Bushwalk Australia

As noted here, I'm hoping to get along to Bastion Cascades this weekend. It looks like an interesting walk, the falls are supposed to be nice, and there are apparently some huge rock overhangs along the track which I'm keen to see.

Anyway, I'm after any information people can give me about the walk, which looks like you can go via a direct route, or the Stone Hut track. Some have said the track is a little hard to follow, I don't know if I should be bothered by this or not. Also, if anyone knows anything about the "Crowdens Croft" mentioned on this website, I'd be interested to hear what you know about this unmarked diversion.

EDIT - It looks like Stone Hut / Bastion Cascade can be done as a circuit. 5-6hrs according to the Forestry website.

I think Forestry Tasmania's "5-6 hours" is ULTRA conservative. From the end of the road, the circuit is only 3km long. Approx 1.5km to the falls, 750m along the croft track and 750m back down to the carpark. There is a height gain of around 350m. Compare this to the "5-6 hours" (according to Forestry Tas) Meander Falls Track which is a 10km return walk with 500m height gain.

When I last did this walk, the last 1.5 km of road beyond the quarry was barely driveable. However, at the weekend I spoke to someone who had been there recently and they said the area above the quarry had been logged recently so the road had been cleared. This makes me a bit sad because the road was barely passable was due to man ferns which had almost completely reclaimed the road from either side. I guess these have now gone. Boo hoo.

I will be interested to hear how you get on at the weekend.

tastrekker wrote:I think Forestry Tasmania's "5-6 hours" is ULTRA conservative. From the end of the road, the circuit is only 3km long. Approx 1.5km to the falls, 750m along the croft track and 750m back down to the carpark. There is a height gain of around 350m. Compare this to the "5-6 hours" (according to Forestry Tas) Meander Falls Track which is a 10km return walk with 500m height gain.

When I last did this walk, the last 1.5 km of road beyond the quarry was barely driveable. However, at the weekend I spoke to someone who had been there recently and they said the area above the quarry had been logged recently so the road had been cleared. This makes me a bit sad because the road was barely passable was due to man ferns which had almost completely reclaimed the road from either side. I guess these have now gone. Boo hoo.

I will be interested to hear how you get on at the weekend.

Thanks tastrekker. I wondered if you might have some info for me.

It's not unusual for walk estimates to be quite conservative. And you're right, the distance and elevation just doesn't seem right. Do you have any info on the state of the track? I wondered whether it was particularly overgrown.

I've certainly heard that the state of the road was a bit iffy beyond the quarry. There's some good info on this walk courtesy of Geocaching Australia here. This suggests you park at the quarry and walk the last 1.5km until the recently logged area is burnt. Not sure why exactly.
It's probably worth noting that the link above suggests 3.5 hrs for this walk. That might be more realistic.

I don't suppose you or your contact would have any info on the aforementioned Croft, or The Rabbit Warren mentioned in the link from my first post?

Thanks.

Speculator wrote:Do you have any info on the state of the track? I wondered whether it was particularly overgrown.

The track is quite well marked with forestry's reflective red and yellow triangles and in most places the track is clear.

Speculator wrote:I don't suppose you or your contact would have any info on the aforementioned Croft, or The Rabbit Warren mentioned in the link from my first post?

I don't know how to contact my contact and we only meet once in a blue moon. The huge rock formations on the croft track are obvious. You won't miss them. I remember seeing a number of places where people had wandered off the main track to look at various grottoes, overhangs, etc. Sadly I have not taken the time to explore as my last couple of trips there were rushed.

What time do you intend to leave and where will we meet up.
corvus