Parsons Track and Huts – Sat. 7th November 2026
With warmer days beginning to outnumber the cold and wet ones, we can hope for sunshine as we explore Parsons Track, both a historic route to the Central Plateau, and a logging route featuring the restored Hills Hut. This walk is in the Caveside area, little more than an hour from Launceston, and features plenty of forest, a possible side trip to a giant tree, the hut, and Lofty Lookout, which promises spectacular views on a fine day. See Great Western Tiers – Parsons Track to Hills Hut. Our walk takes us a little further than the hut, so a somewhat longer round trip.
This walk is suitable for walkers, including energetic children, who can cope with changeable weather conditions and a mostly steady climb along old logging road and bush track beyond that. There are a couple of quite steep pinches. Track conditions can be muddy and slippery in places, and durable, grippy shoes or walking boots should be worn. Please see the warnings below. A change of footwear and perhaps even dry clothing on return to car is suggested. If you have them, gaiters might be helpful for the muddy bits!
Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone your walk leaders, Ian Waterhouse, ph. 0428 242 693 to book in. The departure time is 8:30 am from the Door of Hope Church car park, Launceston. Suggested meeting place if coming from elsewhere could be Mole Creek Rd. roundabout at western end of main street of Deloraine at 9:10 am, or at the small park and public toilets in Chudleigh at 9:30 am. Please discuss alternative meeting times and places with the leader. However, you still need to contact the walk leader per details above if intending to walk. The leader should be notified of any other people you intend to bring along. Please be at any meeting place 5 minutes ahead of departure time.
To access this area from northern Tasmania:
From Launceston, proceed along the Bass Highway to Deloraine (about 51 km), but do not turn off at the eastern exit into Deloraine. Instead, continue across Meander R. and uphill to the western exit, and to the roundabout at start of Mole Creek Rd. Continue 16 km to reach Chudleigh. Instead of turning right in main street to head to Mole Creek, go a further 200 metres west, turn left into Gardner St. and turn right after about 800m into Caveside Rd. About 6 km from Chudleigh, you will reach an intersection where Chudleigh Rd branches right, but don’t do that. Instead, go straight ahead into Pool Rd and continue south for a further 2 km to reach Fernleigh Rd. Turn left and continue 400m to reach Parsons Rd. Stay on Parsons Rd for just under 2 km to reach the start of the track. Extra! Optional stop in Chudleigh on the way back for refreshments.
Warnings:
The following codes [from our 2026 walks calendar] apply:
M Marshy or muddy sections be prepared to walk with wet feet.
S Steep incline for at least part of the way
Walkers are advised to wear strong shoes or boots. You should carry wet weather gear as well as warm clothing in case of sudden weather changes. Also bring your lunch and snacks.
Click this link for a more detailed discussion of Preparation, Food and Safety guidelines for Boots N’ All walks.
Map details:
Parsons Track: 1:100000 map is Mersey (TasMap 8114) and 1:25000 map is Mole Creek (TasMap 4439).
There are no peakbagger points for the area covered by this walk. For explanation of this challenge, see our new Peakbaggers and Abels page, which has links to various lists of peaks, including Peakbaggers, Abels, Poimenas and others. For really enthusiastic walkers, Phil Andrew’s recently updated Tasmanian Peaks Composite List [link] can be downloaded, which gives a complete smorgasbord of Tasmanian mountains, hills and high places – enough for a lifetime of bushwalking!
For GPX (.gpx) and Google Earth (.kml) versions of the track for this walk: Click here to browse our collection.
Direct links: GPX for this walk … KML for this walk
