Rainforest, Escarpments and the High Country Around Ralphs Falls

Overview

Mount Victoria Forest Reserve sits in north-east Tasmania, inland from Ringarooma and Pyengana, protecting a sizeable stretch of elevated country around Mount Victoria. The reserve covers about 8,269 hectares and is now reserved land classified as Mount Victoria Regional Reserve. What stands out here is the contrast within a relatively compact area: cool mossy rainforest, escarpment edges, broad moorland and high forest all meeting in the same landscape.

The best-known part of the reserve is the country around Ralphs Falls, but the wider reserve is more than a single waterfall site. It is a high, rugged plateau and escarpment system where water, forest and exposed uplands shape the character of the place.

Highlights

The scenery here is defined by elevation and edge. Ralphs Falls drops almost 100 metres in a single ribbon off the escarpment, and nearby lookouts open onto Cashs Gorge and the broken country beyond. That mix of sheer rock faces, deep-cut gorge country and elevated forest gives the reserve a strong sense of scale.

Another striking feature is the way the vegetation changes across the landscape. In a short span the country shifts from damp rainforest to teatree forest and then out to buttongrass moorland, which gives Mount Victoria a broader scenic character than many small reserves.

Best Time to Visit

Mount Victoria Forest Reserve is at its most appealing when the forest is green and the falls are running well, so cooler and wetter parts of the year often show the place at its best. After rain, the escarpment country, rainforest and waterfall are usually at their most vivid.

In the warmer months, clearer weather can make the lookouts and wider landscape easier to appreciate. Conditions at this elevation can change quickly at any time of year, so the feel of the place is often shaped as much by cloud, mist and recent rain as by the season itself.

Plants and Animals

One of the reserve’s strengths is its variety of plant communities. Around Ralphs Falls the vegetation includes mossy rainforest, teatree forest and sections of buttongrass moorland, all of which reflect the cooler, wetter conditions of this upland part of north-east Tasmania.

The reserve also contributes to the protection of a number of native plant species recorded from reserved land here, including matted pentachondra and the orchid Corunastylis nuda. Even without listing every species, it is clear that Mount Victoria supports a mix of wet forest and open high-country vegetation that gives it real botanical interest.