You are invited to attend the Boots N’ All walk on Sat. 29th March to the Cradle Mountain area, based on overnight camping in the well appointed BP Scout Hut which can be reached after less than an hour’s back packing. However, you are welcome to come just for the day. See below.
The hut can accommodate a maximum of 14 persons – cost $25 each. Book in with Ian by 20th March (this week) please. Otherwise, please contact Ian by Thurs. 27th March. (Late entries for day walk – ring Basil Tkaczuk on 6331 1155)
Ian promises a fairly leisurely weekend, with walks to Crater Peak and around the Suttons Tarn area on the Saturday subject to the weather.
If you prefer, you can come for the day (contacting Ian next week) and potentially have afternoon tea / dinner at Scout Hut and go home. Others (14 total) can stay Saturday night and enjoy each other’s company, walking out on Sunday morning via Crater Lake.
So this walk is open to day walkers and overnight stayers.
Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone your walk leader, Ian Waterhouse, Ph. 6327 1371 to book in. Ian will be up there on the Friday night, but will meet walkers at Ronny Creek on Saturday morning – campers for Saturday night, and any just attending for the day.
The departure time is 7:30am from the Door of Hope Church car park, Launceston. Suggested meeting places if coming from elsewhere could be Sheffield at Claude Rd. turnoff at 8:20 am or Moina at 8:45 am.
If you would like to arrange to meet the group at these places or elsewhere, please arrange with leader. Please be at any meeting place 5 minutes ahead of departure time. However, you still need to contact the walk leader, Ian Waterhouse, per details above if intending to walk. The leader should be notified of any other people you intend to bring along.
You should always contact the walk leader if intending to participate in a particular Boots N’ All walk.
Walk route:
The walk begins at Ronny Creek car park, and follows the first part of the Overland Track for about 1 km before diverting along the Horse Track for a further 1 km to reach the Scout Hut. A further 1 km up the Horse Track brings you to Crater Peak. Kitchen Hut is 2km further on, reached 300m after rejoining the Overland Track. From Kitchen Hut, a track heads SW to Sutton’s Tarn, a little over 1 km. If those places are reached, the total round trip from Ronny Creek is about 14 km. Of course, if you only want to go as far as the Scout Hut, you could enjoy its comforts while the more energetic walkers go further!
To access this area from northern Tasmania: Roads to Cradle Mt. are well signposted, and the area can be accessed from several directions. From Sheffield, go south along Claude Rd through Gowrie Park and westward down into the Forth Valley (now Cethana Rd.), continuing up the other side to Moina. Turn south into Cradle Mt. Rd. After approx. 20 km, turn left (still called Cradle Mt. Rd.) and approx. 4 km south, you will arrive at the Pencil Pine area and the boom gate, which should open when you drive up to it. A little over 5 km further will bring you to Ronny Creek car park, just past the Waldheim turnoff.
Warnings:
The following codes [from our 2014 walks calendar] apply:
D Drive distance requires early departure
S Steep incline for at least part of the way
E (Very) Exposed alpine conditions ; can be dangerous in poor weather if not fully equipped; see www.sutas.org.au/bush-walking/bush-walking for some guidelines.
L A long day’s walk.
If you are unsure of equipment requirements, Visit the Boots N’ All section of the sutas.org.au website per link below and read “Clothing suggestions for exposed conditions”
Map details:
Crater Peak: 1:100000 map is Sophia and 1:25000 map is Cradle.
Map reference:
Short ref. not available
Zone Easting Northing Latitude Longitude
55G 4 11 740 53 87 460 -41.65973 145.93992
No peakbagger points intended on this walk. For listing of peakbagger points, see the Hobart Walking Club Peakbagger’s Guide.
See Peakbaggers and Abels – Boots N’ All for an explanation of this system (updated 2026)
[gpx and kml tracks for this walk are in our online collection. See GPX Map Files – Boots N’ All].