Launceston: Cradle Mountain Adventure - Active Day Tour

The Town of Murals. Sheffield is a small and quirky rural village, in the foothills of the mountains. Sheffield is Tasmania’s own outdoor art gallery, featuring over 100 paintings on the walls of buildings across the town. The artwork depicts the history of the Cradle Mountain region and is a great taster of what is to come, before we continue onwards into the mountains.

We arrive at Cradle Mountain National Park, an area of iconic scenery with a wide variety of walking trails to choose. Cradle Mountain is a stunning and World Heritage listed area. We leave our walking itinerary flexible to suit our guests and the weather conditions on the day. Arriving at the Cradle Mountain National Park, we prepare for the walking opportunities ahead of us. We aim for around 4 – 5 hours in the National Park, to really make the most of the trails. We begin with a series of short walks to Rainforest City and Pencil Pine Falls, 2 short and easy walks that introduce us to the area.

Our main hike for today's tour, begins from Dove Lake with 2 walking options available. Here you can choose your preferred main walk. There is the iconic Dove Lake Circuit, which is a 6 kilometre track, classified as easy and usually takes 2-3 hours. This is one of the premier walks in Tasmania, the track undulates around Dove Lake and traverses beneath Cradle Mountain. All the magnificent flora can be viewed on this walk, with buttongrass, myrtle, sassafras, fagus and King Billy Pine along the way, along with epic views of Cradle Mountain.

For the more active and avid hiker, we offer the chance to climb to the loftier heights of Marion’s Lookout. This is around 4 kilometers but is classified as a medium grade hike, with some steep sections. Marions Lookout sits at 1200m and provides breathtaking 360 degree views of the surrounding World Heritage wilderness area.

We stop along the way for a lunch break, enjoy a rest by a quiet stream, watch the famous and friendly Cradle wombats in their natural habitat, or take the time to photograph the landscapes. Learn some of the local history as we visit Weindorfer’s Chalet and see the ancient King Billy Pines on Weindorfer’s Forest Walk.

On our return to Launceston, we stop to refresh and refuel at the delicious Van Dieman's Land Ice Creamery and Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm. We return into Launceston around 6.00 – 6.30pm after a huge yet unforgettable Cradle Mountain day.