6 Places to Swim on Tasmania’s Overland Track

Did you know you can swim whilst walking on the Overland Track? With an abundance of swimming spots along the length of the 65km multi-day walk, there’s a freshwater dip to be enjoyed almost every day of the journey.

We acknowledge that this adventure is located on the traditional Country of the palawa people who have occupied and cared for the lands, waters, and their inhabitants for thousands of years. We pay our respects to them as the Traditional Custodians and recognise that sovereignty was never ceded.

For many, finding somewhere to swim isn’t the first thing that springs to mind when planning a trip along Australia’s premier alpine walk. But for those of us who fall in the ‘you never regret a swim’ category of Explorers, water temperature is the least of our concerns in the blind pursuit of plunging ourselves into the nearest body of water.

Read more: How To Stay Safe Around Swimming Holes & Waterfalls

Didn’t think you’d have to bring togs on the Overland Track did you? Time to convince you otherwise

Here’s where to find the most divine swimming spots, how accessible each of them are, and whether they’re for warming up or, let’s say, cold water recovery.

Each location is referenced based on the north-to-south walking direction, compulsory for all hikers during the summer season.

Read more: The Overland Track: A Guide to Hiking Hut-to-Hut on Tasmania’s Most Famous Hike

1. Lake Will

Location: Between Waterfall Valley and Windermere huts, closer to Waterfall Valley
Distance from main track: 3km side trip
Duration: Around 1-hour return
Temperature: Fresh
Access: It’s a shallow, long walk in with a rocky bottom. Wear your crocs/thongs and be prepared to flop or squat to fully immerse yourself.

After a sticky first night in our sleeping bags at Waterfall Valley Hut, my walking companion and I enquired with a ranger about swimming spots the next day.

They told us not to bother with Lake Will due to its shallowness, and to instead beeline for Lake Windermere. However, that would entail missing a swim! And that was not what this Overland Track adventure was about.

We dumped our packs at the Lake Will track junction, eagerly stuffed our swimmers and lunch boxes into day packs and set off along the narrow track.

Yep, just casually perching up on a beach

We tumbled out onto a small beach 30 minutes later. Unless you’ve got the place to yourself, don’t stop here.

Look for the break in the bushes to find the partially hidden path and keep walking for five minutes until you reach a larger lakeside beach.

You’ll need about two hours for this side trip to account for the walk in, the walk out, devouring lunch, having a little snooze on the warm sand, and complaining about how cold the water is for ten minutes until you actually build up the courage to get all the way in.

Read more: Highlights Of The Overland Track

2. Lake Windermere

Location: 500m before Lake Windermere Hut
Distance from main track: 0km
Temperature: Relatively warm with random icy sections
Access: Easy access, steps into the water that quickly deepens. A bit slimy on the bottom, wear crocs if you’re not into that.

Another swim for day two! What a day. As the deep blue Lake Windermere slowly revealed itself on the afternoon walk, I felt like a happy little dinosaur plodding along to meet its friends at the waterhole.

With Lake Windermere only a ten-minute walk from Windermere Hut, we chose to take our packs all the way through to the hut and then hot-foot it back with just our swimmers and a towel. There are a lot of steps between the hut and the lake, so make sure you have everything you need.

If you’re a strong swimmer, you might also like to take a pencil with you. Swim yourself, and your pencil, over to the small island in the lake, clamber onto land and you’ll find a notebook in a tupperware container detailing a list of members of the ‘Lake Windermere Swim Club’. To join the club, simply add yourself to the list with your BYO pencil.

Despite the sneaky cold sections of the lake, this swimming spot is by far the warmest, so make the most of it!

Dip a toe or ten!

On a warm afternoon, you’ll be sharing this swimming spot with every walker on your section of the track, but if you commit to a slow start and head back to the lake the next morning, you’ll likely have the place to yourself.

