Experience the best of Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park

The park lies in the heart of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, about 160 km north-west of Hobart in a straight line. At its northern end, Cradle Mountain rises to 1,545 metres above Dove Lake, where a path and boardwalk circle the water beneath the serrated peaks. At the southern end, Lake St Clair, the deepest freshwater lake in Australia, fills a glacial trough.

The 65 km Overland Track links the two ends through moorland, button-grass plains and rainforest, passing the rock tower of Barn Bluff. A side track climbs Mount Ossa, Tasmania's highest peak at 1,617 metres. Wombats graze near Cradle Valley at dusk, pademelons and wallabies feed along the tracks, and Tasmanian devils and echidnas live in the bush.

The weather changes quickly at any time of year, and snow can fall even in summer, so warm layers matter. December to March is the main walking season with long days, April and May bring the gold of the deciduous beech, and winter is quiet and white. Leatherwood honey, cool-climate cheese and fresh salmon turn up on menus in the nearby towns.