Mt. Farrell – Sat. 20th October 2018
Dominating the township of Tullah and riddled with
old mines, Mt. Farrell is a relatively short walk requiring a fairly
long drive, but well worth the effort for the views east towards the
World Heritage area (views subject to weather conditions... ) and the
lovely Lake Herbert, just under the summit ridge.
Walk route:
The walk begins at the Murchison Highway in the northern part of Tullah
township - altitude 200 metres (a couple of hundred metres south of the
remains of a defunct mining and tourist railway and opposite Wombat
Lodge), and skirts east and north around the site of a former ore
processing mill. A short, quite steep pinch rises through forest, then
continues to rise at a slightly more gentle pace through heathlands,
skirting south and then east to meet the main ridge of the mountain.
This is followed south to a reasonably level section which follows the
600 metre contour for about 1 km south, eventually reaching Lake
Herbert. Before this, we will branch west and climb steeply for about
400 metres, to reach the summit - altitude 711 metres. Even at this
altitude, there are remains of mining explorations. We will then descend
SE to reach Lake Herbert - a great place for a rest and some
photography, before retracing the track north and back down to Tullah.
Walk distance is about 4 km each way, and the walk should be fine for
energetic children.
While not particularly high, the summit area is subject to exposed alpine conditions,
so walkers
must be fully prepared for poor weather. Please see the warnings below.
Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone or email
Basil Tkaczuk on 6331 1155 (mob. 0438 664 402) to book in. The departure time is
7:30 am 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 8:50 am.
If you would like to arrange to meet the group at these places or
elsewhere, please arrange with the leader, and please be at any
meeting place 5 minutes ahead of the listed time.
The leader must be notified of any other people
you intend to bring along.
To access this area from northern Tasmania: The area can be accessed from several
directions, but from Launceston, proceed as if heading for Cradle Mt,
the most common route being Bass Hwy past Deloraine to Elizabeth Town,
then left into Railton Road, following through to Kimberley. Cross the
Mersey R. bridge and turn left into Bridal Track Rd, continuing through
to Sheffield. 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, you will reach the Cradle Mt. turnoff. Do not turn
left, but continue a further 27 km or so to reach the Murchison Highway.
Continue south about 20 km to reach Tullah. Allow about 2 hours 20
minutes driving from Launceston.
Warnings:
The following codes [from our 2018 walks calendar] apply:
D Drive distance requires early departure
M
Marshy or muddy sections – be prepared to walk with wet feet.
S Steep incline for at least part of the
way
E Exposed alpine conditions ; can be
dangerous in poor weather if not adequately equipped;
Click this link for a more detailed discussion of
Preparation, Food and Safety
guidelines for Boots N' All walks, and especially preparation for
exposed alpine conditions.
Map details:
Mt. Farrell: 1:100000 map is Sophia (8024) and
1:25000 map is Tullah (3837).
Map reference: 866770
Zone Easting
Northing Latitude Longitude
55G 3 83 200
53 56 650 -41.93347 145.59115
55G 3 86 720
53 77 160 -41.74931 145.63752
Mt. Tyndall is worth 1 peakbagger point. For listing of peakbagger points, see the Hobart
Walking Club Peakbagger's Guide (2000 revision) which can be found and
downloaded (as an Excel spreadsheet) from
http://tastracks.webs.com/peakbaggers.htm The same web page
contains several other listings of Tasmanian peaks.
GPX version of the track:
Click here
to download. Google Earth version of the track:
Click here
to download.
Right-click on the file and save target as to a location of your choice.
(Suggest you click the Last modified at top to sort by date to get the
most recent at top to find the file for the next walk).
When you have downloaded the track file, double-clicking on
the Google Earth (kml) track should open Google Earth and zoom in to the
location if you have Google Earth installed on your computer. The .gpx
version of the track should import into mapping software or devices that
support gpx tracks and waypoints.