Lake St Clair, Tasmania
An Antipodean travel company serving world travellers since 1983
Lake St Clair, Tasmania
At the southern end of the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, the moody beauty of Lake St Clair is a highlight of the pristine wilderness of Tasmania‘s west coast.
Like much of Tasmania’s highland country, Lake St Clair was formed by ice during several glaciations over the past two million years. The deep basin in which the lake lies – Australia’s deepest – was formed by the action of glaciers. Moraines – where debris was forced to the edge of the lake by the glaciers – run along part of the length of the lake.
Aboriginal Australians have lived in the Tasmanian highlands for over 10,000 years, with the area around Lake St Clair inhabited by members of the Larmairremener nation. They knew Lake St Clair as leeawuleena, meaning ‘sleeping water’. Though early European accounts of Aboriginal communities are notoriously unreliable, the most reliable accounts, written by surveyors and escaped convicts, record the existence of ‘well built houses of bark’. Sweeping button grass plains – which still mark the area today – were created by Aboriginal practices of using fire to clear pathways through rugged terrain and to aid hunting by attracting animals to newly sprouting vegetation.
The first European to visit Lake St Clair was likely a convict named James Goodwin, who traversed the Franklin and Gordon rivers in a log canoe, crossing the mountain passage at Wylds Crag, west of the Derwent River. The area was subsequently explored by James Calder in 1840, and Governor Sir John Franklin and his wife Lady Franklin in 1842.
Lake St Clair was declared a Scenic Reserve in 1922, and a National Park in 1947. In 1982, along with Cradle Mountain, the Franklin and Gordon River National Park, and a number of other national parks, it was declared part of the UNESCO World Heritage Tasmanian Wilderness Area. The area was recognised for its outstanding natural beauty, importance as one of the last expanses of temperate rainforest in the world, and for the continuing evidence of human interaction with the landscape.
The Lake St Clair area offers a number of walking trails. The lamairremener tabelti offers insight into the Lamairremener people who lived around Lake St Clair for thousands of years, passing the remnants of stone tools, caves and rock shelters. The Watersmeet Walk takes you to the confluence of the Cuvier and Hugel rivers, with the option of a short extension to Platypus Bay, where – as the name indicates – you can sometimes see platypus.
is also the end point of the Overland Track, a 65 km, 6 from to , seen by many as the ultimate Australian alpine .
Odyssey Traveller visits Lake St Clair as part of our devoted to the and history of . Beginning and ending in Hobart, our of starts with a day trip to the convict settlement of on the . We then head up the , stopping for a day of Maria , before we head to the rugged coastline of the , Coles , and Wineglass .
After this, our guided heads inland, stopping off in Launceston, the unoffical capital of , before we the glacial lakes, , and mountain wilderness of ‘s west, visiting and Dove Lake, Queenstown, and Lake St Clair. is home to a significant population of , including the . Stopping in Strahan, our learns about the on Sarah on a around Macquarie Harbour. Finally, we return to Hobart and , enjoying a day of on the last day of our . After our trip to , we conclude the with dinner at a local restaurant.
Every Odyssey Traveller is designed especially for mature and senior travellers, who want an authentic and informed experience of their holiday destination. Moving in small groups of 6-12, our trip itinerary is selected by an experienced operator, with local guides chosen for their in-depth knowledge of our destination. While we visit the main tourist attractions – , /, and the dramatic coastlines of Wineglass on – we also take the time to get off the beaten path, and leave plenty of opportunity for independent exploration and adventure. Our price includes accommodation, entrance fees for attractions, and transport in a comfortable tour bus. We are committed to supporting , so our price also includes several meals – breakfast, lunch, and dinner – at local restaurants.
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