Best walks near Hobart and Huon Valley: 10 short + day walks

How we picked, and staying safe

Five of these walks start from Hobart on a free bus or ferry. The other five are in the Huon Valley and the far south, handy for a day off from picking but you need a car. We counted down from 10 to our favourite, and checked every one against the official Parks Tasmania, council, trail and operator pages on 3 November 2026.

Tasmanian weather turns fast, even in summer. A few basics before any of them:

• Check the Parks Tasmania alerts page, TasALERT and the Bureau of Meteorology forecast on the morning you go.
• Snow can fall on kunanyi and at Hartz in any month. Pack a waterproof jacket and a warm layer, even for a short walk.
• Mobile reception in the Huon back country can be limited or non-existent. Download offline maps and tell someone your plan.
• Hartz, Duckhole Lake and South Cape Bay are in national parks: you need a parks pass, and dogs aren’t allowed.
• None of these is a swim spot. Creeks on kunanyi are drinking water catchment, and South Cape Bay is unpatrolled Southern Ocean surf.
• Metro says fare-free bus travel runs statewide until 30 June 2027, and the Derwent Ferry is free until then too.

10. Port Huon to Geeveston Walking Track

The pickers’ local walk: a flat 3 km council track from Port Huon to Geeveston, with about 500 m of boardwalk across a wetland and a footbridge over the Kermandie River. It’s 6 km return, about 1.5 hours.

Park at the Port Huon Sports and Aquatic Centre, opposite the Kermandie Hotel, about 20 minutes south of Huonville. Tassielink’s Huon Valley buses run via Geeveston, so check stop times on the Transport Tasmania timetable if you have no car.

It’s free and no parks pass is needed. The council grades it easy to moderate, and warns that weather can change suddenly and reception may be limited, so bring water.

9. Bellerive Bluff and Kangaroo Bluff Battery

Take the free Derwent Ferry from Brooke Street Pier to Bellerive (about 15 minutes), then follow the Clarence Foreshore Trail past the Bellerive Bluff lookouts to Kangaroo Bluff Battery, an 1884 fort you can walk through. The views back to the city and kunanyi are some of the best in Hobart for very little effort.

The ferry runs Monday to Saturday, with no Sunday service listed. On weekdays it only runs at peak hour, so Saturday is the easy day. Metro 616 to Stop 19 King Street also works (it mostly starts from Rosny). The battery is free and open 9am to 5pm daily.

Parks calls the battery a severe hazard area, with high walls, drop-offs and a deep moat, so stay at least 2 m from edges. The trail is shared with cyclists and dogs must be on a lead.

• Trail: Kangaroo Bay to Bellerive Beach, 2 km, about 40 minutes one way.
• Saturday ferries from Brooke St: 9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm and 3:30pm.
• Bellerive Beach has no official patrol or swimming information, so treat it as a walk only.

8. Hobart Rivulet Track to Cascade Brewery and the Female Factory

A green corridor straight out of the CBD, 2.7 km one way along the rivulet (look out for platypus) to the World Heritage-listed Cascades Female Factory and Cascade Gardens under the brewery. It’s the best pick for a wet or cloudy day when the mountain is hidden.

Start at the Hamlet Cafe car park, 40 Molle St, and walk upstream. Catch Metro 446, 447 or 448 back to town from Cascade Road (Stop 13 for the Female Factory, Stop 16 for the brewery).

The walk and the bus are free. Female Factory entry is $35 for adults, including a 45-minute tour, open 9:30am to 4:30pm daily. The path is shared with bikes and dogs must be on a lead.

7. Tahune AirWalk, Swinging Bridges and Huon Pine walks

The most dramatic stop on the list: a 600 m walkway through the canopy to a cantilevered platform 50 m above the river, then the swinging bridges back on the ground. Pair it with a short Hartz walk the same day, as both are reached via Geeveston and Arve Road.

You need a car, as there’s no public bus. It’s about 56 minutes from Huonville or 1.5 hours from Hobart.

Entry is $35 for adults and covers the AirWalk, Huon Pine Walk and Swinging Bridges Track for the day. A national parks pass doesn’t cover it. Open 10am to 4pm daily, closed Christmas Day and in hazardous weather.

6. Duckhole Lake

An easy, mostly boardwalk walk along a late-1800s sawmill tramway through regrowth forest to a still lake that is actually a flooded sinkhole. It’s 4.2 km return, about 1.5 hours, Parks grade 2.

You need a car and a parks pass ($49.15 per vehicle per day). It’s about an hour from Huonville, past Dover, in Southwest National Park.

It’s not a swim spot, and Parks says to supervise kids near the creeks and lake. Dogs aren’t allowed in the national park.

• Road detour: since 28 July 2026, part of Creekton Road to the track has been closed for maintenance. Parks says to detour via Hastings Road and Tughanah Road. Ring the Huonville field centre on 03 6121 7026 to check it suits your car.
• The gravel roads may need 4WD after rain, so go after a dry spell.
• Hastings Caves State Reserve is about 7.5 km away, with a cafe, picnic area and thermal swimming pool.

5. Alum Cliffs Track, Kingston Beach to Taroona

A clifftop bush track through blue gums, banksias and a fern gully, with views over Storm Bay and the Derwent. It runs about 4 km from the north end of Kingston Beach to Taroona’s 1870 Shot Tower, 8 km return (about 3 hours).

