Penguin Cradle Trail

[Werribeewalker]

For my yearly Tassie pilgrimage, I thought I would try the Penguin Cradle Trail just after Christmas. Has anyone walked it recently and can tell me in general terms, what the track condition is like and if there are any tricky bits to be aware of?

[Tortoise]

Hi werribeewalker. I did it in feb, but hoping you'll get some more recent info. If you don't I can probably put you onto someone who can get it for you. It's a very different walk, with proximity to civilisation in places, but I loved it anyway. Wouldn't want to be doing black bluff range in foul weather but people have managed it. LOVED it in good weather. Leven canyon days great though would have loved to have been to the falls if time. So close to home but felt wild. there was a tricky land slip I think south of Blackwood camp on v steep bit - hopefully nwwc have been able to fix it though it would have needed something clever. Some bits were tricky to pick the right route - confusing markers with several tracks and various types of markers. Some bits needed careful footing where track about one boot wide on a v steep traverse. Other parts would not have been passable at higher river levels.

[geoskid]

For my yearly Tassie pilgrimage, I thought I would try the Penguin Cradle Trail just after Christmas. Has anyone walked it recently and can tell me in general terms, what the track condition is like and if there are any tricky bits to be aware of?

You will be fine - if you do your planning. The track is the track and it is a multi-day day walk. Plan accordingly.

[Werribeewalker]

Thanks Tortoise for the info- this will be a nice change from my regular walks in the SW

[bigkev]

Hi Werribeewalker,

I did the walk a few years ago so any track condition info is a bit old, if you want to check out my trip report here's the link http://hiking.topicwise.com/doc/8874 , the photos may give you a general idea of what the track is like.

My main memories of the walk were the amount of fallen trees, and of scrambling through Leven Canyon in the rain, the trees weren't much fun but Leven Canyon was awesome fun.

Cheers
Kevin

[wildlight]

I would recommend you make the side trip to Reynolds Falls, on the Vale River. Enjoy that part of it- I'd allow a day in (upon leaving the Penguin-Cradle Trail) and a day out again. Many fantastic campsites on the walk in there- and the photography potential is just superb. You can get in and out in a day- that's like walking the Overland Track in 5 days.

Why "charge" through it like that? What's the rush?

Enjoy the trip. I've only done snippets of the Penguin-Cradle. It's fantastic country!

Cheers

Wildlight

[Werribeewalker]

Thanks BigKev
That was a great trip report and plenty of good pics. Shame about the weather towards the end

I might also include the Reynolds Falls side trip Wildlight - thanks for the info and suggestion

[Explorer_Sam]

Hey all,

Does anyone know which Abels lie along or in close proximity to the Penguin Cradle Trail?

Thanks,
Sam.

[L_Cham_67]

Black Bluff is one (but the true high point is off track), Mt beecroft, and perhaps recondite knob as well, but that would be a long detour and it's right at the end.

[north-north-west]

There's a shorter detour/sidetrip up to Recondite, via an open creek line, which gets you to the old exploration track near Back Peak. From there it's a short easy walk. Either return the way you went up or follow the ((badly overgrown and sometimes boggy) old track back to Speeler Plains.

Black Bluff Range high point is any one of three boulders on the ridge above the track. Short detour. Beecroft has a pad from the little tarn just before the descent to Fourways. Both are worth the effort.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Could add Tor to the list of nearby Abels.

Agree Black Bluff Abel is well worth the extra effort. The walk from the trig to the true high point is excellent in good weather. Allow around 30-40mins each way from the trig.

[north-north-west]

Could add Tor to the list of nearby Abels.

Bit of a haul along the road to the access track, but you can always camp near Taylors.

[Explorer_Sam]

Thanks for the responses all! No plans currently, just looking at it for future. As a Victorian, I am planning to strategically collect Abels when I venture down to Tassie. I would like to do the PCT-OLT double within the next couple of years.

[tas-man]

Check out this old thread for some photos of the great variety of terrain that the PCT covers.

htktp://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... uin+cradle

[Mel123]

Hi walkers - anyone done the track recently? Conditions?

