Cradle Mountains 'Enchanted Walk'
This walk is fantastic and one of our favorite for many reasons. It's easily accessible; commencing at the Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge so you can drive and park, and literally no more than 50 meters is the start . Its also boardwalk the whole way which is perfect for little feet!
The Enchanted Walk takes around 20 minutes to complete, comfortably. You could take longer or do it in around 15 minutes if you rushed (1.1km) From a child's perspective, it is quite magical, 'Enchanted'!
Buttongrass and alpine plants line the edge of the track of various descriptions- big leaves, small leaves, even prickly ones. There are many endemic species so if you have older kids, identifying them can be fun. You can download our identifier sheet for all ages, here.
Along the track are little tunnels with information for children inside, featuring the wildlife and plants to find along the way. We saw a pademelon (wallaby) along the track, and there was a lot of wombat poo. The type of wombat in Tasmania is the Common Wombat, the smallest of Australia three species. Our kids were delighted in making it a game of finding the next of poop piled up high on the walk. Why do wombats have piled poo?
The track follows Pencil Pine Creek which can get quite high. We have traveled along it in flood and at ease, but it pays to be careful and keep the children close. Not all the path has hand rails, with easy access to the river in places. The flooded creek offered a lot of excitement to our little ones. When it's calm it offers perfect photo opportunities, particularly at the bridge where you cross to return to the Lodge. From the bridge, the forest opens up providing more opportunities to find wildlife. We have walked it in the middle of the day, and twilight, both times we have found wallabies.
The walk ends at the main river crossing to head into the national park area, near the information centre. This is approximately 50 meters again from the lodge, where you probably parked your car.
We highly recommend the walk, and we always do it every time we visit Cradle Mountain. Prams, toddlers, baby carriers. All ages will have a wonderful experience on this short walk.
If you have a Cradle Mountain experience we would love to hear about it! Send us an email or comment below!
Happy exploring!
A.