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Mt Rufus Circuit Trail Hiking Australia

  • Length: 19km

  • Duration: 7hrs

  • Grade: 4

  • Style: Circuit

  • Start: Lake St Clair Visitors Centre

  • End: Lake St Clair Visitors Centre

  • Location: Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park

  • Closest Town: Derwent Bridge

  • Distance from CBD: 180km

  • State: TAS

  • Latitude: -42.116756

  • Longitude: 146.172951

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Trail Access

Speed Bumps
2WD Access
Drinking Water
Untreated Water
Accessible Toilet
Public Toilets
Entry Fee
Gravel Road
Vehicle Ford
Bitumen Road
Public Transport
4WD Access
Winding Road
Steep Road
Small Car Park
Large Car Park
Accessible Parking
Picnic Shelter
View / Edit Conditions

Select items to indicate conditions for access to the trail.

2WD Access

4WD Access

Public Transport

Bitumen Road

Gravel Road

Steep Road

Winding Road

Speed Bumps

Vehicle Ford

Entry Fee

Large Car Park

Small Car Park

Accessible Parking

Accessible Toilet

Public Toilets

Drinking Water

Untreated Water

Picnic Shelter

Picnic Table

BBQ Facilities

Campfire Pit

Camping Area

Trail Features

Timber Boardwalk
Concrete Path
Gravel Path
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Concrete Path

Timber Boardwalk

Gravel Path

Sandy Trail

Rough Trail

Undefined Trail

Prams & Strollers

Manual Wheelchair

Motorised Wheelchair

Bicycle Trail

Mountain Bike Trail

Historic Rail Trail

Dog Friendly

Urban Walk

Coast & Beach

Historic Lighthouse

Waterfalls & Lakes

Rainforest Walk

Goldfields & Mining

Heritage Walk

Aboriginal Art

Alpine Region

Alpine Huts

Exposed Ledges

Rock Scrambling

Steep Terrain

Bush Bashing

River Crossings

Scenic Viewpoints

Well Marked

Drinking Water

Untreated Water

Fishing Spots

Swimming Spots

Overnight Campsites

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Mt Rufus Circuit is a 19km, grade 4 Circuit hike located in Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park Tasmania. The hike should take approximately 7hrs to complete.

Summary

An easily accessible mountain walk giving outstanding views of Lake St Clair, Mt Olympus, Frenchmans Cap and the headwaters of the Franklin River.

Highlights

As the altitude increases, vegetation changes from eucalypt forest to patches of cool temperate rainforest in the gullies. As you climb higher, the vegetation changes again to sub-alpine forest, dominated by snow gums (Eucalyptus coccifera) and stunted rainforest. Towards the summit, alpine plant communities dominate and during late spring and early summer they provide a colourful display of fragrant flowers.

Below the summit is an area of wind and rain sculptured sandstone that forms many weird and fascinating shapes. These sandstone blocks are almost 300 million years old and once formed a continuous layer across most of Tasmania. About 165 million years ago magma intruded up through the sandstone to form dolerite, which covered the sandstone layer. Both layers have been eroded over time by wind, rain, snow and glacial action.

Below the saddle between Mt Rufus and Mt Hugel the track winds through Richea Valley, named for the pandani and scoparia plants that grow here. These plants, which are both heaths, belong to the Richea genus of plants. The beautiful colours of flowering scoparia include reds, pinks, yellows and whites.

Region

The Western Wilderness

Getting there

Road C193 to Lake St Clair from the Lyell Highway (A10)

Tips

Park entry fees apply. (Self registration park entrance.)

Visitor centre, restaurant and accommodation.

Supervise children , tracks subject to severe weather conditions all year round, weather may change quickly, tracks are difficult to navigate when covered in snow and may be impassable.

No pets, firearms or bicycles.

 

Total distance: 18862 m
Max elevation: 1395 m
Min elevation: 754 m
Total climbing: 765 m
Total descent: -765 m
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For more information about this hiking trail please visit Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania

 

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Black Swamp Circuit (7.9km)

6 thoughts on “Mt Rufus Circuit (19km)”

  6. I did this last week!!! It was fantastic! Lovely easy walking section along the Summit Ridge to Summit however prior to that was densely rooted and rocked track which took plenty of time and careful footwork to negotiate. It was also on my bucket list.