Cradle Mountain is a Tasmanian icon. It’s likely the place that comes up when you search for Tasmania in Google. It’s located in the northern section of the Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair National Park in North West Tasmania.
The area boasts crystal blue lakes formed from huge sections of ice that melted thousands of years ago. The slow movement of this ice also gouged parts of rock out of the mountains surrounding the lakes.
If picturesque landscapes aren’t enough, you may want to travel there to witness cute wombats wandering the plains. Cradle Mountain is home to various other native Australian wildlife too.
Some of the animals that we spotted were pademelon, wallabies, echidnas, platypus, green rosellas, and ravens. You may also come across Tasmanian devils, quolls, bush tail possums and some of the many other species.
About 50% of Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair National Park alpine flora is endemic to the area, which makes it very unique. In other words, Cradle Mountain is a great place for an introduction to Tasmanian nature and wildness.
The National Park offers over 20 different tracks with with all kinds of difficulty ratings, starting with very easy 15-minute strolls on elevated boardwalks all the way to hard six-day hikes across the whole park. There really is something for everyone.
Choose a hike suitable to your fitness level and weather as some of the hikes would be too dangerous to do during wet and windy conditions. The tracks are divided into three categories: Easy, Medium and Hard.
As for us, we tend to be somewhere in the middle in terms of the types of hikes we like. We enjoy hikes where we get rewarded with great views at the end, even if that means that we have to sweat a bit along the way. In this article, we reveal the best hikes that you can do at Cradle Mountain and the best time to do them.
How to get there
There are no public transport options. You’ll need your own car or be part of a tour group. The Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre is located about a 1 hour 45 minute drive from Launceston by car. If you're travelling from Hobart, it takes about four hours by car.
We travelled from Melbourne to Devonport via ferry, the Spirit of Tasmania. We chose to take our electric vehicle (EV) with us on the ferry during the day rather than hiring a car in Tasmania.
We stayed overnight in Devonport. It takes about 1 hour 30 minutes to get to Cradle Mountain from Devonport.
Where to stay
There are a few cabins to choose from in the area.
Since we visited on New Year’s Eve, most of the accommodation options were priced a lot higher than usual and some of them were already booked out. So we decided to stay at Cradle Mountain Camping and Fishing.
Since we follow a plant-based diet, staying at a fishing campsite wasn’t an ideal situation, but there weren’t any other options around that we could book in advance. There is another free camping site in the area but we didn’t want to risk it, so we booked this one through Hipcamp.
Note the area is isolated around Cradle Mountain. We therefore recommend picking up some groceries from shops selling local produce just outside of Devonport before travelling to your accommodation.
How long to stay
Although you can pay a day visit to Cradle Mountain, we recommend staying at least two to three days in the area so you can take full advantage of everything the National Park has to offer. The weather there is quite unpredictable and you may experience four seasons in one day.
Staying at least an extra day will give you more flexibility to do the hikes, because it's not much fun doing them when it's raining. We can tell you from our own experience! Another factor is that some of the hikes can only be done in dry weather because of safety. So if you have a hike in particular that you want to do that requires dry weather, the smart thing to do would be to allow yourself extra time to get it done.
Our experience hiking at Cradle Mountain
Visitor centre
Everyone has to go to the Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre before entering the National Park. You can get a map of the park there and all the information you need.
You have to purchase a Tasmania National Parks Pass to visit Cradle Mountain. We recommend purchasing a monthly pass if you are planning to visit more than just one park in Tasmania over more than two days as it works out cheaper than purchasing one individually for each park.
Shuttle buses take visitors to the different hiking trails in the park. They run every five to ten minutes from the first stop at the visitor centre. Tickets for these buses are valid for 72 hours and cost $15. Note if you purchase a one-day Parks Pass, a 24-hour shuttle ticket is already included in the price.
The buses stop at four different places in the park on a circular route. Review the map of the park to determine where you need to get off for each hike. If you’re not sure, we found the bus drivers very knowledgable and happy to confirm the best place to get off.
It takes about 20 minutes to get from the visitor centre to Dove Lake, the furthest stop. The first bus leaves the visitor centre at 8AM and the last shuttle bus leaves Dove Lake at 7PM, so make sure you make your way back to the nearest bus stop on time!
