About Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair National Park

Cradle Mountain – Lake St Clair National Park is rich with geological heritage with its Jurassic dolerite peaks, deep valleys, glacial lakes and intricate cave systems that have been carved out by glacial activity over the last 2 million years. These massive geomorphologic processes have created some of the most diverse environments on this earth and are home to a range of unique and primitive examples of flora and fauna reminiscent to being a part of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana. Cradle Mountain’s wetlands, alpine meadows and temperate rainforests are mostly covered with alpine and sub-alpine vegetation such as tussocks, primitive ferns, mosses and fungi. The most notable vegetation being the Button Grass and Australia’s only deciduous tree the nothofagus gunnii, both very exciting specimens for avid botanists!

Endemic species include, of course, the iconic Tasmanian Devil and two of the most primitive mammals in the world, the Platypus and the Echidna. The wildlife here is in abundance due to the ongoing conservation efforts to protect this area therefore keeping its delicate ecosystems largely undisturbed by humans.Each season presents it’s own astounding beauty throughout Cradle Mountain – Lake St Clair National Park. In summer the grasslands and alpine meadows are covered in a spectacular array of colourful wildflowers, in winter the landscape is sprinkled with glistening snow and the impressive nothofagus gunnii trees erupt into fiery displays of autumnal colours from April to May. If you plan on coming as a tourist, there are many Cradle Mountain Tours to choose from.

World Heritage Listed National Park

In 1982, under the Convention for the Protection of the World’s Cultural and Natural Heritage it was decided by the UN’s cultural organisation – UNESCO that Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain National Park was to be listed as a World Heritage Area. The wild wilderness, covering 21% of Tasmania’s land mass was considered to be an outstanding global example of natural and cultural significance containing unsurpassed natural beauty. This area is now internationally recognised as one of the greatest natural treasures on this earth with ongoing protection, preservation and celebration of its irreplaceable heritage.

Interestingly only 28 of the 936 listed properties in the world are listed under both natural and cultural significance categories and Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain – Lake St Clair National Park is one of these very special places on earth. It is now a living wilderness that anyone can visit and embrace, with scenery like nothing else on the planet – to be enjoyed for all time.