Overnighter for beginners

[DanShell]

Hi, our experience has been limited to day trips only so far but we are interested in giving an overnight trip a go.

I guess we are looking for some suggestions to some good overnight trips for beginners?

We live in the northern end of the state but are not limited to that area. We only have the basic essential gear at this stage but we are looking at improving on that as our more experienced.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Tortoise]

Lots of possibilities, lots of factors. This time of year, the options are reducing with just the basic gear. High winds & snow likely in exposed mountain places - which of course are my favourites. A few thoughts:

Copper Cove (Narawntapu) Much warmer, so equipment & clothing less of an issue, easier walk than most, lovely campsite (sheltered in a gale, posh bush seats), need to check on water supply - not sure if permanent.

Scott Kilvert Hut (Cradle) - hut good as a backup in bad weather, hopefully pot belly heater working, speccie walk with rock scramble & great views. Loo might be nice

Lees Paddocks/Hut - fairly flat, often leechy - depends on the kids! End up in a lovely river valley with mountains around, points of interest like waterfalls along the way. See recent posts by Son of a Beach viewtopic.php?f=42&t=12598&p=166367#p166367

Walls of Jerusalem Took my 14 yo nephew there on his first 2 day walk, and he LOVED it. Big climb for some at first, so depends on walking capacity. Pm me for campsites if you like. Tent platforms & loos at Wild Dog Creek, less distance to carry big packs, which could be good with the kids. Some here wouldn't dream of camping there, but it does have some advantages. Need to be prepared for snow in the Walls, though.

Cheers

[Hallu]

The easier and more common hikes would be Mount Field and Freycinet, although Freycinet is best enjoyed over 3 days. What will motivate your choice is the ability of your kids to climb steep sections and not to whine about rain, mud or insects. If they're up for it, Tortoise's suggestions are all good. Narawntapu being the more family friendly, with no mud (it's sandy soil), plenty of wildlife (probably the best you can have in Tasmania), a swamp full of birds, and nice beaches. I prefer this area to Freycinet actually. I hear Maria Island offer some nice opportunities too, with easy overnight walking and pleasant weather, although I've never been there. Some people also talked recently about an overnighter at Ben Lomond, which should closer to you : viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10829 .

[alanoutgear]

+1 to the others, with the possibility of Maria Island too. Bruny and Maria have both got safe, relatively easy walks, and the kids get to go overseas to get there.

[DanShell]

Thanks very much for the replies.

Copper Cove or that area in general seems like a good starting point for us. I phoned the parks people there and the lady told me that they don't really like people staying overnight at copper cove but if it was low impact, no fire etc it should be fine!
Can anyone elaborate on this for me?

Can anyone also tell us the approx distance of this walk? I had a look on google earth and from what I can tell it is roughly around 7-8kays to Copper Cove and then around 4 or so to Badger Head, does this sound about right? The parks lady had no idea, she could only tell me approx walking times.

If those are the distances then I think that would be a perfect way to introduce us to overnight walks. I am imagining we can walk to Copper Cove, set up camp and therefore leaving the weight behind, pop around to Badger head and then back to camp for the night. Does this sound feasible or would leaving our gear at Copper cove unattended be an issue?

Thanks for the help, sorry for so many questions, we really are totally new and inexperienced at this and would prefer to take little steps on what could be a brilliant journey. We have and are still searching the forums for answers to our million questions so as time goes by our questions will get less!

[Hallu]

Yeah the distances sound about right. You can also do a one way trip all the way to West Head if you can organize a car shuffle or something. To Copper Cove you can do a circuit, the way back on Bakers Beach (walking on this beach is strenuous though). On the way to Copper Cove, you can climb Archers Knob, it's well graded and offers nice views.

If you don't want to stay at Copper Cove, you could very well start the walk at the West picnic spot on Badger Beach, and do the walk in reverse. You would then camp at Springlawn, which is a haven for wildlife.

