60 Great Short Walks of Tasmania: Easy Adventures with Big Rewards

When most people picture Tasmania in Australia, they imagine epic mountain hikes, rugged wilderness and multi-day adventures. But one of the biggest surprises for me was discovering that some of the island's most unforgettable experiences came from walks that took less than three hours… and often much less.

From standing above the blue waters of Wineglass Bay to wandering through ancient rainforest, or strolling beneath towering trees, these short walks delivered some of the biggest highlights of my trip. They proved that you don't need endless time, incredible fitness or expensive gear to experience the very best of Tasmania.

In this episode of Tourist to Traveller, I'm sharing why Tasmania's 60 Great Short Walks deserve a place on every travel itinerary, along with my favourite walks from the list, plus practical planning tips.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• What the 60 Great Short Walks of Tasmania are and why they're worth exploring
• Why short walks are perfect for Tasmania road trips and busy travellers
• Some of Tasmania's most spectacular easy walks, from Cradle Mountain to Freycinet
• What to pack for Tasmania's famously unpredictable conditions
• Why some of the shortest walks often create the biggest travel memories

Helpful Resources & Links

Ready to start planning your own Tasmania adventure?

Dive into my free guide, 27 Fascinating Things to Know Before Visiting Tasmania, packed with practical tips to help you plan with confidence and make the most of your trip.

I've also written detailed travel guides to help you explore Tasmania, including:

• 60 Great Short Walks of Tasmania
• Cradle Mountain Travel Guide
• Freycinet National Park Travel Guide
• Mount Field National Park Guide
• Tahune AirWalk Guide
• The Best Things to Do in Tasmania

For even more inspiration, check out my detailed Tasmania travel guides on Tourist to Traveller, including my complete guide to the 60 Great Short Walks of Tasmania, and browse previous podcast episodes for more destination ideas, practical travel tips and bucket-list inspiration.

Connect & Explore

Find destination guides, travel planning resources and more at touristtotraveller.com, and follow along on Instagram @_touristtotraveller for behind-the-scenes planning and future travel inspiration. 

