Climbing kunanyi / Mt Wellington (1271m) is a must do for any traveller to Hobart, as it’s just a 15 minute drive to the foot of the mountain, (also accessible by public transport), and the summit provides great views over the city and Derwent Estuary. Despite the 940m of ascent anybody can do it… and that’s because there’s a road all the way to the summit. But as with meeting any goal, the rewards are better savoured when you’ve worked for it.
We did this walk clockwise, ascending from Fern Tree up the south-eastern side, then down the north-eastern side back to the start. I think the vegetation was nicer on the descent, and the views better if we had descended the way we came up, so I might try it anti-clockwise next time. Track notes at the end.
Mt Wellington Circuit: The Scenery
Track Notes
We used notes in Day Walks Tasmania, but there’s a really obvious network of tracks all over this section of the park and there’s information about the various options on the Wellington Park website. We started at Fern Tree, then passed by/along the following landmarks and tracks: Pipeline Track, Silver Falls, The Springs, Pinnacle Track, Zig Zag Track, summit, road, Panorama Track, road, Hunters Track, Lenah Valley Track, Shoobridge Track, Circle Track, Betts Vale Track, O’Grady’s Falls Track, Bracken Lane Fire Trail, road, and then an unnamed fire trail back to the start (although we actually did a detour and I’m not sure which track it was that passed by the water tower). With a map you could choose your own route.
