Day 18: Lake Burbury to Lake St Clair
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Useful Resources
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Well I slept really well last night. The grass I pitched my tent on was really soft, so was very comfortable to sleep on.
I currently have a cycling partner. She is from Canada and started her ride from Devonport and is also doing a lap around TAS. We left the campsite at about 8.30am. The weather was a little overcast, but generally nice for riding.
We don't pass through any towns today. But instead pass along the rim of the Gordon-Franklin River National Park. Therefore the ride should be nice and scenic. We also will have a couple of climbs before our destination for the day.
Our first stop was the Nelson Falls Nature Trail. This was a nice ten minute walk to a pretty waterfall. Once we finished at the waterfall we continued on up and over our first climb. This was a nice gentle hill, followed by a good descent.
Traffic was very light and we continued our ride to our next spot, Donaghy's Hill lookout. From this lookout you had a great view of the various mountains in the area. Including French's Cap, which has a sheer cliff face of a 1000 feet.
We then continued our ride to our lunch stop for the day at the Franklin River Nature trail. A couple of kms before this spot there is a turnoff for a 3-5 day walk up French's Peak. Here there is also a 15 minute walk over a small suspension bridge.
After the lunch stop the road climbed about 400m over approximately 10kms. The grade was generally moderate and when you got to the top it marked the east-west divide of the State. The western side of the state gets the majority of the rainfall, whilst the eastern side remains relatively dry.
Once we were over the hill, it was then an easy 15kms to Lake St Clair. Lake St Clair is another major national park in Tasmania. We are camping at the main campground in the park. The facilities are limited, but it is in a nice location.
Today's ride was again another very scenic trip, with a number of nice breaks along the way. Tomorrow we are planning on doing a walk around the park. Haven't decided on which one yet.
I currently have a cycling partner. She is from Canada and started her ride from Devonport and is also doing a lap around TAS. We left the campsite at about 8.30am. The weather was a little overcast, but generally nice for riding.
We don't pass through any towns today. But instead pass along the rim of the Gordon-Franklin River National Park. Therefore the ride should be nice and scenic. We also will have a couple of climbs before our destination for the day.
Our first stop was the Nelson Falls Nature Trail. This was a nice ten minute walk to a pretty waterfall. Once we finished at the waterfall we continued on up and over our first climb. This was a nice gentle hill, followed by a good descent.
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Nelson Falls |
Traffic was very light and we continued our ride to our next spot, Donaghy's Hill lookout. From this lookout you had a great view of the various mountains in the area. Including French's Cap, which has a sheer cliff face of a 1000 feet.
![]() |
French's Cap |
After the lunch stop the road climbed about 400m over approximately 10kms. The grade was generally moderate and when you got to the top it marked the east-west divide of the State. The western side of the state gets the majority of the rainfall, whilst the eastern side remains relatively dry.
Once we were over the hill, it was then an easy 15kms to Lake St Clair. Lake St Clair is another major national park in Tasmania. We are camping at the main campground in the park. The facilities are limited, but it is in a nice location.
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Lake St Clair |