Transcript

Speaker 0:00

Welcome to the Tourist to Traveller Podcast, the show that helps you go beyond the guidebook and turn your bucket list dreams into real adventures. I'm Tahnee a travel blogger, podcaster, and everyday explorer who's been ticking off epic destinations for over 20 years while balancing a 9 to 5. Each week I'll bring you inspiring stories, destination deep dives, and practical tips to help you plan smarter, travel deeper, and capture those unforgettable moments along the way. So, grab your passport, pack your curiosity, and let's get started. Have you ever visited a destination that completely exceeded your expectations? For me, one of those was Tasmania. Sitting just south of mainland Australia, it's often overlooked in favor of bigger, more famous Aussie destinations. But don't let its size fool you. Tasmania is home to rugged mountains, ancient rainforests, turquoise bays, dramatic coastlines, and some of the cleanest wilderness you'll find anywhere in the world. What surprised me most though was that you don't have to be an experienced hiker to experience it. Some of my favorite moments came from short walks that took less than an hour but delivered incredible views, unforgettable wildlife encounters, and that wonderful feeling of being immersed in nature. So today I'm introducing you to Tasmania through its 60 great short walks. A collection of easy adventures that prove you don't need days of hiking or elite fitness to experience one of Australia's most spectacular destinations. If Tasmania or Australia is sitting on your bucket list or you've never really considered it before, this episode might just change your mind. As you're probably aware by now, I am Australian, but it might surprise you that it took me so long to visit Tasmania. This is the most southern state of Australia, and it is that island that is just off the bottom of Australia. You know, the one that is often left off maps. And uh a lot of people who visit Australia never get down to Tasmania, and uh I'm really ashamed to say that as an Australian, I didn't actually visit until, well, just last year. Why? Well, we have a big, beautiful country, there are a lot of places to see and do. I travel a lot, yet it took me this long to get down to Tasmania. And I've put it off for a few reasons. First of all, I'm based in Queensland, it's a bit further away from me. Uh, it's a bit more logistically challenging to get to than some of the other states. Uh, but for me, one of the really big ones is that I really hate the cold. And it took me a while to, I guess, plan a holiday that wasn't centered around me being cold the entire time. However, just to be honest, that was part of my experience in Tasmania. But it's funny, now that I've been there, and I thought this probably on day one during my journey to Tassie, that if it wasn't for the cold, I would probably live there. It is just, it kind of reminds me, the whole place reminds me of a big, beautiful, scenic country town. There's just country vibes and hospitality, big open spaces. The scenery is just stunning. Think like green, rolling hills and waterfalls and cliffs. Uh, and for me, the only thing that holds me back from going there or moving there is the weather. It kind of feels like a lot of the best parts of Australia rolled into one island, if that makes sense. Uh, but you don't get the same level of tourism or over-tourism that you do with some of our other big and beautiful sites. And then on top of that, you've got this incredible history also that is just weaved through everything that you experience in Tassie. Another thing that really surprised me was the food and the wine scene. Their food is just on another level, and they have so many incredible wineries and breweries and distilleries all throughout the state. So if you're visiting Australia or if you're Aussie like me and you haven't planned on visiting Tassie, I highly recommend reconsidering. I think Tassie is best explored via road trip, and it is easy enough to drive around this island. It will take you a while, but I think visiting by car is definitely the best way to go. When I visited last year, I visited with family, and that is with my sister and my elderly parents. I actually really love traveling with my family because we have the same travel style, essentially. And despite my parents' age, they will get out and try almost anything. And I'm talking about hiking up mountains, um, swimming through waterfalls, snorkeling, uh, climbing up active volcanoes. There is nothing really that's off limits. Before visiting Tassie, I knew that it was well known for having some of the most epic multi-day hikes in the world. They are absolutely stunning, and I completely understand why they are so big and so popular. Now, even though my parents are quite active and quite happy to get out there and hike, multi-day hikes is pushing it a little bit too far. We were also limited on time. We only had, I think it was two weeks that we had in Tassie. So we had to be very uh picky with what we were going to do, and we weren't gonna see a huge amount of the island if we did a multi-day hike. Whilst planning my trip to Tassie, I stumbled across something that I really loved, and it helped to shape our journey when we finally got on the ground down there. Tasmania has a list of 60 great short walks. This list, I believe, was curated by Tasmania Parks and Wildlife. Please correct me if I'm wrong there. Uh, and all of these hikes are under three hours return. Many of them, in fact, are only around 20 to 30 minutes. This list is perfect