This time, we follow a little known marked track from Higgs track car park to Western Creek track, then across to the cliffs, and down Higgs Track. Weather permitting, expect magnificent views! From Westrope Road near Western Creek, the walk follows old logging roads from Dale Brook Road up the side of the Western Tiers, sidling through forest to join the better known Western Creek track. Higher up, the route leaves the track westward to the top of the escarpment, the promised cliff-lines and the views. Continuing a couple of kilometres north-west then west across relatively flat alpine plateau, Higgs Track is joined about 900 metres south of Lady Lake Hut. Higgs Track is then followed past the hut and back down to the car park. If using the track or waypoints for this walk (see below) the walk will not go as far south as Whiteley’s Hut. Instead, the likely route, after following the cliff-lines, will be in the area of the waypoints marked Plateau 1, 2 3 and Plateau/Higgs.
This walk is rated “medium” and is suitable for walkers, including older children, who have had some experience with steep and rocky tracks as well as off-track alpine walking, and able to keep going for sustained distances. Because of the exposed alpine conditions, 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 your walk leader, Phil
Dawson, Email: pidasms@gmail.com or Ph. 6382
3561 after 6:30 pm to book in. The departure time is 7:00am from the
Door of Hope Church car park, Launceston. Suggested meeting places if coming
from elsewhere are at the Deloraine train park at 7:30 am or Dale Brook Rd.
turnoff at 7:50 am. 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). Follow the off-ramp into Deloraine and when crossing the bridge, turn right at roundabout to enter the “train park” car park. (If you were not meeting the group there, you would 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.) After leaving the train park, follow the main street uphill through Deloraine to reach the large roundabout. Turn left into Mole Creek Rd. and go about 8 km before turning left into Dairy Plains Rd. Go all the way through Dairy Plains Rd. (several right hand turns and 2 junctions where you need to follow the signs). When you arrive at the T junction with Western Creek Rd, turn right and 800m further on, turn left up Westrope Rd. Go more or less straight for 4 km south, to reach the junction of Dale Brook Rd. which turns off to the right. The car park for the walk is about 500 metres from Westrope Rd. Westrope Rd. is all gravel, and somewhat degraded in parts, but should be accessible for 2WD vehicles with reasonable clearance.
Warnings:
The following codes [from our 2020 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.
Sturdy boots and
gaiters recommended due to rough-track walking. You should always carry wet
weather gear as well as warm clothing in case of sudden weather changes.
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:
Western Creek/Higgs
Track area: 1:100000 map is Mersey (Tasmap 8114) and 1:25000 map for
upper area is Lake Mackenzie (TasMap 3338).
Map reference:
Short ref. n/a
Zone Easting
Northing Latitude Longitude
n/a
No peakbagger points will be visited on this walk. For listing of peakbagger
points, see the Hobart Walking Club Peakbagger’s Guide (2000 revision) which can
be downloaded (Excel) from http://tastracks.webs.com/peakbaggers.htm
The same web page contains several other listings of Tasmanian peaks.
For GPX (.gpx) and Google Earth (.kml) versions of the track: Click
here to search our track repository. 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).
Track links for this walk: GPX
for Western Creek Cliffs KML
for Western Creek Cliffs