Overland Track

Overland Track - Walk Overview

The Overland Track is generally recognised as Australia’s premier alpine walk. It also has an international reputation as one of the world’s great wilderness bushwalks.

Except over the winter months, the track must be walked from north to south, starting from Cradle Valley (89 km south-west of Devonport) and finishing at Lake St Clair. The distance is 65 km if you finish at the north end of Lake St Clair (and take the ferry to the visitor centre at Cynthia Bay). Alternatively, it’s 82.5 km if you choose to walk the length of Lake St Clair to Cynthia Bay.

The track has many outstanding features; it skirts some of Tasmania’s highest peaks, traverses exposed alpine plateaus, ventures into dense rainforest, wends through eucalyptus woodlands and meanders past picturesque lakes and tarns.

The Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park is an area of high rainfall and snowfalls can be encountered year round. Facilities along the track are minimal and independent walkers need to be completely self-sufficient.

Most walkers spend 4 - 6 days on the track. Six days allows time for some of the enticing side trips. Four days involves a long walk on Day 2 and usually means taking the ferry down Lake St Clair.

Further information:

• A six day itinerary is described below.

• For more information on walking in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, click the button below.

Itinerary

The walk takes 4 - 6 days to complete. A 6 day itinerary, that allows time for side-trips, is shown below.

Day 1

Ronny Creek to Waterfall Valley Hut

Distance: 11km

Time: 5 hours

Accommodation: Waterfall Valley Hut. Camping available

Day 2

Waterfall Valley Hut to Windermere Hut

Distance: 8km

Time: 3 hours

Accommodation: Windermere Hut. Camping available

Day 3

Windermere Hut to Pelion Hut

Distance: 17km

Time: 6 hours

Accommodation: Pelion Hut. Camping available

Walk Options

Guided

A number of tour operators offer the full Overland Track as a guided trip. One tour operator provides private hut accommodation along the track, while the others offer the walk as a camping trip. Obviously, there is a substantial difference in the pricing of the different tours.

The tour operator offering the private hut guided option follows a similar route to that described in the itinerary above as the private huts are generally quite close to the government owned huts referred to in the itinerary above. The huts used by the private operator include hot showers, a drying room and a dining and lounge area. They contain five twin rooms, so group maximum size is 10. The package offered by the operator includes all meals (including three course dinners with wine) and hiking equipment.

The tour operators offering the camping trips follow the typical six day itinerary described above. As you are camping, full packs must be carried, although some of the operators do food drops to lessen the weight of packs. The packages generally include all meals and hiking and camping equipment.

Self-guided

Some of the tour operators that conduct guided walking tours in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair region provide a self-guided service for the Overland Track. Typically, the service includes:

• Transport to the start of the walk from Devonport or Launceston and transport from the end of the walk back to Devonport or Launceston

• Visit to shops for provisioning

• Hiking and camping equipment rental

• Park permits

Independent

While there are government huts along the track, independent walkers must carry a tent. This is because the number of independent walkers permitted to start the walk each day exceeds the sleeping capacity of most of the huts and a tent gives flexibility to stop overnight if it becomes unsafe to proceed.

Timber tent platforms are provided nearby to most of the huts. In addition, and where there are no platforms, there are designated natural surface camping areas.

Huts contain cooking benches, tables and bench seating that are available to independent walkers, but no cooking stoves or utensils are provided.

Rainwater tanks are provided at each of the main huts. Each hut has composting toilets nearby.

Essential Information

Access

The starting point for the Overland Track is Cradle Valley. 

Bus transport to and from Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre and Lake St Clair Visitor Centre is available all year from Hobart, Launceston and Devonport. Buses also operate between the two visitor centres during the walking season.

Private cars must be left at the Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre car park. A shuttle bus operates from the Visitor Centre to the start of the track at Ronny Creek.

It is required that walkers stop at the Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre to check in and collect an Overland Track Pass.

Park entry

As the walk is in a national park, an entry pass must be purchased. Prices vary according to the duration of the pass.

Best time

October 1 to May 31 is the most popular time to do the walk. During this time, restrictions on the number of walkers that may commence the walk each day apply and walkers must walk north to south. The walk is open in the winter months but it is a more serious and challenging undertaking.

Difficulty

The walk is rated at a moderate to hard level of difficulty. The weather conditions have a significant impact on the level of difficulty.

Accommodation

In addition to the walk accommodation described in ‘Walk Options’ above, there are several excellent accommodation options in Cradle Valley, nearby to the Visitor’s Centre. Many people use the accommodation for one or two nights before starting the walk.

There are also some exceptional accommodation options at the end of the track at Lake St Clair.

Some of the accommodation providers are attuned to walkers’ needs or offer amenities suited to walkers.

We can assist walkers in choosing the accommodation options which best suit their needs.

Other activities

As a popular tourism destination, the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park region offers many attractions in addition to the Overland Track. Many walkers choose to add extra days to their trip so that they can further explore the region.

Assistance

We can assist walkers with various aspects of their walking holidays.