Jim Bacon and Tasmanian National Parks
Trip Start
Mar 09, 2008
1
7
11
Trip End
Apr 11, 2008
Scottsdale,
Australia
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
We are now two weeks into the trip and I've been fortunate enough to have visited 6 of Tasmania's 19 National Parks. Though Tasmania is the smallest state in Australia, a full third of it (2,477,314 hectares) is protected land including reserves, national parks, and forests. Perhaps the most notable of which is Cradle Mountain / Lake St. Clair National Park, home of the Overland Track. Cradle Mountain is part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area located in the southwest of the state and covering nearly 20% of Tasmania. This area includes the four major national parks of Tasmania including Cradle Mountain / Lake St. Claire in addition to Southwest, Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers, adn Walls of Jerusalem National Parks. The Tasmanian Wilderness Area was designated as a World Heritage site in 1982. World Heritage is a UNESCO designation. Yosemite is also a World Heritage site
Russell Falls at Mt. Field National Park
.So far I've visited Mt. Field National Park, Hartz Mountain National Park, Tasman Peninsula National Park, Maria Island National Park, Freycinet National Park, and Mt. William National Park. I'll hit a few more along the way with Cradle Mountain concluding the trip.
My impressions thus far are that these parks are extremely well run and organized making the most of very limited resources and staff. It appears that an emphasis has been placed on providing will designed and appropriate facilties - not in abundance, but carefully planned and well intended. There again, other than Cradle Mountain and few other sites, visitation to Tasmania's national parks is quite low in comparison to Yosemite and some of our other national parks in the states. Interestingly, crowing and related visitor use impacts have reache problematic levels at Cradle Mountain and the Overland Track. So a reservation system and significant use limitation has been implemented. It costs nearly $200 to hike the entire Track. These measures have met with wide public approval and understanding. As a result all those undertaking the trek are ensured a positive experiene.
That's all for now, more to come. Check out a few photos from the different sites.
Thanks for checking-in! Good on ya!