Some of the shorter hikes you can walk to from the visitor centre. If you want to do any of the hikes to the lakes, you have to purchase a shuttle bus ticket as you can’t access the park with your own car during the shuttle operating hours from 8AM to about 7PM.
If you want to see sunrise or sunset at Cradle Mountain, you will have to get inside the park with your own vehicle outside the operating hours of the shuttle buses. But be aware that only a limited amount of cars are permitted access at the one time.
People that do multi-day hiking drive in with their cars and don’t exit for days. So if the park has reached the limit, you will have to wait until someone else comes out.
A boom gate is lowered and a light is displayed at the entrance to advise you that you cannot enter the park. You then have to wait in a nearby car park to the left of the entrance for someone to leave.
We tried to get in after 7:30PM with no luck. We actually met someone who spent many hours waiting and still couldn’t get inside, so you have to be quite lucky or visit during the off-peak season to get in.
Responsible driving
As we mentioned before, the park is full of wildlife. They don’t always pay attention to the roads and may cross over them on occasion.
Avoid driving during dawn and dusk when possible as that’s when they are the most active. If you are on the roads during these times, drive very slowly so you have time to react if you do come across any of them.
Lake Lilla (Cradle Valley Boardwalk)
Duration: 1.5 hours
Grade: Easy
We arrived quite late to the park on the first day, so we were running out of time to do any of the bigger hikes. We therefore opted to do a hike to Lake Lilla which takes about one hour and a half return. You can start the hike at either Dove Lake or Ronny Creek.
You can either come back the same way once you reach Lake Lilla, or continue hiking to the opposite end. Both options will take approximately the same time but we definitely recommend to either start at Dove Lake and finish at Ronny Creek or visa versa rather than finishing the same way you started.
No matter which side you start the hike from, make sure you do it in the early morning or late afternoon for the best opportunity to see wombats and enjoy the best light for your photography and videos. We started our hike at Ronny Creek at 5PM in summer and it only took us a few metres before we spotted the first wombats.
We saw so many wombats there! They were scratching their butts on the boardwalk, ambling across the track, and even pooping in front of dozens of curious tourists.
The little creatures couldn’t care less about the humans watching them. It’s like they know that they're protected!
Please be responsible and don’t stray off the paths. Each step you take could result in the damage or destruction of precious nature.
You must also not feed any animals you see on your way. They could become dependent on humans feeding them and what they eat could make them sick.
Half of the path is more of a boardwalk with different vegetation on both sides. Once you get closer to Lake Lilla, the landscape changes and you will experience more rocky ground.
As we reached Lake Lilla, we spotted a platypus just offshore. Platypus are very shy animals, so we were very excited to see one.
After appreciating the beauty of the lake, we continued the hike to a boat shed next to Dove Lake. The boat shed is a ten-minute walk off the main track to the parking area and bus stop of Dove Lake.
We recommend allowing enough time to visit this picturesque spot during the afternoon light as it was the highlight of our hike. The view was so beautiful, it felt surreal.
Of course if you visit during an overcast day, you will have a different experience. That’s why we always recommend staying at each national park for at least two to three days to have more opportunities for sunny weather.
Dove Lake Circuit
Duration: 2-3 hours
Grade: Easy
The following day, we woke up early to beat the crowds and in the hope of enjoying the early morning light. We returned to the Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre again to take the shuttle bus to Dove Lake to tackle the Dove Lake Circuit hike.
This is the most popular hike as it’s relatively easy yet quite long and it reveals a lot of different viewpoints and flora of the park. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of luck with the weather that morning and most of our hike was foggy and wet.
We enjoyed walking through the Ballroom Forest. The trees appear to be dancing with each other and it felt quite different there compared to other parts of the track.
The best views on this hike are probably from Glacier Rock and the boat shed. But we only knew that because of Janna’s previous visit to Cradle Mountain and what we saw the day before. During the hike itself that day, we could only see the nearby mountains and the peak of Cradle Mountain was hiding under the mist of thick clouds.
The hike took us about two hours. But it was somewhat rushed because of the weather. We didn’t spend as much time as usual on taking photos or videos and enjoying the views.
