Best Cradle Mountain Walks

Things to Know - Passes & Preparation

Parks Pass

All Cradle Mountain walks, no matter how short or long, require an entry pass into the Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park. These can be purchased either from the Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre, at the entrance to the national park, or in advance from any other Tourist Information Centre in Tasmania. There is a range of different price and duration options for groups, families, and multi-day Holiday passes, which also cover entry into Tasmania’s other national parks. Use of the free shuttle bus service (see below) is included in all Cradle Mountain entry passes. 

Be prepared

Cradle Mountain is an alpine environment, and so the weather can change quickly and unexpectedly. Whatever season you plan to visit, be sure to bring appropriate clothing, equipment and supplies. Always check weather forecasts and be up to date with the latest information regarding track closures and potential dangers, which you can get from the information centre or through the parks service app.

Getting in, out and around in Cradle Mountain

Private vehicles are technically allowed inside the National Park (at least as far as the Dove Lake Car Park), but access is extremely restricted and unreliable (eg. campervans are forbidden at all times, and cars cannot enter after 8am). The only practical options for getting around inside the National Park are either on foot or by the very reliable Cradle Mountain shuttle bus service. This departs regularly from the Visitor Centre, and it connects with the start and end points of all the walking routes. Upon arriving at Cradle Mountain, you can leave your car at the secure Visitor Centre car park (an old airstrip with plenty of space). 

The best walking trails in Cradle Mountain

With all that information out of the way, let’s dive into the best Cradle Mountain walks. Whether you’re looking for short-and-sweet strolls to suit the family, or gruelling, multi-day treks through the wilderness, Tasmania’s premier national park will not disappoint.

Short walks

The Enchanted Forest Walk

• Difficulty: Easy        
• Trail Type: Loop
• Time & Distance: 20 minutes, 1.4 km

An easy and accessible walk for all ages, fitness types and family members, this short 20-minute loop is a great introduction to Cradle Mountain’s lush natural beauty for anybody. The trail starts at a small bridge over Pencil Pine Creek, and meanders its way along the riverbank through surprisingly diverse vegetation, from open button grass plains and thickets of tea tree bushes, to full eucalyptus woodlands and myrtle forests coated in shimmering mosses. The local wildlife love this diversity of environments, too. So you might even be lucky enough to see a wombat or spot a platypus frolicking in one of the pools! 

King Billy Track

• Difficulty: Easy        
• Trail Type: Loop T
• Time & Distance: 40 minutes, 2 km

This lovely boardwalk trail starts and ends right by Cradle Mountain Lodge, and it offers even more exposure to Tasmania’s precious ancient forests than the Enchanted Forest Walk. Still easy and accessible for all fitness types (although with a slight incline to start the walk), the King Billy Track pushes further into the forest towards the towering King Billy pines, some of which are said to be over 1500 years old. Once sought-after for their timber, these ancient giants are now protected, and they play a key part in the local ecosystem. You might spot some eye-catching orange fungus during the colder months, and local wallabies are known to hop through here pretty regularly. 

The Waterfalls Walk (Knyvet Falls and Pencil Pine Falls + Lookout)

• Difficulty: Easy
• Trail Type: Out & Back
• Walking Time & Distance: 
  45 minutes, 3.5 km (Lookout loop, via Dove Canyon Track) 
  20 minutes, 1.5 km (shorter loop)

This short but rewarding walk is particularly popular during the summer months, since the spectacular Pencil Pine Falls swimming hole is only a five-minute walk from the Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre car park. Whether swimming or not, it’s certainly worth hanging around to enjoy the cascading falls and surrounding scenery. However, continue walking downstream, along the boardwalk (part of the Dove Canyon Track), to reach the typically less crowded (but no less impressive) Knyvet Falls, passing more tranquil river pools and lush rainforest scenery along the way. Sightings of wombats, echidnas, pademelons and other wildlife are common. 

Dove Lake Circuit

• Difficulty: Easy-Medium     
• Trail Type: Loop        
• Time & Distance: 1 hr 40 min, 6.1 km

If you’re looking for a slightly more challenging Cradle Mountain walk, but one that is still relatively accessible to all ages and fitness levels, then this is a tough one to beat. Offering a changing panorama of stunning views – including views directly onto Cradle Mountain, if you walk the loop in the clockwise direction – this trail traces the edges of Dove Lake and passes the iconic Boatshed that you’ve probably seen in many a Cradle Mountain promo picture and Instagram post. If you want to add even more Instagram-worthy photo opportunities to your walk, you can easily tack on a walk up to Marions Lookout. This will add about an extra hour, but also dozens more breathtaking viewpoints over both Dove Lake and Crater Lake. The starting point (at the trailhead) is accessible by shuttle bus from the Visitor Centre. 

