes you past pandanis and other subalpine plants, with the chance to see a platypus in the late afternoon. On the Mawson Plateau, day walks (6–7 hours return) offer views of the glaciated landscape, but walkers here must be equipped for sudden weather changes.
Snow sports
If snow conditions permit, downhill skiers can use three rope tows on moderate, short runs. Cross-country skiing is popular. Access to the ski fields is via a 40-minute steep walk.
Campsites
Land of the Giants Caravan Park and Campground
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