Tarkine Region Drives
Tarkine Wilderness
East of Marrawah via Basss HighwayThe Tarkine Wilderness is Tasmania's largest unprotected wilderness area. It is hugely diverse extending from thundering west coast beaches, through giant sand dunes, across rolling button grass plains, to towering eucalypt forests. It hosts the only wilderness landscape dominated by rainforest in Australia. Its rainforests form the largest continuous tract of rainforest in Australia, they being the largest temperate rainforests in Australia.
There is a rich pioneer/exploring history of the Tarkine region, which was regarded as one of Tasmania's toughest and most impenetrable regions. Prospecting and Mining was one of the biggest drawcards to the region for early settlers, with tin mining set up at Balfour, Gold at Corinna, and Tin at Waratah also. Prospectors often searched the rivers in years between 1850 and 1950 quite unsuccessfully.
Frankland River, Balfour
Discovering The Tarkine by Road
The Tarkine is richly woven in human history and natural beauty. The best way to explore the richness of the Tarkine is by taking a journey of discovery on the north-west section of the Tarkine Drive and South Arthur Drive. This drive allows easy access to the northern fringe of the Tarkine covering the State’s north-west corner, travelling through the splendour of tall trees and graceful rivers in silent rainforests.
Picnic facilities and forest walks are provided at both the Julius and Milkshake Forest Reserves, while other places include the Sumac Lookout and the picturesque walk through Lake Chisholm Forest Reserve to a beautiful sinkhole lake. This well-signed drive offers a variety of opportunities from river fishing, canoeing, and camping to walking and barbeques.
South Arthur Forest Drive
Map courtesy Stanley Visitor Information Centre
East of Arthur River via Temma Road
The South Arthur Forest Drive is a safe and easy way to have a taste of the Tarkine region of Tasmania's north west, with a minimum of fuss and without having to do the whole 4-wheel drive thing. The drive begins at Smithton and is an easy 130 km round trip there and back. Smithton is 85 km west of Burnie via Bass Highway.
A mix of sealed and gravel roads give access to a number forest reserves on the way. To begin, take the turnoff which indicates South Arthur Forest Drive from the road between Stanley to Smithton. The following features are visited on the South Arthur Forest Drive.
Lake Chisholm
63.7 km east via Temma, Rebecca and Sumac RoadsA hidden gem, Lake Chisholm is a flooded limestone sinkhole, one of the many sinkholes in the area, but one of only two filled with water. A gentle, half-hour return walk meanders through a majestic old myrtle forest to the tranquil waters of the lake. This can be a fantastic photo opportunity, especially in the early morning, so remember to bring your camera.
Julius River Forest Reserve
56.1 km east via Temma, Rebecca and Sumac RoadsThis site has recently been upgraded and has excellent picnic facilities. A half-hour return walk winds through the cool, temperate rainforest. Interpretive signs provide an insight into the nature of this forest.
Julius River Rainforest Walk: From Milkshakes Hills, continue on to the 30-minute Julius River Rainforest Walk, situated in a beautiful reserve, set in sinkhole country. There are two easy walks into the mossy, myrtle forests, found throughout the Tarkine. BBQ facilities, picnic shelter and a toilet are provided.
Trowutta Arch and Caves
56 km east via Bass Highway and Trowutta RoadThe Tarkine region of North West Tasmania contains a number of unique cave systems. There are a series of extraordinary magnesite karst systems, including unique cave and pinnacle formations at Lyons River and the Arthur River-Victory Springs area, including warm springs. These cave systems are not only unique in themselves, but are also home to extraordinary cave dwelling creatures, such as the bizarretroglodyte (cave dwelling spider) and other fascinating creatures.
Trowutta Caves are located south of Smithton, beyond the beautiful Allendale Gardens, Trowutta and Milkshake Hills. The Trowutta Arch track begins soon after the Trowutta Caves State Reserve is reached. A short 10 minute easy well defined walk leads to the park s most interesting geological feature - the Trowutta Arch. The reserve protects an area of sinkholes covered in temperate rainforest full of myrtles, sassafrass, blackwoods, massive manferns and a variety of other ferns.
Milkshakes Hills Forest Reserve
Milkshakes is a magical picnic spot. Picnic facilities are nestled among the eucalypt and rainforest trees. There are two walks, a basic 10 minute nature walk through the forest which is relatively flat, or you can climb to the top of one of the Milkshake Hills (45 minutes return). Shelters, picnic area and barbecues are available at the car park. A signposted track leads to the lookout on the Milkshakes Hills; a worthwhile climb.The Milkshakes Forest Reserve free campsite is located app. 26 kilometres to the north of the Julius River campground, some 6 kilomtres south of the Tayatea Bridge. Turn off, follow the well signposted area for just over 3.5 kilometres where you will find this very appealing free camping ground. Make sure you walk through the rainforests on the tracks provided. Please note, this site is not ideally suited for tent-based camping; recommended for campervans, campers, motorhomes and caravans. For further information please contactForesty Tasmania - 03 6452 4900.
