The Wellington Range dominates the skyline of Hobart, and most people have
probably driven to the summit lookout to enjoy the amazing panorama of the city,
the Derwent and the south-east of Tasmania. But do you realise that directly
behind you, on the other side of the road, you are already on the edge of
Tasmania’s renowned alpine wilderness? Walk just a few hundred metres from the
road and you can experience the scenery, alpine plants and even birds and
animals that you will also find in much more remote places.
Walk route:
We will be starting our journey to Mount Connection along the rubbly Big Bend
Fire Trail, under 2 km from the summit, which is a wide and rocky fire trail
that we will be able to move along at a good pace.
About 1.8km we will turn off onto the Collins Bonnet track that is starting to
overgrow and can remain quite wet. The second section at the junction with the
fire trail has had maintenance work and is clear and easily to follow. The track
through the wooded area then meets a moorland of open heath which has been
boardwalked. We will be looking out for a tarn near the summit that will take us
to the true summit of Mount Connection as there is no official trail. During our
visit to the summit area of Connection we will search for two features marked on
the map, The Lectern and Pulpit Rock. There is a fairly steep descent in the
earlier part of the walk (lose 100 m altitude) and a climb of about 100 m
altitude over 2 km as the peak is ascended. On the way back, the 100 metres must
be descended and then ascended! At about 4.5 km each way, this walk should be
suited to energetic and resilient older children, and reasonably fit and
energetic adults.
Meeting Times and
Places:
We will meet at the Pinnacle
Road carpark just after start of the Big Bend Trail at 10am. We
will be allow 2 hours each way for the walk having lunch at the summit.
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone Dan
Hutchison on 0457
765 907 to book in.
See road details below. Please negotiate any alternative travel arrangements
with the leader. Either way, you must 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 Hobart: From Hobart city, follow up Davey St. and continue as it
becomes Huon Road, to the Mt. Wellington turnoff. The route an easily be
followed on Google Maps (search Hobart to Big Bend Car Park) and indicates “32
min (18.6 km) via B64 and C616″. That’s where the walk starts.
Equipment and
Warnings:
Bring sturdy shoes, wet/cold-weather gear, plenty of water, lunch and snacks.
Optional: trekking poles, gaiters and camera
The following codes [from our 2020 walks calendar] apply:
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
Map details: Mt.
Connection: 1:100000
map is Tasmap 8312 (Derwent) and 1:25000 map is 5025 (Collinsvale)
Map references:
Short ref. 143520
Zone Easting
Northing Latitude
Longitude
55G 5 15 640 52 46 220
-42.93649 147.19168
55G 5 14 400 52 52 240 -42.88230 147.17633
Mt. Connection (alt. 1130 m) is worth 1 peakbagger point. 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 browse our collection.
Direct links: GPX
for this walk KML
for this walk
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).