The 954km Tassie Traverse is Australia’s Newest Bikepacking Route!

The Tassie Traverse is Australia’s newest published bikepacking route, covering a meandering 954km from Launceston to Hobart via some of the most iconic spots Tassie has to offer.

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.

The route has been lovingly crafted by Mick Turnbull, Hobart local, and it has all the ingredients to become an instant classic; primo riding, epic side quests, and good food galore. What’s not to love?

Quick Overview

The Tassie Traverse covers a total distance of 954km, kicking off in Launceston, Tasmania and concluding in Hobart. The base route can be completed in 8-15 days, with a bit of extra time strongly recommended to get the most out of the optional route add-ons.

Tassie Traverse Quick Facts

Distance: 954km
Duration: 8-15 days
Elevation gain: 14,889m
Route navigation: Ride With GPS
Start point: Launceston
End point: Hobart

About the Tassie Traverse

Published in November 2025, this route is Tassie’s newest tasting menu. Tassie is renowned for being an outdoor-lover’s paradise and this route crams endless variety into 950km of action-packed bikepacking. Alongside the route, you’ll find a selection of route add-ons covering mountain biking, hiking, island adventures, and everything in between.

Read more: Remember to Leave No Trace

@rohanhunt

How to Get to the Tassie Traverse

By plane into Launceston: Be aware, maxi taxis are in short supply. The airport has an excellent bike reassembly station so consider assembling your bike and riding into town instead.

By ferry into Devonport: The route includes an optional starting point in Devonport for those arriving by ferry from Melbourne.

Where to Stay Along the Tassie Traverse

You’re spoiled for choice with plenty of quality campsites/motels along the way:

• Ben Lomond Campground: Gorgeous campground halfway up the Ben Lomond climb, surrounded by beautiful semi-alpine forest
• Weldborough Hotel: A cyclist-friendly hotel. The publican is always keen for a yarn and camping is available
• Wineglass Bay: Stash your bike and hike 5km and you’ll be rewarded with one of the best beach campgrounds in Australia!
• Mt Field National Park: There are several camping options, all of which are excellent bases to fit in a hike or two

Read more: How to Poo in the Bush

Skill Level

Intermediate

There are long climbs and sections of technical riding. +50mm tyres and confidence riding on rocky descents is recommended. Some sections also have limited mobile reception, so a PLB is essential.

Read more: Navigating With a Map and Compass

Essential Gear

• Gravel/mountain bike
• Helmet
• Bike repair kit
• Sleep system
• Tent
• Warm/waterproof layers
• Off-bike shoes
• PLB/satellite phone
• Two or more litres of water and a purification method (expect 70km+ between water sources)
• Two or more days food capacity
• First aid kit

@rohanhunt

What It’s Like to Ride the Tassie Traverse

My partner Rohan and I had booked flights to Tassie to go bikepacking over the Christmas break without a particular route in mind. As fate would have it the very next day the Tassie Traverse route was published on bikepacking.com. It was meant to be! It took no effort at all to convince our good friends Josh and Kate to join us.

What followed were nine exceptional days of bikepacking where our biggest issue was fitting in all of the incredible side quests. It’s rare for the off-the-bike parts of a bikepacking trip to be filled with so much to see and do, from mountain biking in Derby, boating across the Swan River, and spectacular hikes aplenty.

With the power of hindsight, it’d have been great to extend our itinerary to fit in even more route additions like swimming at the Bay of Fires and hiking to Wineglass Bay!

The route brought such varied landscapes that I fell more in love with Tassie each passing day. By the time we arrived in Hobart we’d ridden through towering granite peaks, lush fern-filled forests, sprawling coastal scrub, and by beautiful lakes.

Day 1 – Launceston to Ben Lomond

Distance: 88km
Duration: 8-11 hours
Elevation gain: 2,250vm

Setting off from Launceston, urban riding quickly gave way to beautiful wine country. I joked that we’d somehow ended up in the Tuscan countryside! Our first stop was the quaint town of Evandale for a quick meat pie.