for many reasons. First of all, the hikes are scattered all across the state. With 60, there are more than you could possibly get through in two weeks. They are catering for all different kinds of fitness levels. So there are really, really simple short walks is also more challenging hikes as well. And the scenery on every single one that I did was incredible. So this list of 60 great short walks really is great. And I highly recommend if you are heading down to Tasmania to try and get through as many of these as you possibly can. And if your travel style is anything like mine, I really think that with these 60 short walks, you get more bang for your buck out of your trip. If, however, you love long multi-day hikes, uh, first of all, I applaud you. Um, you are going to get a lot out of Tasmania on a multi-day hike as well. So this really is a choose your own adventure story. There are a few things that help qualify this list of bite-sized nature experiences across the state. First of all, being that these short walks are under three hours return. They are very clearly marked and well maintained. It is big scenery, minimal effort, and also they're suitable for a wide range of travelers. You'll find these walks across coastal tracks, national parks, nature reserves, heritage areas. I really love this because Tassie has kind of done all the hard work for you by pulling together all of the best hikes and experiences into one list. And I wish I found this on day one of my research because a lot of the different tracks that I'd already marked in my short list of things that I wanted to do in Tassie were on this list. In fact, they were all on this list. And as soon as I dived in, I could discover so many more. And even ones that I hadn't come across as we were traveling around, I kept coming across these tracks that would say they were one of the 60 great shortwalks in Tasmania. So they are everywhere. I also love that this list helps people to slow down and embrace nature, embrace the outdoors, and just really get into the wellness benefits of travel. Now, today I don't have time to take you through all 60 of the great short walks in Tasmania, but I am gonna take you through some of my favorites that I experienced whilst I was there late last year. And don't worry, I will share the list covering all 60 of the great short walks in the show notes. Let's start off strong with Cradle Mountain. Cradle Mountain Lake St. Clair National Park is one of the biggest highlights in Tasmania for good reason. And it's fairly easy to do as a day trip from Lonceston or Devonport. The time of year that you visit Cradle Mountain is important. We visited in late November, just weeks away from summer, and there was still snow on the ground in some areas, so it can get really cold, and at this time of year visiting Cradle Mountain, I was rugged up pretty well with thermals and multiple layers, and very much needed every single one of them. There are multiple great short walks that are here, but I'm just gonna take you through two of my favourites that I walked while we were there. Now we stayed at Cradle Mountain for it's probably over half of a day. I think we arrived at maybe 9 a.m. and we left maybe around 2 p.m. And we got quite a few short walks in during this period. But the one that you absolutely need to do first is the Dove Lake Circuit. The Dove Lake Circuit, if you do the entire circuit, will take around two to three hours. And as the name suggests, it goes around Dove Lake. Now, this is where you'll get to see beautiful mountain scenery in the background as you walk around the lake. Uh there is some flat surfaces, there's also a little bit of uh there's also some undulating surfaces. And it is one of the most photographed walks in Australia. Now, if you can't if you don't want to commit to the full two to three hour walk around Dove Lag, there is actually a short circuit that will take you directly to the famous boat shed and back. So this one is quite easy to do. There's no there's no steep, there's no steep parts around the track. It's mostly boardwalk around here. It's really easy to get to. So that one took, I think it was about 20 minutes return. It was a very easy walk. If you just want to do that circuit, you're still gonna see the lake and the mountains, and of course, you get to see the famous boatshed. And if you see an image of the boat shed, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about because it's probably one of the most famous photos that you'll see across Tasmania. If you only have time to do one walk at Cradle Mountain, make it this one. The second one I'd recommend is much simpler, and that is Enchanted Walk. This one is around 20 minutes. It is very easy and it is very kid friendly. It's a complete change of scenery to the Dove Lake circuit. So, Dove Lake, of course, you've got really dramatic views, jaw-dropping views. The Enchanted Walk, you're kind of getting into more um mossy rainforest vibes, and you're walking along, I guess you'd probably call it a creek. So this is sheltered, but it's really gorgeous. You've got little trickling streams, you'll still see wildlife throughout the walk, and there's some little hidden things along the track for the kids as well. While we're here talking about Cradle Mountain, it's really hard to also not talk about the Overland track. Now, when I was mentioning multi-day hikes earlier, the Overland Track is one of the most famous in Tasmania, the one of the most famous in Australia, and for good reason. And you can actually walk a portion of the track here at Cradle