Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park is one of Tasmania's most famous natural attractions. Home to the world-famous Overland Track, as well as being the best place to see the elusive Wombat in the wild, Cradle Mountain has some of the best hikes that you can complete with some of the most scenic views in Australia.
Where we stayed
We weren't fortunate enough to be able to get a campsite in the national park itself. The campsites are very limited and fill up quite quickly, particularly in summer, one of their busier periods. There is only one caravan park close by (G'Day Park) that offers powered and unpowered campsites, all other accommodation options around the park are resort style villas or small cabins which range in price depending on which option you go for.
If you are camping and you do not get a spot at the caravan park in the park there are no other options besides the nearest towns, which unfortunately, are almost an hour's drive away. There is also no free camping in or around the national park and the rangers do patrol the area quite well, the nearest towns with alternative accommodation are Waratah to the west and Gowrie Park to the east.
There are also various cabin/Airbnb style lodges along the Cradle mountain road coming from the east, again these range in price depending on which one you look to stay at. We stayed at Gowrie Park which was quite an affordable caravan park at $40 per night, and had decent amenities for its location. It was also located in some very scenic countryside, with several mountains nearby that you would drive by on your way to Cradle Mountain.
Getting Around
There are no vehicles allowed inside the park between 8AM and 6PM in order to control the number of people in the park and on the walks at different points during the day.
The national park offers a shuttle bus service, which is included in the cost of your park access pass. These shuttles run constantly between 8AM and 6PM and stop at major points through the park, allowing you to get off and on as you please and see all of the park at your own pace.
Outside of 8AM and 6PM you are able to drive into the park however the rangers do stress to be mindful of native wildlife in the early and late hours of the day as this is when they are most active. You will be able to access the park for sunrise ensuring that you drive out of the park back to the visitor centre before 8AM in the morning.
The Walks & Hikes
During the week that we visited the park we completed almost every short walk that you can do, below are some of our favourites as well as some experiences that you really shouldn't miss. Depending on the time of the year you plan to travel to Tasmania, may affect how you visit Cradle Mountain. It is classed as an alpine region of Australia and as such is prone to various kinds of difficult weather. We were very fortunate when we visited in summer that we had very clear days everyday we went to explore the park.
Dove Lake Circuit
One of the most popular walks in the park and one of our favourites is the Dove Lake Circuit.
Dove Lake sits at the base of Cradle Mountain and offers different scenic viewpoints of the mountain around the lake. The walk itself is easy with moderate grade sections where there are some short hills, you can walk either direction, clockwise or counter clockwise depending on what lookouts you want to visit first.
Around the lake there are three main features besides the mountain to see; these are Glacier rock, the old boatshed and the Ballroom forest. The walk itself is a 6km circuit and will take around 2-3 hours depending on your fitness level, it is a very popular walk so we recommend getting the first bus in to complete it so you don't have to struggle with hundreds of others on the tracks as well.
Enchanted Forest walk, Waterfall Walk & The Rainforest Walk
Some of the shorter walks were also some of the highlights of our visit to the national park. The Enchanted forest walk, Rainforest walk and Waterfall walk each take around 20-30 minutes to complete and will take you through some of the beautiful forests of the national park.
If you're lucky you may be able to spot a wombat on the Enchanted forest walk as they are often seen in the fields either side of the boardwalk grazing, keep an eye out for their odd cube shaped poo on the way to know when one might be nearby.
The rainforest walk will take you for a small loop through one of the denser parts of the rainforest in the national park, due to the dense forest the air can be quite crisp. Often overlooked, this walk we found to be one of the more peaceful in the park as there are not as many people on the track, you can really enjoy the forest and take in the surroundings.
Lastly the Waterfall walk takes you to two different lookouts for the two waterfalls along the Pencil Pine creek at the beginning of the park. You will visit both Pencil Pine falls and Kyvnet falls. Whilst they are not the largest waterfalls in Tasmania, we found this waterfall walk very peaceful as it was not as popular as some of the others in the park. You will likely have the lookouts all to yourselves.
The King Billy Track
The King Billy Track is one of the walks we probably wouldn't recommend if you didn't have the time, it is a relatively easy 2km circuit leaving from behind the cradle mountain lodges. The walk takes you up into the forest filled with Sassafras and old King Billy Pines, some as old as 1500 years in age. However there isn't anything overtly special about the walk and if you are struggling for time we would recommend the main walks near dove lake or some of the shorter walks nearby instead of this one.
Crater Lake & Marions Lookout
The last walk we completed in the park was the Crater Lake/Marions Lookout hike. This is a moderate hike for most of its 8km distance however there are several steeper sections of climbing along with one very difficult climb. The most difficult point of the hike involves rock climbing using chains along the face of the wall to assist you, it is recommended to have good upper body strength to complete this section of the hike. Overall it will take around 2 and a half hours to complete depending on your level of fitness and how long you spend at each of the lookouts.
The walk will take you past several amazing lookouts and points around Cradle mountain; Crater Lake and its Boatshed, Dove lake lookout, Marions lookout over Cradle Mountain and Wombat pool. Whilst it is a reasonably difficult hike, if completed on a good weather day the views from the two lookouts at the top of the hike are almost unparalleled in the park. From the Dove Lake lookout you get a fantastic panoramic view of the entire lake as well as being able to look back north past Ronnie creek to the entrance of the park. The lookout from Marions lookout gives you an amazing view of the Cradle Mountain Peak from a high vantage point, after reaching the final lookout you can return the way you came or detour via Wombat pool back to the start of the hike.
The Wildlife
One of the things we enjoyed the most about the Cradle Mountain National Park was the extremely abundant native Australian wildlife and is one of the best place to see Wombats in the wild.
They are most active in the early morning and late evening however we found we had the most luck in the evening spotting them. One of the best places to see them in the park is along the boardwalk from Ronnie Creek carpark.
We visited almost every evening and saw multiple Wombats each night, sometimes up to 20 or 30. As they are wild animals you shouldnt approach them or try to touch or feed them, they're scattered throughout the fields but generally move around finding food so you will definitely be able to get a close up photo if you wait long enough. We also saw plenty of Echidnas around Dove Lake and lots of Kangaroos around the Cradle Mountain Lodge at the beginning of the park.
Where to get a bite to eat
There are only a few places to eat out in the national park so you should try and bring lunch if attempting some of the longer walks. Elements cafe is located at the entrance to the park next to the visitor centre and is a good place for a quick bite if you haven't packed a lunch.
The only place we ate out in the national park was the Tavern at the Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge, the food was great and reasonably priced, and the restaurant had a great atmosphere and aesthetic to it. There is no general store or IGA located at Cradle mountain and the nearest food stores are well over an hour away so come prepared or make sure you factor eating out into your budget when visiting the park.
Cradle Mountain is one of Tasmania's most popular tourist destinations and we loved the entire week that we spent there. Most of the walks are very accessible for people of all ages and skill levels and the abundance of wildlife makes it a fantastic place to bring kids. The scenery is some of the best in Australia and it is always one of the first things we recommend to anyone looking to travel to Tasmania.
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