Cradle Mountain - Cradle Valley, Tasmania.
Today about twenty-five percent of visitors to Tasmania include Cradle Mountain in their itinerary, testimony perhaps to the foresight of an Austrian immigrant who first visited the area in 1910.
Gustav Wiendorfer and his wife Kate fell in love with Cradle Mountain at first sight and promptly concluded that the regions pristine beauty needed to be protected for future generations. From that day on the pair worked tirelessly towards their vision of a National Park. They built a chalet, Waldheim, to encourage visitors to come to the area and appreciate its wild beauty, all the while pushing their conservation message.
Their dream was finally realized in 1922, six years after Kate’s death, with the declaration of the 161,000 Hectare Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, now incorporated into the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
Rugged is the only way to describe Cradle Mountain and its surrounds. Sure it’s breathtakingly beautiful, pristine and idyllic, but above all it’s plain rugged. Jagged, glacier carved peaks rise above Dove Lake and the surrounding area is dotted with glacial lakes or “tarns”.
The region is home to about twenty examples of uniquely Australian mammals including the often maligned Tasmanian Devil.
Accommodation options range from luxurious to rustic, ensuring that there is somewhere for everyone to call home while enjoying everything the park has to offer.
Walking tracks abound and the king of all walking tracks in Tasmania is the renowned Overland Track, a six day 65 Kilometre trek through a diverse range of spectacular natural beauty and ending at Lake St. Clair, Australia’s deepest fresh-water lake.
This Tassie Local snapshot was produced by Footloose Photographic & Media Solutions
Things to see around - Cradle Mountain
Cradle Mountain - Cradle Valley, Tasmania