How to get there: Travel south from Smithton on the B22 to Edith Creek through excellent, fertile, dairy country. Take the C218 to Kanunnah Bridge over the Arthur River. Travel east via Julius River and the Rapid River Road and follow the signage to the Milkshakes Forest Reserve. Total distance is 80km.
Dodds Creek Falls
Dodds Creek Falls are in the Wes Beckett Reserve, 61 kms south of Smithton. The walk is short and the 1.2 kms return track is barely definable in has steep rocky sections and is sometimes close to the edge of the ravine. The falls are small, but pretty and the walk takes 30 - 35 minutes. It is not suitable for small children. Wes Beckett Reserve is 61 kms south of Smithton. After turning left at Kanunnah Bridge onto Sumac Road, drive 16 km before branching left onto Mount Bertha Road. There are five more signed intersections in the final 10 km. Take a left turn at each one.
Other Tarkine Destinations
Meredith Range
Meredith Range
Meredith Range (reaching over 900 metres) is an undulating granite plateau, the largest exposed area of granite in the south of the Tarkine region. It affords spectacular views of Cradle Mountain, and the South-West. Pockets and stretches of tall, implicate and sub-alpine rainforest exist amongst the granite pillars and plates of the Meredith Range. Access to Meridith Range Regional Reserve is by four-wheel drive vehicles only.
Norfolk Range
Norfolk Range
Norfolk Range distinctively rises above coastal plateau, to over 700m. It contains a belt of sub-alpine rainforest. This region is blanketed in a tapestry of heath and buttongrass, moorland, pockets of varying forest types, and gorge-like drainage lines.
Although contemporary records are sketchy, high grade but small deposits of pyrite, chalcopyrite with minor bornite, chalcocite, tenorite and native copper were reported during geological surveys by the Mt Lyell Mining and Railway Company between 1907 and 1911. Parts of the Norfolk Range Sandy Cape area have been held under exploration licence at various times but, perhaps deterred by difficulty of access, only a few companies have undertaken significant grass roots fieldwork. No significant mining has subsequently taken place.
Balfour
Balfour is an isolated former mining town deep in the heart of the forests of north western Tasmania dating between 1902 to 1912. Prospecting and Mining was one of the biggest drawcards to the region for early settlers, with tin mining set up at Balfour, Gold at Corinna, and Tin at Waratah also. Prospectors often searched the rivers in years between 1850 and 1950 quite unsuccessfully. Current historical areas include; Balfour, Magnet (ghost mining town), Corinna (former gold mining boom town), and Waratah.The Balfour mining field was the scene of the greatest activity in the western zone from 1901 when copper was discovered. The largest mine was the Murray Brothers Reward Mine, yielding 1286 tons of copper, iron pyrites and alluvial tin up to 1910.
Interesting features at Balfour are the unique settlement, historic cemetery and old mine sites. Mt. Balfour Mine, a copper and tin mine, was one of the westernmost mines in Tasmania. Balfour is close to Julius River Forest Reserve, Arthur-Pieman Conservation area, Mr Frankland (433 metres), Mt. Hazelton (871 metres) and the coastal settlement of Temma.
Corinna
The tiny mining settlement of Corinna was first settled in 1881, and has a colourful history. It was a rip-roaring gold mining town with a population of 2,500 spread over an 8 kilometre area. The largest nugget of gold ever found in Tasmania weighed 243 ounces and was found in the nearby Rocky River in 1883. The eco-friendly village of Corinna is right in the middle of the Tarkine wilderness. It is an oasis in the wild, that clings to the banks of a beautiful river. The Corinna Wilderness Experience provides an escape from mass tourism, to one of the most remote and beautiful parts of the world, where guests are at home in the wilderness.
Pieman River
The Pieman River is more pristine and intact than any other river that is easily accessible in Tasmania even though there was industry on the river in the past. There has been gold, osmiridium mining and huon pine logging with possibly more than 31 million super feet (A super foot is 12 inches by 12 inches by 1 inch and is a lumber term.) of huon pine being taken before 1931 (when a reserve was proclaimed) but that is nothing when compared to the Gordon River and Macquarie Harbour.The main reason that there was less industry on the Pieman is the inaccessibility of the river due to the river mouth being a treacherous channel to navigate and there were no roads to the area in that era. There is nowhere else in the world that you can see the amount of huon pine that you can on the Pieman River. The Gordon River had convicts stripping pine for thirty years and then loggers for one hundred years.