[north-north-west]

A little bit of it. There has been some recent work on some sections, including the stretch along the Leven River above Taylors, plus scrub cutting about a km either side of Fourways, plus new posts on Beecroft.

[Mel123]

Great, thanks so much.

[MrWalker]

From the difficulty that LouPhi had, it looks like the section after the lower Leven River, out to Gunns Plains has not been worked on lately. There were a lot of fallen trees there when I went through quite a while ago. It was difficult to squeeze over, under or through them while wearing a day pack. LouPhi could not do it with his supersize backpack. There is a 4WD track that bypasses most of that section, but I'm sure you will want to stay on the more interesting official route.

[Mel123]

Thanks. How long ago were you there?

[MrWalker]

Thanks. How long ago were you there?

I went through in December 2016, but it certainly hadn't been cleared in August 2018 when LouPhi went along there, so there might be more trees down than when I did it.
The section I mean is from Mt Lorymer lookout to where you come out near Wings Farm/Zoo.

[Mel123]

Thank you. Planning to go in March. Will do some more research.

[tastrax]

Also check with these folk as they organise the working bees

https://wildcaretas.org.au/branches/wil ... dle-trail/

Updates are also posted here - https://www.nwwc.org.au/index.php/penguin-cradle-trail

[Mel123]

Thank you Phil!

[Graham17]

Track from Dial Rd meets Leven Rvr... motocrossing

[Pink Cap]

Has anyone been through recently? Track conditions etc?
Also, I’m interested in the side trip to Reynolds Falls - is there a track and what is the terrain like? Is the walk in special or do you do it purely to see the falls?
Cheers

[north-north-west]

Reynolds side trip has a reasonably well-marked route, although some areas can be a bit vague. You need to pay attention, but I can think of only two spots where it's easy to go astray. There's some lovely forest and creeks on the way in. Route undulates a lot and the final drop to the river is steep and awkward, but it's straightforward enough walking otherwise.

PCT overall will be variable. Leven Canyon is the hardest section but the track through there is in good nick and easy to follow. The stretch from Lorymer to Winduss Rd is a bit overgrown but still obvious.

[Pink Cap]

Thanks for your help!
I’ve done the walk last week over 6 days and I had a great time, helped no doubt by good weather. I found the track to be very well marked and in good condition although a bit harder going than I expected. I did not really think the section between Blackwood camp and Leven Splits could take me 7 hours as written up in the route notes but it did. There were 2 places where ferns completely obliterated the track, near Winduss Rd and before Loongana, but these were magical spots. I had a truly wild night camped at Paddy’s Lake in a ferocious gale. I had been up Black Bluff in a cloud last February so I was very happy to see the view from the summit this time, although the first part of my walk along the range was in cloud as far as Bare Mountain. The only part I didn’t like was the log bridge near Pandanus campsite where I found the hand wire to be in a rather inconvenient position. A very small complaint about an otherwise fabulous walk.

[Mcspud]

I did this walk over 6 days finishing 20 September.
The walk is easyish in most areas. However the wind storms in N tas a few months ago have made the Leven section incredibly difficult. From Dobsons to Tuilp Tree Ck there are large trees on track every 10 m. After that it’s maybe 40-50m between major obstacles.
The other bad spot is descending from Dukes Lookout. The track has mainly disappeared as the trees fall and take the track along with them. It’s difficult to work out if you’re above or below the track. With summer approaching the track will get more use and be more obvious.
Hard yes. But once it’s cleared it won’t be.
The section just cleared prior to Wings is a credit to the volunteers.

Last edited by Mcspud on Sun 25 Sep, 2022 4:25 pm, edited 3 times in total.

[Mcspud]

And what the Leven Canyon typically looks like.
2nd photo is the descent from Dukes

Attachments

This is typical. Leven Canyon track can be seen if you look closely

1E8E52A3-CDA2-4292-A570-432491B4F571.jpeg (199.99 KiB) Viewed 8332 times

The track is gone here and in many sections descending from Dukes. Keep to the rough alignment and avoid the cliffs

BEF9E2D5-BD2D-4CF1-B63D-F8AFDAA8C52F.jpeg (190.29 KiB) Viewed 8331 times

[north-north-west]

Going to take a lot to clean that up. It's a difficult track to keep open.