[Tasallan]

The walk from the visitor centre to Copper Cove is 13.4KM return and a great walk. Good one to start off with. I have attached the track for you -

[DanShell]

Thanks very much. Do you how further extra to badgers head? Does anyone have a gps file I can put into our garmin60csx? Probably not needed as I am guessing the track is well walked.

[Tasallan]

Attached two GPX files, Visitor centre to Copper Cove and Copper Cove to Badger head, 5.37KM. Great walk, very well defined track, you will note that you have to walk along the beache from the visitor's centre end - just where you head up to Archers Knob go down to the beach and walk to the end to find the track to Copper Cove.

[DanShell]

Tasallen Thank you very much for your help we really do appreciate it.

We have a few things to organise and we are going to do that exact walk. We are not certain until we get there if we will be able to go all the way around to Badger Head and back to Copper Cove on the first day so we will wait to see what time we are able to get away and how we are travelling as the day unfolds. We are very new to this so little steps for us

Once again thats everyone for the advice and help we will post some pics when its all done.

[biggbird]

+1 for the WOJ! Great walk, relatively easy, beautiful scenery, plenty of company and
close to you up in the north!

[geoskid]

G'day DanShell. Welcome to the forum.

Good choice for first overnighter. I have fond memories of taking my youngest son to Copper Cove for his first overnighter. We went around the rocks when the tide was out a bit and arrived at the camp spot and had it to ourselves.(Western end of cove up on headland). Was a wonderful time spent one-on one. The cove itself has a natural 'rock garden', and a huge assortment of driftwood (and other stuff) washed up on shore. There is a hole in the ground on the eastern end (worth warning your kids about) left over from mining in the cove. There is also a creek entering the cove to the east of where the track over little badger head arrives at the cove - well worth exploring.
I was first introduced to Copper Cove whilst on a daywalk with my eldest son and forum members Corvus and Sthughes, from Badgers Head to Springlawn, camping o/night at Springlawn with head torch wildlife spotting. Good memories - I'm sure you'll have a great time.

Cheers

Edit - Changed west and east - did'nt have the right shoes on !

[corvus]

+1 for Copper Cove Geoskid ,
I have fond memories of that Stroll with "miniskid", Sthughes and you, especially enjoyed "discovering " that cave again and Springlawn at night.
corvus

[geoskid]

Hiya Gerry,
Yeah, Liam still remembers talking about poo with you, and how to poke it with a walking stick to check for hair and toenails to see if it is devil poo or not. Yes, and the caves are a great find and fuel for the imagination for boys at that age - thanks Gerry.

[Eremophila]

Plenty of tiger snakes around Narawntapu at the moment, need to take care. It is a lovely area although very dry at the moment, even the lagoon is much lower than normal. And easily accessible. There is a map available - the park visitor centre would have it, otherwise Devonport Visitors Centre.
Lees Paddocks is a nice easy one too.
Is it just me.... on the Lees Paddocks walk, we took the short side trips to check out both waterfalls. I got pretty close to the cliff edge on one of them, before realising it was there

[Tortoise]

Plenty of tiger snakes around Narawntapu at the moment, need to take care. It is a lovely area although very dry at the moment, even the lagoon is much lower than normal. And easily accessible. There is a map available - the park visitor centre would have it, otherwise Devonport Visitors Centre.
Lees Paddocks is a nice easy one too.

Ah yes. I forgot that bit. Took 3 girls on a day walk, 2 terrified of snakes, it turned out.
Started at the loos - greeted by the large sign about the large tiger snake living in the vicinity.

Shall i say... I think we did remarkably well to eventually achieve a 4km circuit.

Do you know if the creeks into Copper Cove are running?

[biggbird]

Another option if you're heading down to the lovely south, is an overnight stay at either Lion Rock or South Cape Rivulet (or both, over two nights). I have fond memories of doing a similar trip with my dad when I was younger, and though it seemed a good long walk back then, really it's quite easy, but has spectacular coastal scenery.

[Eremophila]

Do you know if the creeks into Copper Cove are running?

Don't know, Tortoise, haven't ventured to Copper Cove. I guess the staff at the park would know.