A few hours of riding later we made it to the base of the main event: an 18km climb to the summit of Ben Lomond. A massive climb is either a joy or a slog depending on whether the terrain is nice and luckily for us the next three hours had stunning forest full of birds and wombats.

We stopped at Ben Lomond Campground to pre-emptively set up tents before the final 9km push up the summit. We soon came to the most iconic section; a series of steep, tightly wound switchbacks known as Jacobs Ladder, surrounded by granite cliffs and breathtaking views of the valley below.

@rohanhunt

I’ve never enjoyed a climb quite so much! We made it to the summit in time for an epic sunset, before an exhilarating descent back to camp.

Day 2 – Ben Lomond to Derby

Distance: 101km
Duration: 6-9 hours
Elevation gain: 1,250vm

This morning we undid the four hours of climbing the day prior with 20 excellent minutes of epic descending.

Today was an easier day with less climbing and hero dirt all day. Our biggest surprise came when we hit the North-East Rail Trail. I expected wide roads and dry bushland, instead the trail gave way to lush temperate rainforest.

@rohanhunt

Steep rock walls narrowed the trail and tree ferns brushed against us from either side. Ferns are a fave of mine so I was in heaven! The day finished with an epic stretch of singletrack from Branxholm to Derby and a pub feed.

@rohanhunt

Day 3 – Derby Day!

Distance: 30km mountain biking, 15km bikepacking
Duration: 6 hours mountain biking, one hour bikepacking

You can’t come to Derby and NOT go mountain biking, so today we traded in the bikepacking rigs for hired mountain bikes and checked out the world-class Blue Derby trails.

Read more: Finding Flow on The Blue Derby Pods Mountain Bike Trails

Given we’d be doing 900km+ of pedalling, we treated ourselves to shuttles, which meant we spent the next six hours grinning til our cheeks hurt cutting lap after lap.

Derby has something for everyone. Epic flow trails? You got it! Janky tech? You betcha! Abandoned mining tunnels for the novelty? Why not! Derby is now firmly my favourite place I’ve ever ridden a mountain bike.

After an epic day, we grabbed a late pizza lunch and hopped back on the bikepacking rigs to pedal 15km to the Weldborough Hotel for dinner and a room.

@rohanhunt

Day 4 – Weldborough Hotel to Scamander

Distance: 120km
Duration: 8-11 hours
Elevation gain: 1,900vm

Today was all about the side quests. We’d barely warmed the legs up before we hit the 3km Blue Tier Big Tree hike. We stashed bikes and meandered through gorgeous mossy forest to see a VERY big tree! Definitely a worthwhile visit.

@rohanhunt

The next 50km saw the landscape transform from lush forests to sandy bush. Despite being on rigid bikepacking rigs, we couldn’t resist choosing the Bay of Fires singletrack detour, which incorporates 27km of epic flow trail. We were underbiked but had a blast pushing the limits of what a gravel bike should do.

By the time we popped out at the Bay of Fires we were feeling the fatigue of a big day of technical riding. We pushed on to St Helens where we smashed burritos for dinner before rolling down the road to Scamander for the night.

Day 5 – Scamander to Freycinet National Park

Distance: 120km
Duration: 9-12 hours
Elevation gain: 2,100vm

Yesterday had been big and today was no different. We started with a 700vm climb into St Mary’s, where we made a mandatory bakery stop.

The next stretch was a complete switch up from the champagne gravel we’d become so accustomed to. One left turn later we were on rocky, janky, remote, abandoned roads for the next 60km. The views were still nice but the riding was slow and hard.

We passed several collapsed bridges that required dragging bikes up and down steep river banks. Sometimes on a bikepacking trip you just have to lean into the suffering. Kate had the right idea and put in the earphones to blast death metal on max volume.

Finally, we descended down to the highway leading to Freycinet National Park. It’s times like these you appreciate a flat sealed road! In rapidly dwindling light we hightailed it to the Swan River Campground and hopped straight into bed.

