Although the forests of Mt Field are a pocket of old growth in an area of heavy logging, its beauty is remarkable. In a short drive you travel from incredible old growth Swamp Gum forest (the tallest flowering plant in the world) and massive tree ferns into rainforest dominated by species found no where else like Pencil, King Billy and Celery-top pine and then into a scree slope dominated by snow gum and tanglefoot – Australia's only winter deciduous tree, a remnant of the Gondwanda super continent of more than 60 million years ago.

Animals include the Eastern Quoll, a small and active carnivore, and the eastern barred bandicoot. The last Tasmanian tiger, Thylacinus cynocephalus, to be seen in the Hobart Zoo was trapped in the nearby Florentine Valley in 1933.

A great introductory walk is to drive to the end of the road, walk up through the small Mount Mawson ski village and then out past the ski tows to Tarn Shelf, an area of alpine lakes and deciduous beech.

When: autumn for the deciduous beech, in winter there is some great back country skiing when the conditions are right.

Visitors Guide to Tasmania's National Parks - Mt Field National Park.

Written by  Cam Walker.

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