Smithton to Southport

[Camk]

Hey,
I have hiked a fair bit throughout Victoria and overseas (predominantly Nepal) but on a recent trip to Tasmania decided I would like to devote a month to hiking from Northwestern Tasmania to Southeastern Tasmania. I would love to go from Smithton and then end up in Southport following the coast and then linking up to the Great Soutwest Walk.

Honestly is this a doable walk? As in are there trails, roads etc in the north west of tasmania, preferably along the coast that I could follow?

Cheers,
Cam

[Beeper]

Its a long way but doable, and not all on walking tracks, with some remote country.

Are U planning on going right down the west coast all the way or travel more inland down the Penguin - Cradle Trail - Overland Track etc.
The former is a serious undertaking with large rivers and a rugged coast.

[Camk]

Preferably along the coast. However I would prefer to follow some sort of track so maybe going inland makes more sense. The coastline looks beautiful though and if there were any tracks along there I could follow I definitely would.

[pomysi]

I've been fishing down as far as sandy cape. There is a 4wd track as far as that from the north. I know t guys I went with have ridden from smithton to strahan on 4wheelers. I believe there are punts to cross t big rivers - if you can find them and shacks most of the way. So from t north I think that there would certainly be a track to follow as far as strahan, a lot of it on t beach.
South of strahan I've only been to greens point. There is an old drilling 4wd track which starts at Birchers inlet a fair way from t coast and works it's way to meet the coast over a few kms, that's as much as I know but from whet I saw it would b hard going if there was no track south of strahan.
It's a long way, in a month I would start at strahan and head south and still probably wouldn't make southport!

[sthughes]

Smithton to Strahan via the coast = no worries.

Strahan to Southport via the coast = bedda book the rescue chopper.

[frenchy_84]

As people have said smithton to strahan is pretty easy apart from a few large river crossings. There is a common misconception that the "tarkine" is an untouched wilderness, its far from it. Apart from the forestry inland, the coast is littered by 4x4 tracks as well as shacks and farms, cows are left to graze in the coastal heath. It seems to be a bogan right of passage to drive a 4x4 down to sandy cape and then proceed to destroy a sand dune.

From Strahan onwards, the SW Tas book by John Chapman is your best bet for info. Good luck.

[JamesMc]

The great south west walk is in Victoria. Suggest you do it before you go down to Tas


JamesMc

Last edited by JamesMc on Sat 10 Dec, 2011 7:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Azza]

Done any scrub bashing?