Mountain. And I highly recommend that you do that while you're here and in the area. It's really easy to get around Cradle Mountain because there is a shuttle bus service that goes from the information centre. Uh, it'll take you to the main stops, and from there you can choose the tracks that you want to go on. Now, these buses, I think, I don't think we waited any more than about five minutes for any of these shuttle buses to arrive to take you to the next stop. And one of them does stop right here at this section of the Overland track. You can walk really as far down this track as you want to while you're here, but the images that you see of Cradle Mountain where you see wombats on the track, wombats uh munching grass beside the track, this is typically right here on the overland track. You will basically seek wombats immediately. Um, I've never seen so many wombats in my life, and I grew up in the country, so I'm used to seeing a lot of wildlife. The best time to visit here is going to be kind of that November to April period. I think late spring to early autumn. Warmer is better because, as I mentioned, late November, there was still in patches, there was some snow on the ground. The next area I recommend exploring is Fraysonet National Park. Now, apologies if I'm butchering the pronunciation of that name. But we're now heading towards the east coast of Tasmania with a very big change of scenery. The scenery is still very dramatic, uh, and you've got mountain peaks, but also you've just got some of the most beautiful beaches that you've ever seen. This is another area where I recommend spending half a day. You can definitely spend more time here to get the most out of it, but half a day I think is perfect in Fracenet, Fraisenet National Park. So, the two key walks here that I would recommend. I'm gonna start off with the number one. And if you can only fit in one of the great short walks here, make sure it's this one, and that is the Wine Glass Bay Lookout. Wine Glass Bay is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and it often makes it on the list of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and for good reason. The water is so blue, and the the sand is just such a perfect white. It is really, really striking. Now, to get down to Wine Glass Bay, it is a bit of a hike. You'll start off heading towards Wine Glass Bay Lookout, and then there is an option to walk. I think it's about an extra 30 minutes from that track to get down to the beach itself. But once again, you're adding on more time here. If you have the time, definitely get down there. But the Wine Glass Bay Lookout, it's about a one and a half hour return hike. And if I look at all of the hikes that we did in Tasmania, this is probably the one that was actually, no, I'd say it was probably the second most challenging one. And it's still not too challenging. As I mentioned, I was traveling with my elderly parents and both of them made it up this walk. You're essentially walking up a mountain to get a really great lookout over the beautiful wine glass bay and that beautiful beach area. As you're walking up, the hike is one way. So as you walk up, I do recommend taking a few opportunities to stop, catch a breath, turn around and look at the incredible views behind you because they're really dramatic. And I I'm not too sure why it's directed this way, but on the way up, you get the best views behind you. On the way down, the other side, it is more sheltered, and you don't get the same view. So on your way up, take the opportunity to stop, turn around and take in the scenery. Now, as you get to the top there, you've got really beautiful just postcard views uh of Wine Glass Bay. And it's worthwhile just exploring the different uh little balconies and lookout areas at the top. Grab your photos and capture breath before you head back down the other side. Before you head back down. The second walk here that I recommend is the Cape Tourville Lighthouse Walk. This one is only about 20 minutes, but uh most lighthouses across Australia, anyways, are positioned in places with incredible views because they need to, right? They're a lighthouse, they need to have incredible views from all areas. From this spot, you've also got uh from this spot, it's fairly easy access. So this is a really simple walk. You've got ocean cliffs, and it is really beautiful if you're in the area at sunrise or sunset. The next area that I would recommend is the Mount Field National Park. This is one that, in my experience, was visited by a lot fewer people than some of the big sites, but it had some of the most incredible views that I saw throughout Tasmania and just some real jaw-dropping moments. And it's funny, my my parents visited here a few years before us, and the one place that my dad kept raving about was at this national park, and that was Lake Dobson. He kept raving about this spot that he went to, and he didn't really remember uh where it was or how they got there, but he could explain it in such great detail, and I have to agree with his experience, even though it wasn't quite the same. So, what would I recommend here at Mountfield National Park? The first one is the Russell Falls Walk. There are multiple waterfalls that are here at Mountfield National Park, but I think the Russell Falls were the most beautiful. But if you can fit in a couple of the waterfalls, I would highly recommend doing that as well. Now, the Russell Falls walk was about 25 minutes, really simple, not too challenging, mostly flat, however, a little muddy on the day that we visited. Apparently, it's