Hiking the Overland Track

Guidebook to Tasmania's iconic Overland Track. Described over 7 stages, the 80km trail from Cradle Valley to Lake St Clair takes in glacier-carved valleys, vast buttongrass moorlands, mossy rainforests, rugged peaks, thundering waterfalls, alpine meadows and peaceful lakes. Adventurous side trips are also described.

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Overview

This guidebook covers the iconic Overland Track in Tasmania's stunning Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. The well-maintained 80km route from Cradle Valley to Lake St Clair is described over seven stages, along with optional sidetrips to the area's many accessible peaks including Mt Ossa, Tasmania's highest mountain. The track can be completed in between 5 and 9 days, depending on fitness and whether hikers undertake sidetrips.

Each stage features clear 1:50,000 mapping and profiles alongside detailed route description. The guide also includes essential practical information about booking onto the track and arranging permits, as well as comprehensive notes about the facilities available at each of the Overland huts. The extensive plant and animal section provides photos and descriptions of the eclectic range of wildlife that can be spotted along the track, and many of these fascinating species are found nowhere else on Earth.

The Overland Track crosses Tasmania's spectacular wild landscape, travelling through buttongrass moorland and rainforests, passing tranquil lakes and impressive waterfalls. Although more physically and technically challenging than the main route, the track's sidetrips are well worth the effort in good weather for the panoramic views they offer of the stunning Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park.

Table of Contents

Contents
Introduction
Location
History
Geology
Plants and animals
Planning your trip
When to go
Ways to hike the track
Hiking direction
Doing the hike with kids
Permits
Booking your hike
Signing in
Getting there
Accommodation and facilities at the start of the track
Accommodation and facilities at the end of the track
Accommodation and facilities on the track
Planning day-by-day
Using this guide
What to take
Food and water
Waymarking
Maps
Sidetrips
Health, safety and emergencies
Phones and Wi-Fi
The Overland Track
Stage 1 Ronny Creek to Waterfall Valley Huts
Stage 2 Waterfall Valley Huts to Windermere Hut
Stage 3 Windermere Hut to New Pelion Hut
Stage 4 New Pelion Hut to Kia Ora Hut
Stage 5 Kia Ora Hut to Bert Nichols Hut
Stage 6 Bert Nichols Hut to Narcissus Hut
Stage 7 Narcissus Hut to Cynthia Bay
Plant and animal guide
Plant guide
Animal guide

Appendix A Useful contacts
Appendix B Suggested clothing, gear and food
Appendix C What now? Other hikes in Tasmania

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Reviews

I’m impressed... I really couldn’t fault [this guidebook]

I’ve walked the Overland Track three times, but many years ago, way before the internet and the myriad of reports and You Tube videos that are out there, you basically picked up a brochure at the visitor centre in those days and headed off. So, I was interested to read the book to see if there’s anything that I’d missed... I’m impressed... I really couldn’t fault it. Warwick’s put an awful lot of effort and research into this handy pocket guide (well, if you had a big pocket).

The first 70 odd pages are devoted to preparedness, to ensure that anyone embarking on this adventure knows what to expect, what equipment to take and Warwick directs readers to additional research. Having seen one walker on the trip drag out a Bunnings gas stove out of his pack at a hut, I cannot stress the importance of this section.

The next 70 odd pages gives a comprehensive overview of each stage of the Track, an elevation graph, topographical map with track route, named features and side trip routes. The inclusion of the topo map snippets eliminates the need to carry the full topo maps.

The final 70 odd pages cover Flora & Fauna – the usual animals and plants, but the author has listed them from smallest (animal) to largest, so if you come across a really small bird you don’t have to hunt through an alphabetical listing to find the right one. The flora is arranged according to where you find it (alpine, sub alpine, grassland etc). I believe this section of the book would be particularly helpful and might change my feelings about packing a book (which, up to now, I’ve never done).

There’s a lot of history included in the content, fleshing out the early explorers who found the route, the early pioneers and the huts along the track.

Size: At 204 pages it is substantially more than the other book that I found available (68 pages). At 115cm x 170cm and 12cm thick, it’s not too big to have in your pack for easy reference.

Weight: 230gm – a little weighty for those of us who are light-weight walkers, BUT, you’d want to refer to the content often so that would offset its weight.

I’d always said that I didn’t need to walk the Overland Track again, after all, three times was probably enough, however, having read Warwick’s book I’ve realised that I missed a lot. I had said that I would “raffle off” the hardcopy of the book on my Facebook page, and am regretting that now, it’s a book that I’d definitely like to keep in my library!

Adventures With M blog. Full review here: https://www.adventureswithm.com/2020/02/15/i-might-have-to-do-a-return-visit-to-the-overland-track/

Downloads

Sample Route

Trade Information