Take Metro 407 to Kingston Beach. To walk one way, Metro 427 runs from Kingston Beach through Taroona to the city. The Shot Tower stop is Stop 32 Channel Highway. The buses and the track are free.

The track is narrow with steep edges in places, so stay back from cliff edges and watch small kids. Dogs on a lead, no bikes.

• The Shot Tower itself is closed for maintenance until Parks finds a new operator, so there’s no climb. You can still see it from outside.

4. Mount Nelson Signal Station via the Truganini Track

Tasmania’s first signal station (1811), with views over the city, the Derwent and Storm Bay, as far as Bruny Island on a clear day. The 2.1 km Truganini Track runs down past the Truganini Memorial and along Cartwright Creek to Sandy Bay Road.

Catch Metro 457, 458 or X58 to the last stop at the Signal Station, walk down, and catch a free bus back to town from Sandy Bay Road. Check the nearest stop on the Metro timetable first.

It’s free. Walked uphill, it’s a steady climb, so bring water. Dogs aren’t allowed on the track.

3. South Cape Bay from Cockle Creek

Start at the end of Australia’s southernmost road and walk the first leg of the South Coast Track to a cliff top above a wild Southern Ocean beach. Parks lists it as 15.4 km return on the track page and 18 km on the Cockle Creek page, so plan for 4 to 5 hours.

You need a car and a parks pass. It’s about 2 hours from Hobart via Geeveston. Parks says the last stretch is rough but 2WD cars can manage, and there’s no fuel past Southport.

Parks grade 3, with steep sections, many steps and cliffs with unprotected edges. The beach is unpatrolled Southern Ocean surf, so it’s not one for swimming. Bring all your water, as the Cockle Creek tank water is untreated.

2. Hartz Peak, Hartz Mountains National Park

The best mountain day near the orchards: alpine plateau, glacial lakes and, on a clear day, views deep into the south-west wilderness. It’s 7.4 km return, 3 to 5 hours, with 400 m of climb. Waratahs flower in late spring and early summer, so November and December are ideal.

You need a car and a parks pass. Take Arve Road from Geeveston to the signposted turn-off. The last stretch is gravel, and there’s no public transport.

This is Parks grade 4. Blizzards can hit the 1,254 m summit with little warning in any month, there are no rangers based in the park, and you need navigation skills. Register at the booth by the car park and sign out when you leave.

• Minimum gear from Parks: waterproof hooded jacket, waterproof overtrousers, sturdy boots, warm layers, hat and gloves.
• Not up for the summit? Waratah Lookout (5 min), Arve Falls (20 min) and Lake Osborne (45 min) are short return walks in the same park.

1. kunanyi / Mt Wellington from Fern Tree: Silver Falls and The Springs

A free city bus to a rainforest trailhead, then mossy fern gullies, a waterfall and the picnic lawns at The Springs, all in half a day. The loop follows the Pipeline Track to Fern Tree Bower, climbs past Silver Falls to The Springs and comes back down the Fern Glade Track.

Catch Metro 448 or 449 to Stop 27 (Fern Tree). It costs $0, and Wellington Park isn’t a national park, so no pass is needed.

Snow can fall here in any month and the tracks get slippery, so pack warm, waterproof layers. The park closes on days of dangerous fire weather. No dogs between the Pipeline Track and Silver Falls, and no swimming, as it’s drinking water catchment.

• Fern Tree to Silver Falls: 1.7 km return, the short walk.
• Fern Tree to The Springs loop: 3.9 km, half a day.
• Fern Tree to Wellington Falls: 12.7 km, a full day. TasWater is working on the Pipeline Track between Neika and the intake weir on weekdays (7am to 5pm) for several months from 29 September 2026, with temporary closures, so do this one on a weekend.
• Pinnacle Road is closed to cars, bikes and walkers from 16 to 19 November 2026 for maintenance (the lower section to The Springs reopens to cars on 18 and 19 November). The Wellington Park Trust says all tracks stay open.

Quick compare

The Hobart five need only a free bus or ferry. The Huon five need a car, and three of them need a parks pass. Two daily passes ($98.30) cost about the same as the $98.35 Holiday Pass, which covers all national parks for up to 2 months, so if you’ll visit on more than two days, get the Holiday Pass.

Working further north around Devonport? All of Tasmania counts as regional for your 88 days, so these make a good long weekend.

Getting there without a car

In Hobart you don’t need one. Metro buses reach Fern Tree, Mount Nelson, Kingston Beach and Taroona, and the Derwent Ferry crosses to Bellerive. Both are free until 30 June 2027.

The Huon walks are another story. Tassielink buses run via Geeveston, but there’s no public transport to Tahune or Hartz, and Duckhole Lake and Cockle Creek need a car for a day trip. Your options are a day tour from Hobart (check the itinerary lists the walks you want), a hire car, or a lift with someone from your hostel or farm.

Hiring for a few days? Split a hire car with friends, as a parks pass covers up to 8 people per vehicle. Coming down from Melbourne or Sydney? Imoova sometimes lists relocations into Hobart, so check what’s included (like the ferry) before you book.

What to bring

Even on a sunny morning, pack for rain and cold. Parks lists a waterproof jacket and warm layers as the minimum for Hartz, and snow can fall on kunanyi in any month. Add water, snacks and offline maps.

An eSIM gets you data from the day you land, but don’t count on signal at Hartz, Duckhole Lake or Cockle Creek.