also wheelchair accessible. Uh, and you're basically walking through a fern forest to get to the waterfall. And out of every waterfall that I saw across the whole of Tasmania, I would probably pop this one up a number one. The second one here is the Lake Dobson Walks. So from this area, you're essentially driving up uh quite a steep incline at times through a narrow, windy road where at times it feels like it's only wide enough for one car, but it is a two-way street further through into the national park towards Lake Dobson. Here it is recommended to have a four-wheel drive, and it is not advised to take camper vans, caravans, or anything like that on this trek because it is steep, it is slippery, and can get dangerous at times. When we went, the weather started off pretty good and then it started to turn as we continued. We started to get reasonably light rain occasionally, but then we got to a point where it actually snowed. So I can't remember exactly how long the drive was, but it it felt like probably somewhere between 20 to 40 minutes driving into the driving into the national park further, wondering if we were even going in the right direction because it wasn't as well signed as other parts of the park. But we stuck to our guns because dad had absolutely raved about his time at Lake Dobson. Now we got towards a peak where we got out of the car because we just got to this peak and we saw these dramatic snow-capped mountains in the background. And this was just a jaw-dropping moment for us, and we just had to pull the car over and get out to take it in. And that's when we noticed the moment we opened the doors, um, things had changed. It had dropped to four degrees Celsius in late November. Remember, we are just weeks away from summer. Four degrees Celsius. We're just taking in the scenery, freezing our asses off because whilst we came prepared for the cold on this day, we did not come prepared for four degrees. And then out of nowhere, this is where it started snowing. Now, I living in Australia. I have not seen snow since I was well, not actually felt snow on my skin since I was a child. Um, well, a teenager, technically. I think I was maybe 16 the last time I felt snow on my skin. So this was just a huge, you know, epic moment for us to feel snow. So we got back in the car and we thought, okay, we're not equipped for snow. The car's not equipped for snow. We didn't come prepared for this. Do we turn around and go back down this dangerous road or do we keep going? And we decided to keep going because we were committed to getting to Lake Dobson. Um we got to Lake Dobson, we walked out, and without having to walk too far at all, we came across this little uh platform that lets you go down towards the water. And from here, we had the lake in front of us. It was surrounded by these beautiful trees. In the background, you've got snow-capped mountains. And then for the second time this day, it started snowing again. Now, this moment is etched in my memory because it was just incredible. Uh, now because of the change of the very quick change of um weather at Lake Dobson, we didn't actually get to complete an entire Lake Dobson walk. But based on what we saw, I have to add it to my list of walks that you need to do. We just made the decision that we weren't prepared for the cold. We weren't, the car was not prepared for snow and we knew how dangerous that track felt coming up. Now it's snowing, now it's getting wet. We felt we needed to get back in the car and get back to where we went. And if you see any of my photos or video from Lake Dobson, just know that my hands were shaking like crazy because of the cold, just trying to hold my phone still. So uh I did my best, but probably not my greatest work. Okay, moving on now to another region, and this is the Tahoon Airwalk in the Huon Valley. Again, I apologize if I'm pronouncing this incorrectly. Uh, this is another rain, this is another forest area where you have the opportunity to walk amongst the canopy around the treetops in the forest. So you get to see the landscape from a whole new perspective. Here you can see the river, you can see the forest, you've got mountains, and just walking up along amongst all of these massive tall trees is so beautiful. This walk goes for around 45 to 60 minutes. It is very easy to do. There is a boardwalk for most of the way. And you're going around 50 meters above the forest floor. At the top, you can expect sweeping views across the Huon Valley. Now, while there are a lot of other walks that you can do here, if you're short on time, once again, this is the walk to do within the area: the Tahoon Airwalk. And some of the other walks that are available, you're heading down towards the river, you uh crossing the river on swing bridges. The river here is really, really dark, just based on the matter going in. And unfortunately, when we visited, it was a few years after they had some pretty dramatic fires that that came through the area. Uh, my dad talks about when they first visited how massive these trees were. And while they're still big and still impressive, they are much younger than the ones that he saw before the fire. And the final one that I'm gonna recommend today that I experienced in Tasmania is the nut, which is in Stanley. The nut walk, it is oh, I was gonna say short and sweet. It is short. I don't know how sweet the actual hike itself is. Now, getting up to the top of the nut is incredibly steep. Uh, it is a short walk, but it is a very steep walk. Yes, my parents both did get up to the top. Now, if the weather is