Cradle Country & The West

Tasmania’s alpine Overland Track, arguably the most famous multiday walk in Australia, is a 65km, five- to seven-day odyssey (with backpack) through incredible World Heritage–listed mountainscapes, from Ronny Creek near Cradle Mountain to the shores of Lake St Clair. If you have experience with multiday hikes, solid fitness and are well prepared for Tasmania’s erratic weather, it’s a very achievable independent adventure, with the track threading between mountains rather than grinding over them. Inexperienced walkers should consider signing up with a guided walking group.

Hop on board this historic railway line and take an unforgettable journey through the thick rainforest that stretches between Strahan and Queenstown. The half-day Rack & Gorge trip departs from Queenstown, climbing over Rinadeena Saddle to Dubbil Barril station, skirting the King River Gorge, and then returning to Queenstown.

Most visitors to Strahan take a Gordon River cruise. The dense rainforest that lines the riverbank and the sense of peace in these trackless wilds makes this experience quite unforgettable.

You can cruise the Gordon on a large, fancy catamaran in the company of a crowd of fellow river admirers (with plenty of comforts laid on), or be a bit more adventurous and visit with a small group by sailing boat. All cruises cross vast Macquarie Harbour before entering the mouth of the Gordon and proceeding to Heritage Landing for a rainforest walk. Most cruises visit Sarah Island, site of Van Diemen’s Land’s most infamously cruel penal colony, as well as Macquarie Heads and Hells Gates (the narrow harbour entrance). If you visit under sail, you can sneak a little further up the river than other cruise vessels are allowed to go, to beautiful Sir John Falls.

Rafting the Franklin River is about as wild and thrilling a journey as it’s possible to make in Tasmania. This is really extreme adventure and a world-class rafting experience. Experienced rafters can tackle it independently if they’re fully equipped and prepared, but for anyone who’s less than completely river savvy (and that’s about 99% of all Franklin rafters), there are tour companies offering complete rafting packages.

If you go with an independent group, you should read the Franklin rafting notes on the Parks & Wildlife Service website, and all expeditions should register at the booth located where the Lyell Hwy crosses the Collingwood River, 49km west of Derwent Bridge.

Guided trips down the Franklin, starting at Collingwood River and ending at Sir John Falls on the Gordon River, typically take between seven and 10 days. From the exit point at Sir John Falls, groups are normally picked up by the West Coast Yacht Charters yacht, Stormbreaker, for the trip back to civilisation at Strahan.

The upper Franklin, from Collingwood River to the Fincham Track, passes through the bewitchingly beautiful Irenabyss Gorge and you can scale Frenchmans Cap as a side trip. The lower Franklin, from the Fincham Track to Sir John Falls, passes through the wild Great Ravine, which requires several portages.

Hop aboard the Ida Clair for a 1½-hour ferry trip from Cynthia Bay to Echo Point and Narcissus Bay and back, admiring pristine Lake St Clair and peaks such as Mt Olympus and sharp-tipped Mt Ida along the way. Advance bookings are advised since the boat doubles as the pick-up service for Overland Track bushwalkers.

One of the planet’s last great isolated wilderness areas, this 6000-plus-sq-km national park, Tasmania’s largest, is home to some of the island's last tracts of virgin temperate rainforest. Part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, it’s a place of untouched primeval grandeur and extraordinary biodiversity. The best ways to experience it are by kayak trips or flights to Melaleuca, or walks from around Lake Pedder and Cockle Creek.

Head 6km west of Strahan's town centre to find Ocean Beach, Tasmania's longest beach (40km), which is fiercely pounded by surf. It runs uninterrupted from Trial Harbour in the north to Macquarie Heads in the south and is an evocative place to watch the sun dip into the sea. The water is treacherous: don’t swim here.

The Styx: even the name is evocative, speaking of the ancients and underworlds. If you come to this valley in Tasmania – a spot formally called the Styx Tall Trees Conservation Area but usually referred to as the Valley of the Giants – you’ll be absorbed in a domain of ancient tall trees and forests so mysteriously beautiful you’d be forgiven for thinking you have indeed crossed to another world. The subject of heated battles between conservationists and loggers over many decades, the valley was added to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area in 2013 and the entire Styx River area was designated a regional reserve.

In the rich and heavily watered soils of the valley, trees grow exceptionally tall. The Eucalyptus regnans (swamp gums) here are the loftiest trees in the southern hemisphere, and the highest hardwood trees on earth. Trees of up to 95m in height have been recorded in the valley, and many of the trees here reach more than 80m above the ground.

For a self-drive and walking guide to the Styx, check out the Wilderness Society website (www.wilderness.org.au/styx-self-drive-and-walking-guide).

Note that the roads here are unsealed and, though manageable by 2WD vehicles, are slippery after rain. To get here from Maydena, travel 2.5km west along the B61 and turn right into Florentine Rd and then right again into Styx Rd, looping through the overpass and continuing around 20km along Styx Rd to Big Tree Forest Reserve and Styx Tall Trees Forest Reserve.