3. Douglas Creek

Location: Between Lake Windermere and Pelion huts, closer to Pelion
Distance from main track: 1km from the track junction and about 45 minutes return stroll from Pelion Hut
Temperature: F*cking freezing
Access: There’s a steep bank to scramble down and slippery rocks as you ease into the creek

This swim spot is glorious with water tumbling over a small rock shelf and boulders sticking out of the water to warm yourself on, but the water is very cold and it’s a bit of a trek from the main track. If you’re more of a casual swimmer, give this one a miss and have a nap under a tree instead.

Enjoying the warm rock before plunging into its opposite

You’ll want to wear your gaiters or pants for the walk to Douglas Creek as snakes tend to warm themselves on this lesser-used track.

4. Kia Ora Creek

Location: At Kia Ora Hut
Distance from main track: 0km, approximately 1 minute walk from the Kia Ora tent platforms
Temperature: AAAARRRGGHHH
Access: An easy one to get to, if you enter from above the bridge (look for the low-lying sculpture), there’s a couple of steps to help you ease in.

If you’re a recovery method connoisseur, here’s your opportunity to delight in what could only be described as ‘nature’s ice bath’. What started as my least favourite swim, soon moved up the ranks for its sheer level of ice-cold refreshingness.

Once you’ve had your swim, lie down in the sun on the tent platforms to thaw out and listen to the dulcet tones of every single one of your fellow walkers letting out an involuntary ‘AAARRGHHHH’ as they jump in.

Leech alert! No leeches got me but a fellow hiker copped a couple of freeloading leeches by sitting on the edge of the falls.

Given the proximity of the swimming spot to the campground and an impending hot weather day, we opted to spend a rest day at Kia Ora and had the spot to ourselves for hours.

Read more: Leeches: How To Remove, Avoid, and Appreciate Them

5. Hartnett Falls

Location: Between Kia Ora and Bert Nichols huts
Distance from main track: 1.5km
Duration: Around 1-hour return
Temperature: Refreshing
Access: Some steeper sections to get to this spot. It’s a shallow, rocky swim so prepare to flop in

If you’re tossing up between side trips like we were, Hartnett Falls (not D’Alton and Fergusson Falls) is where you’ll want to go if you’re chasing a swim.

Magical place for a break

We opted to swim closer to the track rather than rock scramble our way beneath the waterfall. But if you’ve got the time, this is a great spot to have lunch and frolic about under the waterfall like the glorious freshwater merperson you are.

6. Lake St Clair

Location: Next to Narcissus Hut
Distance from main track: 0km, swim in the river beside the hut, or walk 10 minutes to the jetty
Temperature: Toasty warm
Access: Launching yourself off the jetty makes for the easiest swim of the trip but watch out for snakes in the river

Many people say you haven’t completed the Overland Track unless you walk out from Narcissus Hut. I say you haven’t completed the Overland Track unless you take a celebratory dip in Australia’s deepest lake, Lake St Clair.

Ready to mark the end of our journey, we quickly trotted down to the river beside the hut. My companion was waist-deep in water when she saw a curious ‘eel’ swimming towards her. It was not an eel. We barrelled out of the river and took ourselves down to the snake-free edge of Lake St Clair, launching ourselves from the jetty where the ferry would pick us up the next morning.

The water felt as warm as Lake Windermere (perhaps it was the snake terror still pulsing through our veins), which felt like a toasty treat at the end of the walk.

Read more: How to Keep Yourself Safe Around Snakes in the Outdoors

7. Secret Spot!

Location: Lake St Clair Lodge
Distance from main track: 0km
Temperature: HOT
Access: You might need to wait 5-10 minutes to have this spot all to yourself

I’d be remiss not to mention the final secret ‘swimming spot’ of the walk… There are free, five-minute hot showers available at Lake St Clair Lodge for all Overland Track walkers. You’ll find them near the toilets.

If you’ve got someone picking you up or you’ve left a car in the car park, be sure to throw in a bar of soap, a fluffy pair of trackies, and a towel in the back of the car to make the most of this one.

I was prepared to be sweaty and sticky for a week but was delighted to find that there was a swimming spot almost every day on the Overland Track. Who knew an alpine walk would have so many great swimming spots? Leave the wet wipes at home for this one, you’ll never regret a swim.