good, there is also a um, I guess you call it a chairlift that takes you up there. Unfortunately for us, we went on a very windy day and it was just too dangerous for the chairlift to operate. So if you don't want to do that massive walk on your own up to the summit, in good weather, you will have an alternative to get up. Once you're on the top, the walk is actually reasonably flat where you can walk around the top of Stanley's Nut. Here you've got such dramatic views. Both directions, you have incredible beaches, beautiful sand, really clear blue water. It's like there was no, there was no spot on the top of Stanley's nut that didn't have incredible views. The entire walk up, the entire walk down, if you have a chance, turn around, look at the scenery because it is absolutely incredible. Um, and this is the hike, even though I said getting to the top was fairly short, I think it took us maybe 15 minutes to walk up to the top. It was quite challenging. And this is one where uh we we did stop a couple of times just to catch our breath on the way up. Now, apparently, capturing this early in the morning or late in the afternoon, where you've got golden hour and you've got beautiful light, apparently those are the most magical times of day to climb up Stanley's Nut. We did our hike probably around 11 a.m. and it was incredible. It was pretty chilly up there, but it was a stunning day, with the exception of the wind. It rained a little bit on and off, but most of the time we had sunshine and we just had epic views of the surrounding area. This is another walk that just gives you jaw-dropping moments all the way around. So, how does all this look in reality when you're planning your trip to Tasmania? What I highly recommend doing is to first of all plan the trip that you want. Head over, have a look at the list of the 60 great short walks, and find first of all, what are the key walks that are already in the areas that you're already planning to go. And then you can prioritize from there. What are the ones that you really want to do? Because look, the chances of you having time to do all 60, it's gonna be pretty slim. But I also highly recommend checking out the ones that I've discussed today because they were just incredible, epic walks that I highly recommend. Even if you don't do these in particular walks, going to these destinations, it's very worthwhile on your trip to Tasmania. While the roads are pretty good in Tassie, planning out your road trips, your driving times, and being prepared for the weather is going to be critical when it comes to getting the most out of your Tasmanian adventure. A few things I would recommend is to avoid overplanning, allow opportunities for spontaneity, and build flexibility into your itinerary because some of the best short walks that we experienced were ones that we just stumbled by on the way to see something else. In terms of packing for Tassie, you really do experience four seasons in one day here. So you're gonna want to pack layers. I've already told you about the day that uh it dropped to four degrees in late November and we were not prepared for it. Even though we'd packed layers, I had thermals, I was still really cold. Yet on the other hand, there was a day where we were in the Bay of Fires, another beautiful area worth visiting. In the Bay of Fires, it was, I think it was a maximum of 16 degrees Celsius, which for me is typically really, well, I think it's really cold. However, on this day, it felt really warm and we actually got sunburned. So within this two-week window in late November, we really did experience it all. I recommend bringing thermals. Highly recommend a waterproof, windproof jacket. Now, I had both and use them very regularly throughout the this trip. Good footwear that you don't mind, gets a little bit muddy, and make sure you've got really good traction on the bottom. Always have water with you and snacks on you because, as I mentioned, long days, long road trips, you just never know when you might break down or get stranded somewhere. I'd even go as far as to say in summer, pack a beanie, pack a scarf, and be really well prepared for your trip. One of the things that I love the most about Tasmania is that it reminds us adventure doesn't need to be exhausting. Sometimes the most memorable moments happen after a 20-minute walk through a rainforest, standing beside a waterfall, or watching the sunlight up a quiet stretch of coastline. If today's episode has inspired you to start planning your own Tassie adventure, make sure you check out my guide on the 27 fascinating things to know before visiting Tasmania. It's packed with practical tips that'll make help you make the most out of your trip, and you'll find that link in the show notes. I've also added more information on these destinations and a link to the 60 great short walks of Tasmania in the show notes. Along with destination guides for places like Cradle Mountain. So if you're keen to keep exploring, I'll link those as well. Thank you for joining me on this adventure. I'll catch you in the next episode. Thanks for tuning in to the Tourist to Traveller podcast. I hope today's episode has inspired you to travel more authentically and plan your next adventure with confidence. Don't forget to head to touristtotraveller.com for today's show notes, resources, and free guides to help you plan like a pro. And if you love this episode, please hit subscribe and leave a review. It helps more travelers like you discover the show. Until our next adventure. Go beyond the tourist track and level up your travel experiences.