camping in Tasmania

Introduction

Tasmania is an extremely popular place to hike and to camp, particularly:
- Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair multi-night hikes
- Walls of Jerusalem multi-night hikes
- east coast - Freycinet / Bay of Fire / Wineglass Bay, etc - coastal camps
- Mount Field - Russell Falls
- south-west wilderness
- Three Capes walk - (Cape Pillar, Cape Hauy and Cape Raoul) usually as 10-15km 5-6hr walks each day for dramatic sea scapes
  - trailhead for each of the Cape Pillar and Cape Hauy tracks is at Fortescue Bay campground which is a 23min drive east of Port Arthur
  - trailhead for Cape Raoul track is west of Port Arthur and is 16min drive south of Nubeena
- Bruny Island - coastal camps
the east coast waters tend to be warmer than Bass Strait thanks to the southerly flow of warmer waters of the Pacific Ocean currents which pass offshore from Merimbula in southern NSW
in contrast the wild west coast takes the onslaught of the Southern Ocean and can have massive swells

Getting there

flights to Launceston and Hobart are the most popular methods but this will then generally require car hire or travel via tour buses etc.
- if camping, obviously you will NOT be able to fly with gas canisters so these will need to be purchased in Tasmania
- Cradle Mountain Visitors Centre is 141km (2hrs) from Launceston or almost 4hrs from Hobart by car
- NB. car rentals will generally charge an additional fee or a higher vehicle excess for driving into alpine regions such as Cradle Mountain where snow can fall any time of year
alternatively, the car ferry from Geelong to Devonport can be a cost effective option if you plan to stay a few weeks and travel around in your own vehicle and take you own camp gear
- Devonport is 260km (just over 3hrs by car) to Hobart
- Devonport is 78km (just over 1hr by car) to Cradle Mountain Visitors Centre

you will need to pay for a National Park permit if you wish to enter the National Parks in Tasmania - this can be single use or an annual fee plus overnight camps require additional booking fees, this includes:
- Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair Nat Park and Walls of Jerusalem Nat Park in central west Tasmania
- South-West Nat Park / Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers Nat Park, Hartz Mountains Nat Park and Mount Field Nat Park (inc. Russell Falls) - cover most of SW Tasmania
- Ben Lomond Nat Park in central east Tas
- Douglas Apsley Nat Park on central east coast Tas north of Freycinet
- Freycinet Nat Park on the east coast
- Tasman Peninsula National Park - Three Capes Walk - see https://parks.tas.gov.au/explore-our-parks/tasman-national-park/three-capes-track ~$600pp for 3 nights in huts - LOTS of steps up and down!
- SW corner of South Bruny Island including Jetty Beach, Cloudy Bay

Bruny Island

popular fairly remote get away which requires a 15-20min car ferry from Kettering on mainland Tasmania (costs ~$56/car return, last ferry is ~7pm)
the island consists of North Bruny Island and South Bruny Island which as joined by a narrow isthmus with lovey pristine ocean beaches on the east side (with fairy penguin rookeries) and the channel and its mud flats on the west side - there is nearby free camping at Neck Beach and also at Backpackers campsite off the Adventure Bay Road on Hanssons Rd
drive carefully especially at night as there is a lot of wildlife - native hens, padymelons, poteroos, wallabies, quolls, etc
at 43degSth Latitude with very little light pollution, it also offers a great opportunity for Milky Way photography, star trails and aurora australis photography
the most popular destinations are on South Bruny Island:
- Adventure Bay
  - nice surf beaches protected from SW winds (check out Hanssons Beach) and has the most tourist facilities with a general store, cafe, restaurant at the boat cruise centre and an interesting museum of Captains Cook, Bligh and Flinders
  - there is a commercial holiday park but no free camping
  - nice river
- Alonnah
  - nice sandy beach opposite the island's only pub
- Jetty Beach campground
  - Nat Park nightly fee plus Nat Park permit
  - very nice camp area with drop toilet adjacent a lovely north facing beach
  - not far from the historic Lighthouse and the rugged south coast
  - 34min, 25km from Alonnah - mostly on gravel road
- Cloudy Corner, Cloudy Bay camp ground
  - Nat Park permit no nightly fee but access is only via 3km AWD/4WD at low tide along the beach
  - nice camp ground with drop toilets and lovely beach which also has a surf beach at the opposite end where you initially drive onto the beach
  - ~25min, 18.4km from Alonnah (~8km on gravel road + 3km on beach sand)
  - NB. if you do not wish to drive on the beach there is a small uninviting camp ground with a toilet 500m from the beach car park

Table of Contents

camping in Tasmania

Introduction

Getting there

Bruny Island