THE OVERLAND TRACK
Australia’s most famous multi-day hike, the Overland Track is on everybody’s bucket list, and with good reason. Maintained by the Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service, the OT is a fantastic introduction to long-distance walking, with well-spaced and well-appointed huts, easy to follow track markings, numerous exciting side trips, bountiful wildlife and gorgeous scenery. Upland plateaus are dotted with glittering glacial tarns; alpine moorlands and buttongrass plains are spread wide; forests of native deciduous beech turn gold in the autumns; and peaks, cragged and serrated, pierce the sky. In some ways it feels almost un-Australian, so distinct is it from anything on the mainland. Well-organised yet still wild, the hike is usually completed over six to eight days, but side-trips can extend that considerably. The distance is often quoted as 65km, but that’s only to the ferry at Narcissus Hut; the full walk is 80km. With the side trips described (and there are others not mentioned), this can rise to approximately 109km.
HISTORY
Australians have been walking for pleasure here since the early 20th century, an activity accelerated by the creation of two scenic reserves in 1922—one around Cradle Mountain and one around Lake St Clair. In 1928 the boards of the two reserves came together in support of a path to link them, a so-called ‘overland track’, but it was not until 1931 that local trapper Bert Nichols marked a trail through the region. Funds were provided and a track suitable for tourists and pack horses was completed in 1937.
Commercial guided trips really only took off in the 1970s, with approximately 1500 hikers per season. In 1982, this area and three other parks in Tasmania were inscribed on the World Heritage List, now known as the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Today, hiker numbers can be as high as 9000 per year, with most visitors coming from interstate (60%) or overseas (30%).
WHEN TO GO
The walk is split into two seasons. During the so-called booking season between 1st October