After the Dove Lake Circuit hike, we headed to a smaller visitor centre at Dove Lake to dry off. This centre has some interesting information about local Indigenous culture and the geological formation of the mountains and lakes. It also has some great spots to rest out of the elements and gaze out at the stunning views of Dove Lake through floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
Crater Lake Circuit
Duration: 3 hours
Grade: Medium
Jon really wanted to do the the hike to Crater Lake, which is more challenging than the other two hikes we did. We returned to the main visitor centre and bought a coffee at a cafe there to warm ourselves up.
We almost gave up on doing the Crater Lake Circuit hike as the winds were strong and even with the sun making an appearance occasionally, the weather didn’t look promising. However, with some patience we waited a bit longer until the sun was staying out and we committed to our last hike of the day.
We started at Ronny Creek again, walking across the boardwalk with fewer wombats around this time. There is a junction where we went left to Lake Lilla the day before, but this day we went up towards the Crater Lake Circuit.
The hike was quite elevated and every section of it was gorgeous. The wind was really strong, so make sure you don’t get too close to the edges.
We reached Crater Lake itself about 45 minutes after leaving Ronny Creek. It probably would have taken us longer if we had seen more wombats that day. There is another historic boatshed there, but it's in worse condition than the one at Dove Lake.
The lake is surrounded by craggy mountains and is the second-biggest at the park after Dove Lake. It was a unique experience to be so high and at a lake at the same time.
As we continued on the track after Crater Lake, the views became even better. 1,000 metres is the highest point of the track. This hike really reveals the scale and beauty of the park, as you get the view of all the three lakes from above.
It was hard to pay attention to continuing with the hike sometimes as all we wanted to do was sit and enjoy the view for hours.
But since we left quite late, we didn’t want to miss the last shuttle bus from Dove Lake. The hike itself took us about two hours. We always take another hour or so to take photos and soak in the views.
Note that the advised times for the different hikes on the information boards at the park are a bit on the low side. The staff at the visitor centre advised us longer times than what was published on the boards. The listed times also don’t include any time to enjoy the views.
If you only have time to do one hike at Cradle Mountain
In our opinion, the Crater Lake Circuit hike is the one that you should do. If you start at Ronny Creek, this hike also goes past Wombat Pool and then joins up to the end of the Lake Lilla track. You can also stop at the boat shed on your way to Dove Lake.
If you are doing this hike in the early afternoon, we recommend starting at Dove Lake and finishing at Ronny Creek. This will give you more opportunity to meet wombats on your way as they usually come out in the late afternoon.
And if you feel really adventurous, you can do the Dove Lake Circuit first and then continue going up to the Crater Lake Circuit. That way you will essentially complete all three hikes. We estimate it will take about five or six hours to complete them all, so it’s doable in one day.
If you have time for more hikes at Cradle Mountain
There are numerous other hikes available at Cradle Mountain. There are several hikes graded as easy that can be done close to the Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre.
There are two high-altitude hikes in particular which offer amazing views. We unfortunately couldn’t attempt them due to a lack of time and the weather.
The first one is Marions Lookout, which is listed as a difficult hike that takes three hours return from Ronny Creek or Dove Lake. Again, we’d recommend allowing at least another hour for admiring the views and taking photos and videos.
The other one is Cradle Mountain Summit, which is tackled from Kitchen Hut. It’s described as “the ultimate day challenge”, which takes six to eight hours return.
You will need to scramble over boulders up steep slopes to reach the top, but you will be rewarded with stunning 360-degree views. It can only be attempted when the weather is clear and fine.
Or take a kayak tour
For a full experience of the National Park, you can also do a three-hour kayak tour. The kayaks are quite unique due as they are handmade out of rare pine tree found only in Tasmania called King Billy Pine.
These trees live for thousands of years but are very vulnerable to fire. See if you can spot a two-thousand year old King Billy tree when you do the Dove Lake Circuit hike.
The tour is run by knowledgeable guides twice a day at 9AM and 1PM. We definitely recommend to book this tour ahead of time. Go to their website to learn more about how special these kayaks are and more about their eco tour. Unfortunately, we didn’t know about this tour and missed out on this opportunity but we hope that you won’t!