Half-day walks

Speeler Track

• Difficulty: Medium     
• Trail Type: Loop        
• Time & Distance: 1 hr 30 min, 3.4 km

Short but challenging enough for intermediate hikers, the Speeler Track is a good option for those who want to work up a sweat in a hurry – or maybe those who want to get off the main boardwalk trails but perhaps don’t have the time, experience or desire to set aside a full half day to exploring Cradle Mountain’s wilderness. This is basically an extended loop of the King Billy Pine Walk (above), climbing straight up an elevation of nearly 150 metres in a few kilometres. Trek through mossy rainforest and open grasslands up to a superb viewpoint – passing tranquil waterways and keeping an eye out for funky tree fungus along the way – and complete the loop back down to the Visitors Centre and Lodge in little more than an hour.

Longer walks 

Crater Lake Loop (Crater Lake, Marions Lookout, Lake Lilla, Dove Lake, Wombat Pool) 

• Difficulty: Medium     
• Trail Type: Loop        
• Time & Distance: 3 - 4 hours, 9.2 km

A great alternative or add-on to the Dove Lake Circuit, you can combine any number of these fabulous trails around the three bodies of water of Crater Lake, Lake Lilla and Wombat Pool. Between them, they offer an incredibly rewarding (and diverse) range of landscapes and viewpoints, plus plenty of up-and-down walking. The climb can be tough in parts (particularly up to Marion’s Lookout, one section of which has steel cables to keep you steady), but views make it more than worth it. Although technically you can start right from the Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre, most walkers choose to take the shuttle bus to Ronny Creek and do the loop back around to the Dove Lake car park. Wombats and echidnas share the trail with visitors regularly.

Dove Canyon Track

• Difficulty: Challenging     
• Trail Type: Loop        
• Time & Distance: 2.5 hours, 6.3 km

This beautiful track combines a bit of everything: rainforest, bush walking, boardwalks, waterfalls, swimming holes, open grasslands, some rock scrambling, a bit of canyoning, and a descent 300m elevation climb up and down. So in some ways it’s a microcosm of all the best bits of the entire National Park in one 3-hour circuit. It's pretty hard graft for some of the steeper sections, and the terrain can be uneven; but overall it’s a well maintained track and a lot of it is flat. You can choose to do the loop either clockwise (starting with the waterfalls and going up the rocky scree slope) or anti-clockwise (heading down the rocky scree slope, and finishing with the waterfalls), starting from the Cradle Mountain Lodge. This walk is a good alternative to the alpine treks if the weather is bad and clagging in around the higher peaks and alpine areas.

Cradle Summit and Hansons Peak (via Overland Track and Face Track)

• Difficulty: Challenging     
• Trail Type: Loop      
• Time & Distance: 6 - 8 hours, c. 16.6 km

For serious hikers who can’t dedicate the time or energy to the famous Overland Track (below), this is much more than “just” a shorter version of it, since it’s stuffed with some seriously challenging sections and breathtaking summit views of its own. The circuit can be done either clockwise or anti-clockwise, starting on the Overland Track at Ronny Creek and going either via Marions Lookout, Crater Falls and the Historic Kitchen Hut (anti-clockwise) OR around Dove Lake, up Hansons Peak and the Face Track to Cradle Mountain Summit. Whichever way you do it, you have absolutely breathtaking 360-degree views over the entire National Park to look forward to. Given the alpine environment, the weather can change quickly! So be prepared. Even if it is cloudy, though, the views are still great. Snow is common in winter.

The Overland Track

• Difficulty: Very challenging        
• Trail Type: Out & Back    
• Time & Distance: 80 km, 6 days

This is the undoubted winner of any title like the “Ultimate” Cradle Mountain Walk, as it is arguably Australia’s most rewarding, most impressive, and most famous alpine wilderness walk. You need to be serious about this one – be well-prepared, have a good level of fitness, and be fully aware of and prepared for the dangers and changeability of alpine weather. However, it’s not a “professionals-only” type of track to be scared of. Therefore, If you tick all of the boxes above, then this is an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime kind of walk! 

Starting at Ronny Creek (a 7 km shuttle bus ride from Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre), the Overland Track ends 65 km and (on average) six days later at Australia’s deepest lake, Lake St. Clair. It cuts right through the heart of the Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park and the wider Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, so it’s safe to say that there’s no shortage of stunning scenery along the way. For more information on what to expect on the multi-day walk – and how to plan for doing it – check out our dedicated blog post for hiking the Overland Track.

Ready to go?

If you’re ready to start putting a Cradle Mountain walking trip into your Tasmanian holiday itinerary, then First Light Travel can help you figure out the best way to do so. They also have a blog covering all things Tasmania, if you want to know about other aspects of your trip. You can check out a range of self-drive Tasmania itineraries on their website, or even contact their travel experts to curate your own!