Part of the World Heritage–listed Tasmanian Wilderness, this 1614-sq-km national park (parks.tas.gov.au; day pass per person/vehicle $24/48) incorporates the state's most famous mountain (the eponymous Cradle Mountain), two of its best-known lakes (Lake St Clair and Dove Lake) and seven of its 10 highest mountains. It is effectively a park in two parts: the northern section around Cradle Mountain, and the southern section wrapped around Lake St Clair. The famed six- or seven-day Overland Track stretches between the two sections.
Best walked in a clockwise direction, the well-formed 6km (two to three hours) Dove Lake Circuit, pooled at the foot of Cradle Mountain, is the classic half-day out in Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. The boat shed near the circuit's end frames Tasmania's most famous mountain scene.
From Cradle Mountain Lodge, the Pencil Pine Falls track (10 minutes return) descends through mossy rainforest to a lookout platform overhanging Pencil Pine Creek. The Enchanted Nature Walk (20-minute circuit) heads along both banks of Pencil Pine Creek in a narrow, moss-covered gorge. Pencil Pine Falls can also be seen from the accessible Rainforest Walk (10-minute circuit), which departs from the ranger station.
For a taste of the Overland Track, follow the track's opening steps along Ronny Creek (keep an eye out for wombats) and ascend past Crater Lake to the chain-assisted final climb to lofty Marions Lookout (two to three hours return), looking down onto Dove Lake and across to Cradle Mountain.
Climbing Cradle Mountain summit is a challenging full-day affair (eight hours return) and, beyond Kitchen Hut, transforms into a rock-hop and scramble. The reward? Sublime views all the way to Mt Ossa (Tasmania's highest mountain) and beyond.
Not up for a walk? Cradle Mountain Canyons (cradlemountaincanyons.com.au) takes you paddling across Dove Lake in a hand-built King Billy pine kayak, viewing Cradle Mountain from a water-top perspective.
The preservation of this region as a national park is due in part to Austrian immigrant Gustav Weindorfer and his wife Kate, who built a chalet out of King Billy pine here in 1912 and called it Waldheim (German for "Forest Home"). Today the area around their chalet, which was demolished and rebuilt in 1976, retains the name Waldheim.
Changes introduced in 2018 mean that private vehicles can no longer drive to Dove Lake from Cradle Valley between 8am and 6pm from October to March, and from 8.30am to 4.30pm April to September. Frequent park shuttle buses provide access during those hours.
