Where Farmland Meets the Leven’s Forested Hills

Overview

Preston is a small rural locality in Tasmania’s Central Coast hinterland, inland from Ulverstone in the north-west of the state. The landscape here shifts from productive farmland into steeper, wetter country, with narrow valleys, creeks and pockets of tall forest giving the area a distinctly upland feel.

Rather than being defined by a single large reserve, Preston is better understood as part of the hill country that rises behind the coast. It sits in a transition zone between settled agricultural land and the more deeply incised forested country around the Leven catchment, which is why walks in this area often feel greener, cooler and more enclosed than those closer to the coast.

Highlights

The appeal of Preston lies in its terrain. This is a district of rolling rises, ferny gullies and creek-cut slopes, with the surrounding hills creating a layered, folded landscape that feels very different from Tasmania’s open coastal plains. In clear weather, the contrast between pasture, remnant bush and darker forested ridgelines gives the area much of its character.

Water is a strong part of the scenery here too. Creeks dropping through the uplands have shaped a countryside of damp gullies and shaded ravines, adding to the sense of relief and making this one of those north-west inland areas where the scenery is as much about texture and vegetation as it is about big views.

Best Time to Visit

Preston is at its best in the cooler months and through spring, when the district’s creeks are fuller, the surrounding hills are at their greenest and the forested parts of the landscape feel especially fresh. Summer can still be a good time to visit, but the area is often more appealing after rain, when the gullies and watercourses show more of the character that defines this part of the Central Coast hinterland.

Plants and Animals

Preston’s setting between farmland and bush means native vegetation tends to persist in gullies, along watercourses and on steeper ground, where wetter conditions support taller forest and dense understorey. Across Tasmania’s north-west uplands, this kind of country typically carries a mix of eucalypt forest, ferny shelter in damp pockets and habitat corridors that link more cleared rural land with larger areas of native vegetation nearby.

That mix of open country and retained bush supports a changing cast of wildlife. Forest birds are a regular part of the soundscape in treed sections, while the broader district also provides habitat for native mammals that move between cover and more open ground, especially around the edges of creeks and remnant vegetation.