Alissa has ventured all over Tasmania in search of new hiking trails. Now she’s put together a guide to help you make sure you’re just as confident with your hiking safety and preparation!

 

Tasmania is on many people’s summer hiking bucket list, and rightfully so. The state’s filled with layers and layers of hikes in every direction – but that doesn’t mean they’re all a walk in the park. Many are in high alpine terrain and should be undertaken with caution.

Due to the vast quantity of hikes, unfortunately there’s little in the way of helpful resources online for researching hikes in Tasmania that are a little more off the beaten path. Arguably, these are the trails where hiking safety and proper preparation are even more important.

I’m keen to ensure locals and visitors alike are safely preparing for hikes, so I’ve put together my best resources for getting out into the Tassie wilderness for overnight or day walks.

 

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1. Register Your Hike

For more popular overnight hikes, such as the Three Capes Track, The Overland, Frenchmans Cap, The Western Arthurs, Mt Anne, and Lake Rhona, the Tasmania Parks website has sufficient resources explaining the track distances and terrain.

In an attempt to help distribute walker numbers, avoid damage to the sensitive vegetation in these areas, and improve hiking safety, Parks has implemented an Overnight Walker Registration for many of these more popular walks.

There’s no cost to register for your intended dates, so be sure to check the availability before planning your next walk. This helps to ensure that everyone can enjoy these remote and fragile environments.

Read more: 10 best multi-day hikes in Tasmania

 

The clouds clear to reveal the first Tarn in the distance, The Tarn Shelf – Tasmania's Best Day Hike You've Never Heard Of, casey fung, tarn shelf, mt field national park, tasmania

If weather conditions become dangerous, rescuers will know where to find you | @fungshuay

2. Leave No Trace

Part of your responsibility when hiking is minimising your impact, and this becomes particularly important on more remote hikes where the trail might be less clear, or campsites might be small and unmanaged.

Minimal impact bushwalking provides a set of guidelines for lessening your impact, with a few tweaks from the well known leave no trace principles.

Taking care of these environments is incredibly important to ensure that they stay open and pristine for many years to come.

 

aidan howes, how to poo in the bush, illustration, list, leave no trace, pack it out

Do you know how to poo in the bush correctly? | Illustration by @aidanmh

3. Read Abel Books

The Abel Books by Bill Wilkinson, are comprehensive guides to hiking the 158 mountains across Tasmania, classified as an abel.

These mountains are above 1100m and have a few other defining characteristics, but ultimately these guides are split into two volumes to help provide useful information.

I’ve used these books time and time again as a way to scout out different hikes, learn about the difficulty level, and terrain before embarking on another mission.

 

Hiking safety is made easier with guidebooks like this one on the Abels.

 

The books also give the specifics of how to get to the trailheads as they often start in areas with no reception.

These books were updated in 2023 with more up to date track notes and incorporating the traditional custodian names of many places across lutruwita/ Tasmania.

The updated versions can be found across most outdoor stores and map shops in Tasmania.

4. Buy the John Chapman Guidebooks

From day walks to remote overnighters, John Chapman’s guidebooks are kind of like the industry standard in Tassie. When hiking the Western Arthurs, we came across very few people who didn’t have a printed version of the John Chapman track notes.

They’re usually relatively accurate, detailing water sources and camp spots, but lots of areas have changed since he wrote these books, so it’s best to cross reference them with another resource.

Regardless, these guidebooks are a great way to find inspiration no matter what your skill level.

For bigger trips, take photos of the track notes to have accessible on your phone, but take a hard paper copy as well as a backup.

5. Join Facebook Groups

There are quite a few active Facebook groups if you do some targeted searching: Bushwalking Tasmania and Bushwalking Tasmania Social Group are good for more general content across the state.

The Western & Eastern Arthurs Traverse is also a good one.

 

hiking safety on dangerous ridgelines in tasmania

 

Don’t be afraid to ask questions, but search the groups first too so you don’t repeat what’s already been asked. For lesser known hikes these groups can be an invaluable resource to ask for recent trip reports and gain inspiration.

6. Take Physical & Digital Maps

I also use a combination of physical and digital maps along with the guidebooks to plot camp spots, look at ridgelines, and find water sources. When it comes to hiking safety, it’s always best to have a back-up…and a failsafe if that falls through too.

 

maps for hiking safety

 

Avenza maps is my digital map of choice and I have most of the Tasmanian maps downloaded for convenience.

If your hike spans over multiple maps, sorting them between folders and collections is a must to make for seamless transitions. It’s a bit confusing if you’ve never used them, but here’s a resource to help you get started.

Read more: Our Favourite Outdoor and Adventure Apps

I also frequent Recycled Recreation on Hobart’s Elizabeth Street (if you’ve never been, it’s small, but worth the wander), to peruse through their collection of physical maps.

The scale for physical maps now being printed is usually 1:50,000, which doesn’t have enough detail for my liking.

Recycled Recreation still stocks quite a few 1:25,000 scale maps, giving way more detail and a great resource to open up, scour for mountains, and find a path to get there.

7. Know Which Hiking Safety Gear You NEED to Pack

Read more: 7 Things I Packed and Used Every Day Thru Hiking the Te Araroa Trail

8. Don’t Underestimate Tasmania’s Wilderness

There’s no doubt we’re spoiled for places to explore here in Tasmania, but finding tracks a little more off the touristy path, or chasing the next iconic Instagram shot, can lead to places with very little infrastructure, where your knowledge of hiking safety might be your only lifeline.

It can be easier to get lost or injured, and harder to get rescued.

Hopefully these resources help you to dig a little deeper, get the maps out, and your guidebooks open and dog-eared, in order to learn how to safely access other tracks.

Don’t get caught out by Tasmania’s remoteness and ever-changing weather. Make the research fun and be sure to come prepared with sufficient gear to keep you not only safe, but comfortable when exploring the trails!

 

Keep Improving Your Safety Knowledge

 

Table of contents image by @headwerkn

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