Wet Forest and Old Tunnels in the Dial Range

Overview

Ferndene State Reserve is a small reserve on the western slope of the Dial Range, south of Penguin on Tasmania’s north-west coast. Despite its modest size, it protects a distinctly damp, sheltered pocket of forest where creeks, gullies and steep ground create a very different feel from the drier hillsides elsewhere in the range. The reserve covers 34.76 hectares and sits within a broader landscape of peaks, ridges and varied rock types that give the Dial Range its strong character.

This is a place best understood as a ferny creek-side corner of the Dial Range rather than a separate mountain landscape of its own. Around Ferndene, the wetter conditions support tall eucalypts, blackwood and dense understorey growth, giving the reserve its cool, enclosed feel.

Highlights

What stands out here is the contrast between the wet forest around McBrides Creek and the more rugged, exposed character of the wider Dial Range. Ferndene sits in a gully landscape where moisture gathers, so the vegetation feels taller, greener and more layered, with tree ferns and wet sclerophyll forest shaping the scene.

The wider range is also known for its mixed geology, including volcanic rock, dolerite, conglomerate and sandstone. That geological variety helps explain the changeable scenery through this part of the coast, from steep hillsides and gullies to prominent peaks and broad views nearby.

Best Time to Visit

Spring is especially appealing when heath and understorey plants are in flower across the Dial Range, and the forest around Ferndene is fresh and green. The reserve’s damp gullies and shaded creek lines also make it a pleasant choice in the warmer months, when the cooler feel of the wet forest is part of its appeal.

After wetter periods, the creeks and fern-filled gullies tend to feel at their most characteristic, with the reserve showing the lush side of the Dial Range particularly well.

Plants and Animals

Ferndene is part of a range with unusually varied vegetation, shaped by changing soils, slope and moisture. In the Dial Range, stringybark and black peppermint forests grow on drier ground, while tall swamp gums and blackwood appear on damper sites. Around Ferndene itself, the key plant community is wet sclerophyll forest, with towering eucalypts above a dense understorey of ferns.

The reserve is also known for its woodland birdlife, and wallabies are sometimes seen among the ferns. More broadly, the mix of gullies, forest types and flowering understorey gives this part of the Dial Range a strong sense of ecological variety in a relatively compact area.

Culture and Heritage

Ferndene has a clear mining history linked to the mineral discoveries made around Penguin in the late 1800s. Prospecting spread into what is now the reserve, and the old Brownings and Thorsbys Tunnels remain as evidence of those attempts to work silver, copper and other minerals. That industrial history is a defining part of the place, set against a landscape that has since returned to dense forest and creek-side growth.