Bushwalk Australia

Has anyone been up Federation Peak since the 2019 bushfires, or know the status of the Farmhouse Creek track?

owen wrote:Has anyone been up Federation Peak since the 2019 bushfires, or know the status of the Farmhouse Creek track?

Unfortunately the Farmhouse Creek track is still closed, as is the access to the Eastern Arthurs from Scotts Peak past Kappa Moraine. The only access road to the Farmhouse Creek Track has been locked since the fires and is likely to remain closed for a while still. At the moment there is ~35kms of road between the locked gate and the start of the farmhouse creek track.

Thank you. That is a shame

Not sure how things will play out here.
It's probably not a priority for Parks to spend money on reopening these tracks/routes.
Parks weren't spending money on the tracks prior to the fires and 'its closed now because of erosion issues, fire damage, falling trees etc..'
I see a bit of stalemate here. Could be shut for years.
It would be nice if Parks could give an indication of what their plans are.

Azza wrote:Not sure how things will play out here.
It's probably not a priority for Parks to spend money on reopening these tracks/routes.
Parks weren't spending money on the tracks prior to the fires and 'its closed now because of erosion issues, fire damage, falling trees etc..'
I see a bit of stalemate here. Could be shut for years.
It would be nice if Parks could give an indication of what their plans are.

I agree. Of the tracks that are closed, I see the Eastern Arthurs as the lowest priority. Last I heard was that none of the tracks will be open this summer, but I suspect tracks like Mt Eliza and the Needles will be good to go for next summer. I would think that Lake Rhona would be planned for the summer of 2021/22, although Parks may want to close off that area so they don't have to deal with the poo problem.

pazzar wrote:I would think that Lake Rhona would be planned for the summer of 2021/22, although Parks may want to close off that area so they don't have to deal with the poo problem.

They sure got unlucky that the new toilet they built out there burnt down after only a few months of use!

dee_legg wrote:

pazzar wrote:I would think that Lake Rhona would be planned for the summer of 2021/22, although Parks may want to close off that area so they don't have to deal with the poo problem.

They sure got unlucky that the new toilet they built out there burnt down after only a few months of use!

Seriously? They FINALLY put one there and it got burnt. Wow that is a shame.

I think the road is the main issue with Federation. There is alot of road that is yet to be deemed safe. They are worried the burnt trees will be falling left right and centre. Some blasting has been going on to clear them out but im not sure on the current status of this.

dee_legg wrote:Seriously? They FINALLY put one there and it got burnt. Wow that is a shame.

Yep, they put it out there during last winter but it wasn't publicly announced anywhere that I know of. I think the idea was to manage the issue without encouraging more people to go there.

That's an approach I support.

ILUVSWTAS wrote:I think the road is the main issue with Federation. There is alot of road that is yet to be deemed safe. They are worried the burnt trees will be falling left right and centre. Some blasting has been going on to clear them out but im not sure on the current status of this.

Arve Rd is currently gated at the Hartz turnoff. There is not, and will not be for some time, vehicular access to any of the Arthurs access tracks except Scotts Peak. And walking in and out from Kappa Moraine is probably not a good idea.

Tahune airwalk is due to open next month so access is edging a little closer..

Then we just have to persuade the powers that be that it's a great idea to open the roads and tracks beyond it.
Good luck with that.

north-north-west wrote:Then we just have to persuade the powers that be that it's a great idea to open the roads and tracks beyond it.
Good luck with that.

Meh.. easy. You just need to tell the decision making wombles at TASPaWS that Lake Sydney is actually Lake Malbena, then they'll throw plenty of resources to open the area up and clearing the tracks.

doogs wrote:

north-north-west wrote:Then we just have to persuade the powers that be that it's a great idea to open the roads and tracks beyond it.
Good luck with that.

Meh.. easy. You just need to tell the decision making wombles at TASPaWS that Lake Sydney is actually Lake Malbena, then they'll throw plenty of resources to open the area up and clearing the tracks.

Why bother? They prefer to fly people in. That is what 'self-reliant recreation" is all about these days.

Any hope ahead for the coming summer? Hmmm..I've heard on the grapevine that little/no fire damage reached the actual ridgetop walking tracks..and can't remember too much timbered track on the plains. Anyone heard anything optimistic? It sounds like the Western Arthurs (A - K) got smashed with traffic last summer after the continued closure of all the other surrounding alternatives - and mayyyyybe a little help from the ABC..!!

As far as I know some of the boardwalk/drainage beams got burnt on the plains near the huon/WA junction. Combined with the arve road damage (which is now assessed as safe) this was enough to shut the whole walk off. Alot of people will walk it regardless this summer I suspect as the road to Mt Picton is open and it's not much further to walk to Farmhouse creek. It's the yoyo track section I wonder about. Quite a few people did that circuit to avoid the huge car shuffle to Scott's peak. With the current PWS mentality of pouring resources into the find generating areas and ignoring all else I just fear it will be ignored.
Hopefully with Anne opening it will take some pressure of the WA and who knows maybe they'll focus on the EA once that's done.

Someone I was interacting with on FB a few weeks ago said that they were able to drive all the way in to Farmhouse Creek and didn't see any obvious signs of track closure. This contradicts the official status from PWS who say the track along with a few others, is expected to reopen this summer. Then again, that does also imply Florentine Rd is closed which I don't think it is!

I thought Clear Hill Road had been open for some time. There was a post somewhere during the winter from someone who had driven in and they said the gates were open.

I think I've seen that as well. My knowledge is that it's open up to the Adamsfield turnoff, but not up to the Clear Hill Track. Someone else may be able to confirm. Anyway, I'm digressing from the original topic.

L_Cham_67 wrote:I think I've seen that as well. My knowledge is that it's open up to the Adamsfield turnoff, but not up to the Clear Hill Track. Someone else may be able to confirm. Anyway, I'm digressing from the original topic.

I think there is a wash out near the falls which is the problem.

The Farmhouse Track is burnt in the cracroft valley, I reckon it's probably undamaged as far as the Lake Sydney turn off.

From the aerial photos I saw after the fires, the farmhouse track was burnt from south cracroft camp to just east of cutting camp, in patches.

L_Cham_67 wrote:I think I've seen that as well. My knowledge is that it's open up to the Adamsfield turnoff, but not up to the Clear Hill Track. Someone else may be able to confirm. Anyway, I'm digressing from the original topic.

I drove to the Adams River gate in June. Then rode my bike 5k further up Clear Hill Road. It was all in good shape, no washouts etc. Some fire damage on the sides was all.

Can anyone confirm if Picton track and South Picton is open ?

Mt Picton was on the closed tracks list on the PWS website but was removed 2-3 months ago.
LWC had a walk up there not long after.

Old thread but obviously Farmhouse Creek is now open from West Picton Road to Federation Peak/Hanging Lake Camp. Remainder of the Eastern Arthurs (The Needles, Huon Track to West Portal) remain closed for the time being. Whispers of potentially being reopened sometime in 2022 but between rebuilding track infrastructure and Phythophthora Parks have a lot of work still to do. Mt Anne Circuit is the current priority.

Went out to Mt Bobs via Farmhouse Creek/Lake Sydney Track last weekend and can confirm it's - unsurprisingly - mighty wet and muddy!

Cheers, Ben.