Lake St. Clair

Lake St. Clair, cradled within the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in Tasmania's central highlands, is Australia's deepest lake, plunging to 167 metres in places and occupying a glacially carved basin of extraordinary scenic grandeur. The lake forms the southern terminus of the Overland Track, Australia's most celebrated multi-day wilderness walk, meaning that for many hikers the first sight of its steel-blue waters signals the triumphant end of a six-to-eight-day journey across alpine moorland, dense rainforest, and ancient dolerite plateaus.

For visitors who prefer not to hike the full Overland Track, Lake St. Clair remains highly rewarding on its own terms. A scenic ferry service crosses the lake, allowing walkers to access remote trails or simply enjoy the mountain reflections from the water. Day walks from the Cynthia Bay visitor centre range from gentle lakeside strolls through ancient Nothofagus beech forest to more demanding climbs with panoramic views over the surrounding highlands. The lake's resident platypus are regularly spotted at dawn and dusk in the shallow bays near the visitor centre — one of the more reliably magical wildlife encounters in Tasmania. The national park is jointly listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Area under the Tasmanian Wilderness, and the sense of geological and ecological antiquity that pervades the landscape is quite unlike anything found in more accessible parts of Australia.