6 Hikes to Take on Flinders Island Off the Coast of Tassie

With a 235km coastline and rugged scenery, there’s plenty of scope for walking on Flinders Island. Leonie spent several days exploring every nook and cranny of this unique island off of Tassie’s coast on a guided trip.

We Are Explorers acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the Country on which this adventure takes place, who have occupied and cared for the lands, waters, and their inhabitants for thousands of years. We pay our respects to them and recognise that sovereignty was never ceded.

Flinders Island is the largest island in the Furneaux Group, found off the north-east coast of Tasmania, and is sparsely populated with roughly 1,000 residents.

My husband and I spent five nights on the island through Tasmanian Expeditions’ Flinders Island Walking Adventure in Comfort trip. We were being picked up in a minivan from Launceston and flown by light plane from Bridport Airport to the isle.

Trousers Point Beach on Flinders Island

We stayed at Tasmanian Expeditions’ Eco Comfort Camp with roomy pods that have see-through roofs, hot showers, and composting toilets. The camp even has a private stretch of beach. All meals, including cooked breakfasts and three-course dinners, are provided.

Each day featured a different walk with a minivan transfer between camp and the trailhead.

5 Fantastic Flinders Island Walks

1. Allports Beach to Castle Rock

The famous Castle Rock

Distance: 3.3km
Duration: Two hours
Difficulty: Beginner with no steep sections

Allports Beach is on the north-west shoreline of Flinders Island. On the day we visited, the clouds were making gorgeous patterns in the sky. I’d never visited Flinders Island and the colours immediately struck me. Fire-coloured lichen on the granite boulders, beautiful soft yellow sand, green coastal heath, and blue-green water.

We walked into a quite ferocious headwind and finished at an iconic symbol of Flinders Island, Castle Rock. This is a 400 million-year-old granite tor (a freestanding rock mass) measuring 17m in height and appearing to stand guard on the coast.

This walk was on and off sand. There were no steep sections but there was some climbing over granite boulders. I was to see a lot more granite as the week progressed and I learnt that the granitic mountain range extends from Wilsons Promontory in Victoria across Bass Strait to Flinders Island and onto eastern Tasmania.

2. Wander around Patriarch Inlet and Foochow Beach

Gloomy weather is part of the deal down here!

Distance: Roughly 2km
Duration: One hour (mostly meandering rather than walking)

The day we were in this area it rained heavily all day so we did a shortened walk. Weather allowing, this coastal walk would’ve been from Patriarch Inlet to Red Bluff, a walking distance of 5-7km and taking 1.5-2.5 hours.

Read more: 7 Tips for Rainy Day Hiking

We braved the wind and horizontal rain at Patriarch Inlet on the island’s east coast. The Patriarchs were named by explorer Matthew Flinders when he saw three mountains and thought that they looked like patriarchs.

The low-lying cloud meant we couldn’t see The Patriarchs but we picked a path along the white sand to Foochow Beach, named after the 1877 wreck of the ‘City of Foo Chow’. The beach is one of the island’s longest at 34km long.

In the windy, rainy conditions, Foochow Beach was littered with driftwood and kelp. There were some quite large animal bones on the beach, plus a sea sponge coated in sand. The coastal vegetation was a kaleidoscope of greens.

To top off our exploration, two Hooded plovers flew above us. There are only about 3,000 of these shorebirds left in south-eastern Australia so the bird-lovers in our group were ecstatic.

3. Climb Mt Killiecrankie then descend to Stacky’s Bight and The Dock

Wholesome signage to guide you home

Distance: Roughly 12km
Duration: Six to eight hours, allowing for stops for morning tea and lunch
Elevation gain: 316m – my iPhone said I’d climbed 78 floors on this walk!
Difficulty: Intermediate with a challenging ascent and some boulder hopping on the descent

One of the more prominent peaks on the northern end of Flinders Island is Mt Killiecrankie. We drove halfway up Mt Killiecrankie, climbed further up the mountain, then walked down to Stackys Bight for lunch and, finally, we climbed back uphill to meet our van.

The teeming rain of the day before had stopped but it was a very overcast day which made the grey granite formations even more foreboding. One of our group said the area was giving off eerie Picnic at Hanging Rock vibes.

Ok, a bit more spooky than cute now

The track climbed uphill from where we parked. We walked mostly single file, sometimes squeezing through skinny gaps in the rocks. We took a turn off the track to see the granite formation named ‘The White Eyed Man’. Our group was amazed to see massive rock after massive rock, often perched precariously on top of another.

It was too misty and dangerous to reach The Summit so we started our walk down through the Diamond Gully trail, so called after the Killiecrankie diamonds which were discovered in the early 1800s. These gemstones are actually a form of topaz.

I found the descent challenging, often grabbing trees for support. I felt that I was often almost sliding down rocks. As we descended, the boulders stopped and a canopy of trees started. That then dissolved into coastal scrub and bracken fern.

We lunched at the spectacular, sheltered cove, Stackys Bight, with its deep yellow sand and incredible rock formations, one of which is shaped like an arch. Some of our group had a swim in the crystal-clear water.