Regarding the Pieman River's unusual name, there is debate over whether the river was named after Alexander Pearce or Thomas Kent. Alexander Pearce, “the pieman”, was a convict transported to Macquarie Harbour, who escaped, and killed and ate his companions to survive. Thomas Kent of Southampton, was a pastry-cook nicknamed the Pieman, who was transported to Van Diemen’s Land in 1816. Both men had escapes that led to the Pieman area as far as many accounts are concerned.
About The Tarkine
The Tarkine region of North West Tasmania is a very special part of the state, as it contains extensive high-quality wilderness as well as extensive, largely undisturbed tracts of cool temperate rainforest which are extremely rare. It also represents Australia's largest remaining single tract of temperate rainforest. What makes it extra-special is that it is relatively accessible.
The name "Tarkine" was coined by the conservation movement in the 1980s, being the anglicised pronunciation of one of the Aboriginal tribes who inhabited the western Tasmanian coastline from the Arthur River to the Pieman River before European colonisation. The Tarkiners seasonally travelled throughout the region, travelling as far as 140 km north to the Hunter Islands hunting for mutton birds and fur seals, and as far as 100 km east to the Surrey Hills for wallabies and emus.
The campaign to protect the Tarkine began in the 1960s with a formal proposal to establish a 'Norfolk Range National Park'. The proposal was ahead of its time, though his proposal wasn't seen to fruition. From the late 1990s, the area came under increasing national and international scrutiny in a similar vein to the environmental protests surrounding Tasmania's Franklin River and Queensland's Daintree Rainforest. The case for protecting the Tarkine was significantly advanced with the Federal Government's Forestry Package in 2005 adding 70,000 hectares (170,000 acres) to reserves in the Tarkine. A significant proportion of the Tarkine area including the Savage River National Park is already contained in the Tasmanian Reserve system, which protects the largest contiguous area of cool temperate rainforest surviving in Australia.
Rainforest and Habitat
The Tarkine contains approximately 1,800 km² of rainforest, around 400 km² of eucalypt forest and a mosaic of other vegetation communities, including dry sclerophyll forest, woodland, buttongrass moorland, sandy littoral communities, wetlands, grassland and Sphagnum communities. The Tarkine provides habitat for over 60 rare, threatened and endangered species of flora and fauna. Local residents include the platypus, echidna, wombat, bandicoot, possum and glider - not to mention the famous Tasmanian devil and the state's other predators, the spotted-tailed quoll and eastern quoll.
Mining Heritage
The Tarkine played a central role in the development of Tasmania's early mining industry, and remains of early mining activity can still be seen in many rivers and creeks in the area that were mined for gold, tin and osmiridium. Nowadays the remains of approximately 600 sites of historic mining activity in the area are still evident. The majority of these mining operations were alluvial workings or small hard-rock mines, consisting often of single adits. Larger scale mining has been carried out mainly at Luina, Savage River and Mt Bischoff. Part of the area is contained in the Arthur – Pieman Conservation Area managed by the Tasmania parks and wildlife service.
The areas of Corinna - Long Plains, as well as the Savage, Donaldson and Whyte rivers, were important early goldfields, exploited since the 1870s. Tasmania's two largest gold nuggets, of 7.6 and 4.4 kg, were found near the confluence of the Whyte and Rocky rivers. Tin mining was prominent in both the Mt Bischoff - Waratah area, starting in the 1870s, and the Meredith Range - Stanley River - Wilson River area. The Mt. Bischoff mine in Waratah was in its heyday one of the richest tin deposits in the world. From the 1880s onwards, osmiridium was extensively mined in many creeks and rivers in the catchments of the Savage, Haezlewood and Wilson rivers, and particularly the Bald Hill area. Tin, copper and tungsten were mined at Balfour,and, from the 1890s, the Magnet mine was exploited for silver. It continues to be an significant amateur fossicking area for mineral specimens to this day.
Mining activity in the Tarkine has continued uninterrupted since the 1870s, and two modern industrial mines are currently operating in the area: a small silica quarry, and a large open-cut iron ore mine at Savage River. Conservation groups, such as the Tarkine National Coalition and Operation Groundswell, oppose new mines and mining exploration in the Tarkine, and have threatened a campaign to surpass the Franklin River campaign of the 1980s.
