Two days in Cradle Mountain National Park

Two days in Cradle Mountain National Park

Our home for the two days in Cradle Mountain National park was this lovely patch of dirt, staying at the only campground in the area, Discovery Parks – Cradle Mountain.

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Yes, we slept in the back of a sleeper van!

Our main plan for our time in the area was to do any many of the walks as possible. In our 1.5 days, we were able to do a few!

  • The shortest was the Enchanted Walk (20 minute / 1.1km circuit) where the goal seems to be to look for wombats (we didn’t see any).
  • The Lake Dove Trail, while loops around (you’ve guessed it!) Lake Dove in a 6.0km loop. We did this as part of the return from the Cradle Mountain hike.
  • And of course hiking to the top of  Cradle Mountain, which is about 6.5km each way and took us about 5 hours.

The photos below are a collection of our day exploring Cradle Mountain and the surrounding area. It was definitely worth the sore legs the next day!

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The only wombat we saw was on the side of the road.
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Lake Dove with the Cradle Mountain summit in the background
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Looking down at Lake Dove to the right, and the carpark where we started (the grey blob in the centre)
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Evil Crow
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The pathway to the top
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Almost to the top …
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The last 45 minutes was pretty much climbing over boulders. Good fun!
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Next stop .. the mountain over there! (joking … though we met a few groups doing the multi-day hike and I believe that’s where they were heading.)
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At the top

We were extremely lucky to have a day of perfect weather. I did the hike about 5 months after having a knee injury. While I was sore the next day, the hike was manageable and I had no issues. The boulder climbing to the top was definitely a highlight!

When it came to eating, we cooked a few meals at the camp ground’s kitchen area. After a long day of hiking, we spoiled ourselves at the Tavern Bar and Bistro, part of the Cradle Mountain Lodge for a well-earned burger and a beer.

To read about the rest of my Tasmania trip, click here.

Have you hiked Cradle Mountain? What were your highlights of the area? I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below. 

I'd love to hear from you. Add your comments to the discussion below!

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