Hartz Mountains National Park is a beautiful alpine area featuring mountain peaks and glacial lakes in southwest Tasmania. While the longer hike to Hatz Peak might not be for everyone, there are several short walks to try.
These easy walks take you to waterfalls and glacial lakes and immerse you in the area’s unique alpine vegetation such as cushion plants and waratahs. Depending on the season, you could be hiking along snow covered tracks or seeing blue skies dotted with mountain peaks.
Here is a quick guide to some short walks that will give you a great taste of what Hatz Mountains National Park has to offer.
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Getting to Hartz Mountains National Park
Hartz Mountains are in southwest Tasmania, about 90 minutes from Hobart.
We were based in the Huon Valley for our trip there, so it was only a short drive to Geeveston, where you find the turn off to Hartz Mountains.
The Tahune Airwalk, another popular attraction in the Huon Valley, is on the same road as the Hartz Mountains. So, from Geeveston, just follow the signs for the Airwalk, then look for the turn off to Hartz Road along the way.
From the turn off to Hatz Road, it is a 13km dirt road drive to the Hartz Mountain Day Visitor Centre. The dirt road is suitable for 2wd but take care in very wet or snowy conditions.
A few of tips
- You will need a current National Park Pass to enter the park. You can get a park pass here.
- Like all alpine regions, the weather can change quickly. We visited in October and had snow so check the forecasts and be prepared. On the BOM website (not the app), search for Hartz Mountains (the Keoghs Pimple weather station) which will give you an idea of temperature and wind.
- The turn off to Hatz Road takes you onto a dirt road. It is a good road suitable for 2wd, but if it is snowy the road might be closed or suitable for 4wd only.
- Particularly if you are doing one of the longer walks to Lake Esperance or Hartz Peak, make sure you sign into the visitor book.
- No dogs allowed here – it is a National Park.
- Apart from a shelter and drop toilets, there are no other facilities.
Our Visit
We mentioned above that conditions here, and at any of Tasmania’s, alpine locations, can be changeable – we certainly had a taste of that!
For our visit in the second week of October we had snow. There was a layer of several centimetres covering the paths and caught on the leaves and branches of the alpine trees and shrubs.
We had snow showers during our walks, along with some hail and a bit of rain at the end of the day. We had hoped for clear blue skies and sunshine, but you take what you get when you are on holidays!
So, shorts and hats were replaced with layers of warm cloths and beanies and our pictures will feature a lot of white and grey. No matter the weather, this is a spectacular place to explore.
Hartz Mountains Short Walks
We did all four of these short walks in half a day at Hartz Mountains. Most are easy and suitable for families. There is a short section of rock steps to get up and down on the longest of the walks but nothing too challenging.
Two of the walks – the Lake Esperance and Lake Osborne Walks leave from the Visitor Day Centre. You will see small carparks for the Waratah Lookout and Arve Falls walk on your way in.
We did the two lake walks first and the shorter Waratah Lookout and Arve Falls walks on the way out. We arrived by 9.00am and had the Lake Osborne walk to ourselves, which was nice, especially with snow on the ground.
Here is a quick guide to each of the four short walks at Hartz Mountains.
Lake Esperance
- 3.4km easy – moderate return walk, 1.5 hours, small section of rocky steps to walk up
This walk starts from near the shelter in the Day Visitor Centre. It is the same path as the Hartz Pass and Hartz Peak Track.
This walk never gets too steep, but you will be walking on everything from dirt tracks and raised walkways to rocks and maybe a bit of mud if it has been wet. The raised sections of the walk will keep your shoes dry, but with snow melt there will be parts of the trail where you are finding stepping stones to avoid wet feet.
Starting with a gentle ascent through alpine bushland and up some rocky steps, the path emerges into subalpine moorland with great views of Hartz Peak (when it is not shrouded in cloud).
Look for the signs to Lake Esperance about 1.5km into the walk. The lake is only a minute or two away and there are seats and a viewing area to take in the scenery.
Even though low cloud obscured our views, this was a pretty walk. We did the extra 25 minutes (each way) to Ladies Tarn – this is a rockier section of the track – but for glacier lakes you can’t beat Lake Esperance or Lake Osborne.
Regardless the weather it is a great walk and fun way to experience sub alpine Tasmania.
Lake Osborne
- 2km easy return walk, 40 minutes, a few easy steps near the start of the walk.
The start of the walk is near the entrance to the Day Visitor Centre Carpark. Look for it on the left as you walk away from the shelter.
If a 40 – 50 minute walk is all you are after, the Lake Osborne Walk won’t disappoint. It starts under a forest canopy on a smooth dirt path before opening out on a boardwalk with mountain views as you make your way to Lake Osborne.
Our mountain views were obscured by low cloud but getting to walk along the snow-covered track made up for it – it was so beautiful and ours were the first footsteps in the snow.
On a brighter day the lake and blue sky would look equally stunning. King Billie Pines fringe the lake that sits in the lap of the surrounding hills.
Arve Falls
- 1.4km easy return walk, 20-30 minutes
Look for the carpark on your left about 11.5km along Hatz Road on your way to the Day Visitor Centre.
This is a lovely walk on gravel and boardwalks through alpine herb fields and bushland. You cross a small bridge before making your way to the Arve Falls Lookout.
The falls had plenty of water for our visit, but even more spectacular than the small falls was looking off to your right to see the water tumbling over rocks and out of sight into the forest.
This is a picturesque and beautiful walk, that is well worth the stop. Keep an eye out for wildflowers in spring.
Waratah Walk
- 300m easy return walk, 5-10 minutes
This is the first walk you come to; it is about 10km along Hartz Road. Look for the small carpark picnic area on your right heading to the Day Visitor Centre.
This short, well formed dirt track is a must do from November to January when you can see brilliant red Tasmanian Waratahs flowering. Otherwise, you are doing the walk for the sweeping views of the Wellington Range and Huon Valley from the large viewing platform.
This was our last stop. We were a bit early to see the waratahs, but the views were a nice way to end our visit to the Hartz Mountains.
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Cradle Mountain Short Walks | Hobart Day Trips | Visit Bruny Island
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