The arch at Stackys Bight

After lunch, we continued our walk, hugging the coast and walking towards The Dock. Red lichen-encrusted granite outcrops stud the coast here. The contrasting colours of the green-blue sea with the fiery lichen, the grey of the granite, and the greens of the coastal scrub are beautiful.

4. North East River to Jacksons Cove (Return)

Even when its overcast the water stays a brilliant blue

Distance: 12km
Duration: Four hours (return)

If tides permit, you can walk from the mouth of the North East River to Palana Beach. This is a walking distance of 8-9km and takes five to six hours.

This was a reasonably flat walk which was appreciated by me after the Mt Killiecrankie climb the day before.

We started at the mouth of the North East River, the northernmost tip of Flinders Island. It was a very grey, misty day and the Bass Strait was wild with a big swell. The water was pale green and the bracing wind carried droplets of sea spray. It was a day to inhale and savour the clean air.

The walk starts on a 4WD track which narrowed. It was undulating in parts but mainly flat. Usually, the Tasmanian Expeditions walk is from the mouth of the North East River through to Palana Beach but there’s a middle section with a lot of boulder hopping and it’s not possible to cross at high tide. We were due to hit that mid-section at high tide so our walk was out to Jacksons Cove and back, followed by a drive to the Palana hamlet and beach.

North East River

We saw several Bennetts wallabies jumping across the track in front of us or hiding behind trees. They’re grey so they camouflage very well amongst the foliage. When the vegetation turned to coastal scrub (heavily featuring Kangaroo grass), the wallabies disappeared.

The walk to Jacksons Cove took us two hours. We had the most delicious whisky brownie there for morning tea and walked back. Some of our group had a refreshing swim but others (me included) just enjoyed the gorgeous stretch of white sand. For a brief time, the mist lifted enough that we could see the top of the Sister Islands.

We had a treat on our drive to Palana – a Tasmanian Wedge-tailed eagle soared in front of our minivan, putting on a show. A subspecies from the mainland, these birds are critically endangered and endemic to Tasmania. They’re Australia’s largest bird of prey.

5. Mount Strzelecki

Summit views of ‘Strez’

Distance: 5.6km return
Duration: Five hour circuit
Elevation gain: 400m (756m if you reach the summit)
Difficulty: Intermediate-Advanced – The walk involves a steep climb through wooded slopes and gullies. It shouldn’t be attempted on high fire danger days. Be prepared for cold wind at the summit

The hardest walk of the trip was up Mt Strezlecki, known locally as ‘Strez’, the highest mountain on Flinders Island. This is also the only national park on Flinders Island so you need a valid Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service Parks Pass to walk the trail. At the beginning of the walk is a boot filtering station so as not to bring nasties in (we also had one at the entrance to our Eco Comfort Camp).

Our walking guide, Gracie, told us to prepare for a ‘long and strenuous day ahead’. She wasn’t wrong – the trail is basically straight up. We were rewarded with a cloudless, blue sky!

‘Be bold, start cold’, our guides told us and, sure enough, we were all sweaty fairly quickly as there was little respite from the uphill exertion.

We climbed up for two hours with very little boulder hopping, mainly steep track and granite steps. Towards the start of the walk there’s a running stream and, beyond that, a gorgeous fern gully. The smell of the lush vegetation was intoxicating.

There’s a rest area at the Blue Seat at 400m elevation (so named as there’s a bright blue seat there). From there, we were rewarded by views of the rest of Flinders Island and Cape Barren Island to the south.

My sweet saviour

I stopped at Blue Seat as that was enough of a challenge for me. Some of our group walked further in an attempt to reach the summit (an elevation of approximately 800m). As it turned out, the mist was too dense and the wind too high for the group to make the summit. Yet at Trousers Point Beach (basically at the bottom of Strez) people were swimming in the sunshine!

The descent was tricky as it was steep but the sun grew brighter and there were a plethora of orange butterflies flitting about to entertain us.

Short and sharp!

6. Fotheringate Beach to Trousers Point Beach

Coastal views never get old

Distance: 1.9km
Duration: 40 minutes
Difficulty: Beginner but short rock sections may become slippery when wet and there are some steep cliffs adjacent to the track so take care

After the arduous (for me anyway!) climb of Mt Strzelecki the day prior, I was glad that our group was only walking this track one-way and that it was pretty flat. Having said that, the scenery was so stunning that it was a shame to only walk the track once. It’s one of Tasmania’s 60 Great Short Walks after all!

We started at Fotheringate Beach and finished at Trousers Point (you can start at either end). This meant that the water and the views, including to offshore islands, were on our right. The coastal walk follows the headland through Casuarina woodland and coastal heath.

Trousers Point Beach is a photographer’s delight. There’s colour everywhere – more fiery orange-red lichen-covered granite rocks, white sand contrasts with green and grey vegetation. And quite a few well-camouflaged Bennetts wallabies!

Leonie Jarrett was a guest of Tasmanian Expeditions. The walking trip she did is called ‘Flinders Island Walking Adventure in Comfort’. All opinions expressed in this story are her own.

You can follow Leonie on Instagram @we_like_to_cruise_and_travel