Lake St Clair: Discover wilderness by the lake

Lake St Clair brings together deep glacial lakes, dense forests of ancient Tasmanian cedars and high mountains. It lies within Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park and the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. For planning your trip, the landscape offers more than a view of the lake: walking trails, cultural insights and trips across the water offer a range of experiences.

Forests, mountains and wildlife spotting

At Lake St Clair, you can easily spot Bennett's wallabies and pademelons. Exploring the landscape on foot, you'll find short and longer trails through ancient rainforests, continuing on to alpine lakes and mountain peaks. This range of options makes Lake St Clair appealing if you'd like to alternate between leisurely walks and longer hikes; specific routes and their destinations can help you plan each day.

The Shadow Lake Circuit offers a distinctive sequence of landscapes: it leads from wet forest at Lake St Clair through eucalyptus forest to subalpine moorland and sedges near the lake. This route focuses on different types of vegetation, while other trails lead to alpine lakes or peaks. The variety of landscapes gives you a specific focus when choosing a walk, without suggesting that every trail offers the same kind of hiking experience.

Aboriginal culture and history

The Aboriginal name for Lake St Clair is leeawuleena, meaning “sleeping water”. Tasmanian Aboriginal people have a long-standing connection with the area around the lake, one that continues to this day. The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Walk starts at Lake St Clair and provides insights into historical sites and artefacts, including preserved stone tools, caves and rock shelters.

At the visitor centre in Cynthia Bay, you can learn about the effects of glaciation, the interactions between Aboriginal communities and the land, and activities in the park. In the broader destination of Tasmania, the Tasmanian Wilderness is also a valuable cultural landscape for Tasmanian Aboriginal people, who have lived there for around 40,000 years. This regional context is part of Tasmania and should be distinguished from the specific cultural offerings at Lake St Clair.

Hikes and experiences on the lake

If you're planning a half-day wilderness walk, the Lake St Clair Discovery Walk includes the Larmairrenemer tabelti Aboriginal cultural track, Platypus Bay and the Watersmeet Track. Shorter or longer walks, the landscapes of the Shadow Lake Circuit and this half-day tour offer different options for planning your day. Check the Discovery Walk's current availability if you'd like to include it as a firm part of your plans.

Trips on the water are also part of a visit. The passenger ferry from Cynthia Bay to Narcissus Bay at the northern end of the lake is Australia's highest-altitude ferry service. The Ida Clair ferry offers a 28-kilometre cruise on Lake St Clair. It also brings Overland Track hikers over from Narcissus and transports day hikers to Echo Point. If a ferry crossing is important to you, check the timetable in advance.

Getting there and planning your accommodation

Lake St Clair is about two and a half hours west of Hobart via the Lyell Highway (A10). From Derwent Bridge, the Lake St Clair Road (C193) runs 5.5 kilometres to the visitor centre at Cynthia Bay. There is no direct road connection between the two ends of Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. Keep this in mind if your trip includes several stops in the park. A valid parks pass is required to access all of Tasmania's national parks; check the current pass rules and fees before your trip.

Compare your planned walks and trips with your chosen base, rather than deciding based only on a general idea of what a stay by the lake might be like.

Discover more destinations: Cradoc, Kettering, Zeehan, Whitemark, Pipers Brook, Alonnah, Port Arthur.

Back to the main travel overview: Tasmania.