Day 6 – Freycinet National Park to Oatlands

Distance: 116km
Duration: 7-10 hours
Elevation gain: 1,600vm

This morning the official route would’ve involved 30km of backtracking then 30km of highway riding. We’d fortunately found Declan, a Coles Bay local who was willing to shuttle us across the Swan River instead, completely bypassing the highway riding! It was nice to enjoy the sea breeze and ocean views.

From here we rode into Swansea for second breakfast. Afterwards Rohan and I farewelled Josh and Kate. With our travel dates locked in we had to keep pushing big days while Kate and Josh were looking forward to some shorter ones.

The rest of the day took us further inland into lovely pastoral countryside. We finished the day in Oatlands, a cute historic town with free camping in the park. We wandered through the historic sandstone buildings and ate dinner by the wetlands.

Day 7 – Oatlands to Bronte Park

Distance: 133km
Duration: 7-10 hours
Elevation gain: 1,850vm

The day started with an excellent big brekkie in town. Farmland riding gave way to steady climbing into Tassie’s highland lake district. Soon we were riding on epic champagne gravel flanked by massive lakes.

The dirt was fast-rolling and the legs were feeling fresh, so Rohan and I enjoyed setting a hot pace, only stopping for a quick roadhouse burger at Arthur Lake roadhouse. The highlight of the day was riding alongside an immense open aqueduct flowing to one of the nearby hydroelectric dams. We stopped at Bronte Lagoon campground and nabbed a beautiful spot by the lake.

Day 8 – Bronte Park to Mount Field National Park

Distance: 102km
Duration: 5-8 hours
Elevation gain: 1,400vm

Today had more down than up, as well as top-tier champagne gravel! We rode like it was a race, tucked aero in the drop bars and stopping for nothing. It was flowy, fast riding through beautiful forest all the way into Ouse at the 70km mark for lunch.

Another 20km further, we stopped at a raspberry farm for ice creams and as many punnets of berries as we could fit on our laden bikes, before riding the final stretch to Mount Field.

Our early finish gave us plenty of time for a hiking side quest! We threw on our hiking sandals for the 7km Three Falls Circuit. The rainforest was stunning. Massive ferns aplenty and moss blanketing every surface. Russell Falls was immense and definitely worth the walk.

Read more: Staying Safe Around Swimming Holes and Waterfalls

Day 9 – Mount Field National Park to Hobart

Distance: 133km
Duration: 7-11 hours
Elevation gain: 2,300vm

It’s bittersweet getting to the end of a big ride. Keen for a rest, sad to be finishing! Today was our biggest day of climbing with lots of long steady climbs. We passed through beautiful rolling countryside on tired legs.

A brief stop in Huonville for the best meat pies of the trip gave us the energy to complete the final push up and over Kunanyi/Mt Wellington. The climb was worth the effort, as the summit gave us one last taste of lush ferns and deep moody light.

@rohanhunt

What followed was probably the best possible way to end a ride. Uninterrupted descending!! We flew down into town, through parklands and suburbia to finish at the Port of Hobart.

@rohanhunt

Tips for Riding the Tassie Traverse

• The Tassie Traverse Facebook group has lots of information on current route conditions and provides a good place to ask questions
• Many campgrounds are first-come, first-served, so it pays to have backup options prepared in case one is already taken
• There’s some excellent detours that include Bay of Fires singletrack, a visit to Maria Island, or hitting up Maydena

Don’t forget to fill out a Trip Intention Form before heading out!

@rohanhunt

Feature and table of contents image by @rohanhunt

Tassie Traverse FAQs

How long is the Tassie Traverse?

The Tassie Traverse winds down and around the apple isle, from Launceston to Hobart, over 954km.

Is the Tassie Traverse good for beginners?

Due to its length, remoteness is some sections, and variability of terrain, the Tassie Traverse is best for intermediate to advanced bike riders.

Tassie’s Bike Scene is Growing

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• Bikepacking on Maria Island in Tasmania
• Finding Flow on The Blue Derby Pods Mountain Bike Trails