The Western Wilderness

• It’s out there on the edge of the world. One of the most unspoiled and wildest areas of Australia.
• Your entry to our World Heritage Area and home to the mighty Franklin and Gordon rivers, and Cradle Mountain.
• An area rich in convict history, wilderness adventures and a pioneering spirit.   

To help you explore the Western Wilderness:

Download or view online this region's Holiday Planner. It is full of information on things to see, places to stay and where to go. You can kayak into world-renowned Macquarie harbour, picnic on a secluded beach or journey by train deep into World Heritage Wilderness and learn of the regions pioneering heritage.

Why explore the Western Wilderness?

This is where you travel to see some of the most significant World Heritage Areas on earth and the iconic sight of Cradle Mountain reflected in Dove Lake. It’s a place of ancient Gondwana landscapes, dense forests, wild rivers that tumble through steep gorges and wide deep lakes.
 
As you head into Queenstown, you enter another world and the road spirals for more than 90 bends down into what remains of the world's richest gold and copper mine.
When you reach Strahan, on Macquarie Harbour, you can take an exhilarating cruise to the wide ancient Gordon River; travel by narrow gauge railway across the mountain range; fly in to land on the Gordon River to search out a thousand-year-old Huon pine; or just relax and indulge in great food and wine.

You can explore the area by four-wheel-drive, jet boat, kayak or sail the rivers and waterways and walk the long expanse of Ocean Beach. You are on the edge; from here – more than 11,000 kilometres (6,800 miles) west - is South America. 

From Queenstown drive north along the Western Explorer, an unsealed highway, that takes you to the world’s largest remaining stretch of temperate rainforest - the Tarkine. When you reach the lower reaches of the Pieman River you board a simple vehicular barge across the River. The little town of Corinna is the perfect place to stay to explore this area.

In Zeehan, once a wealthy silver town, stop for a while and explore the West Coast Pioneers Memorial Museum where you can learn of the town's rollicking mining past.
Further north are the tiny historic towns of Rosebery and Tullah that once housed hundreds of miners but are now quiet and peaceful. Look out for Montezuma Falls our tallest waterfall, near Rosebery.

The jagged peaks of Cradle Mountain marks the boundary of this wild and ancient area. If you are approaching the Western Wilderness from there you will pass through Mole Creek with its nearby caves.

Read more about the Western Wilderness on NeoNeighbourhood, an insiders' guide to unique travel experiences.

Western Wilderness Key Towns

Corinna – explore the magnificent Pieman River and the Tarkine.
Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park – explore Dove Lake and the Overland Track.
Derwent Bridge - gateway to the Western Wilderness when traveling from Hobart.
Mole Creek - a great base for National Parks or visiting caves and wildlife.
Queenstown – once the world’s richest mining town.
Rosebery – look out for the waterfall in the centre of town.
Strahan – on the edge of mighty Macquarie Harbour
Tarraleah – elegantly restored Art Deco buildings and where to go for fishing, walking and indulgence.
Tullah – a former hydro electric village on Lake Rosebery.
Waratah – look out for the waterfall in the centre of town.
Zeehan – home to the West Coast Pioneer Memorial Museum.

Some itineraries to help you explore the area.

West Coast Wilderness Way – from Cradle Valley through Strahan, Queenstown and the World Heritage Area.

Cradle Coast - a journey from Devonport via Cradle Mountain and onto Burnie. 

Local help from Tasmania's Visitor Information Centres is available at:

Strahan

The Esplanade
Ph (03) 6472 6800 .

Email wcvibcs@westcoast.tas.gov.au