Tasmania’s Wild West Coast – Hobart to Cradle Mountain via Strahan

Tasmania has plenty of drives where getting from A to B is simply transport. Hobart to Cradle Mountain via Strahan isn't one of them.

This is roughly 440 kilometres of changing personalities: historic Hobart, lonely highland roads, rainforest, waterfalls, old mining country, convict stories, Macquarie Harbour and finally one of Australia's great mountain landscapes.

You could technically get from Hobart to Strahan in about 4½ hours. Don't. That's like ordering a steak and swallowing it whole.

Hobart – Start With a Few Ghosts

Before pointing the car west, spend some time exploring Hobart's darker side.

The Hobart Convict Penitentiary is a good starting point. Built for Tasmania's growing convict population, the site includes underground tunnels, solitary cells and the former chapel and courtroom. Guided tours currently operate several times daily on opening days, and if normal historical tours aren't creepy enough, there are ghost tours too.

For somewhere memorable to sleep, MACq 01 Hotel on Hobart's waterfront fits the trip beautifully. The hotel's storytelling concept draws individual rooms into Tasmania's history rather than giving you another anonymous hotel room you could be sleeping in anywhere.

Dinner? Head into North Hobart for Bar Wa Izakaya, a lively Japanese izakaya that's a nice change from the predictable steak-and-chips road-trip dinner.

Then get some sleep. Tomorrow Tasmania starts showing its teeth.

Hobart to Strahan – 300km Where the Road Matters

Heading west on the Lyell Highway, the landscape gradually empties out. Towns become smaller, forests become bigger and phone reception starts behaving like it's entitled to annual leave.

Around Derwent Bridge you'll find one of Tasmania's strangest artistic achievements: The Wall in the Wilderness. Sculptor Greg Duncan began carving the enormous Huon pine installation in 2005, with the finished work stretching more than 100 metres. It depicts the people and history of Tasmania's Central Highlands and is quite unlike the usual roadside attraction. It closes through June, July and August and reopens from 1 September, so check before travelling.

Further west, pull over for Nelson Falls. It's only a 1.4km, roughly 20-minute return walk from the Lyell Highway through lush rainforest to the falls, meaning you get a serious Tassie wilderness hit without requiring hiking poles, emergency rations or a documentary crew.

Next comes Queenstown, and you’ll know you’ve arrived because the landscape suddenly looks like Tasmania has changed planets. The town’s mining history left the surrounding hills famously bare and scarred, although vegetation has gradually returned. Stop at Iron Blow Lookout for a view into the old open-cut mine, then have a look at Queenstown’s wonderfully odd gravel football oval — once notorious for producing grazes that made a normal grass burn look positively luxurious. From Queenstown, it’s about another 40 kilometres of winding road to Strahan.

Eventually the road winds through Queenstown's stark mining landscape before reaching Strahan, sitting on Macquarie Harbour.

Stay at Strahan Village, where I'd pick one of the waterfront cottages or terraces rather than a standard room. You're right near the harbour and within walking distance of the town's main attractions.

For dinner, The Ducks Bar and Restaurant is a smaller local option worth seeking out rather than automatically following the crowd.

Give Strahan a full day if you can. World Heritage Cruises heads across Macquarie Harbour and into the Gordon River wilderness, with the journey also revealing the grim history of Sarah Island, once one of Australia's harshest convict settlements.

Alternatively, Regatta Point Station (West Coast Wilderness Railway) is the starting point for one of Australia's great heritage railway experiences, following historic tracks through rainforest and the King River Gorge.

Strahan to Cradle Mountain – Into the High Country

The final drive is around 140 kilometres, but allow more than the suggested two hours. This is western Tasmania, not the Monash Freeway.

The route climbs away from the coast through Zeehan, Rosebery and Tullah before turning towards Cradle Mountain. Weather can change remarkably quickly up here, particularly in winter, and wildlife around dawn and dusk provides another very good reason not to rush.

My splurge stay would be Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge. Its cabins sit amongst the wilderness near the national park, and some come with fireplaces, spa baths and balconies.

Dinner at Highland Restaurant keeps things Tasmanian with seasonal local produce, while the lodge's Tavern Bar & Bistro provides a more casual option.

Then there's Cradle Mountain itself.

The Dove Lake Circuit is the classic walk, taking you beneath the mountain and through the wonderfully named Ballroom Forest. For something shorter, wander through Weindorfers Forest to historic Waldheim Chalet. The national park shuttle operates to Dove Lake during operating hours, so don't assume you'll simply drive straight to the lake and park beside it. Ofcourse, if you want to find out more about Cradle Mountain and Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge, check out the full article just on that right here on DSP - HERE (opens in a new tab)

Who Will Love This Drive?

This one's particularly good for couples and Grey Haired Nomads who enjoy history and scenery, families with older kids who won't complain about getting out of the car occasionally, and younger adventurers wanting hiking, wilderness and enough corners to make the drive itself interesting.

It's also perfect for travellers who think Tasmania should feel a little wild.

Because out west, it still does.

DSP Pro Tips

Allow at least four days, preferably five or six. Fuel up when you can rather than waiting for the next servo. Carry a jacket even when Hobart is sunny, because Cradle Mountain couldn't care less what Hobart's weather was doing. Avoid unnecessary driving around dawn and dusk when wildlife is active, and check road and weather conditions before heading into the high country.

Most importantly, don't rush the Lyell Highway. On this trip, arriving isn't the whole point.

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