Touring Tasmania – Mount Wellington and Wellington Park
View of Mount Wellington in Hobart from Mortimer Bay Tasmania
When you stay in Hobart you can’t help but notice the large mountains dominating the backdrop to the city, and if you, like us, enjoy seeing a city from up high you’re going to want to take a trip up Mount Wellington!
We had intended to spend a few hours away from Hobart, travelling up Mount Wellington and then enjoying the views, but we were persuaded to do otherwise by the helpful staff at our Hobart hotel who told us that there’s so much more to Mount Wellington than the views.
How to get to Mount Wellington
The easiest way to get up Mount Wellington is by car from Hobart. There’s a paved road, called Pinnacle Road, which takes you up to the summit from the village of Fern Tree. If you fancy hiking up you can park your car in Fern Tree, though if you prefer to use the car there are also various places to park all along Pinnacle Road.
For those of you without your own transport, you can take a bus to Fern Tree on Route 48 or 49, then hike from there. Or you could use a private tour company – speak to the Tasmanian Visitor Information Centre for more details.
What to See and Do in Wellington Park
Once you can tear yourself away from the absolutely amazing views, there are a multitude of other things for you to see and do on Mount Wellington and around Wellington Park.
Hikes and Bush Walks – There are a number of short walks and longer hikes for visitors. We recommend the Organ Pipes Track if you have half a day to spare as the views from this walk are great. If you don’t have half a day to spare there are some much shorter walks as well. Silver Falls is about a 40 minute return walk starting from Fern Tree Park and takes you up to the beautiful Silver Falls.
Landmarks – the Organ Pipes are one of Mount Wellington’s most famous landmarks. This is a huge cliff of dolerite columns which resemble organ pipes, hence the name, and they’re really quite spectacular. You can even see these from Hobart!
Wildlife and Plant Life – All over Wellington Park look out for the plentiful wildlife and plant life. The park features a variety of environments so if you’re spending some time here and go on one of the longer hikes you’re quite likely to go through several different areas where the plants can be really quite different.
One piece of advice to give you is that you must be extremely careful when driving up and down Pinnacle Road because a huge number of animals lose their lives on this road, especially after dark. We had several animals run out in front of us and narrowly avoided them.
For Hobart accommodation before and after your outing to Wellington Park, go to Book it Now.
‘Mount Wellington and Wellington Park’ by Claire Bolgil
