Quamby Bluff is an outlier from the massive northern escarpment of the Western Tiers. It is very close to the Lake Highway above Golden Valley, offering spectacular views from the summit. The walk is rated "medium" as it is a short (a little over 3 km each way) but quite steep walk with rock hopping across a couple of boulder fields. It will suit energetic walkers who can cope with steep and rocky alpine conditions. Energetic and resilient children would be able to manage this walk. Total gain of altitude is about 500 metres from start to summit. Because of the exposed alpine conditions, walkers must be fully prepared for poor weather, even in summer! Please see the warnings below.
Walk Route:
From carpark at the Lake Highway (alt. 720m), we start west with a flat section of 500 metres followed by a similar distance with gentle climbing to reach 800m. From here, the next km becomes steeper and steeper, and two boulder fields are crossed as the summit ridge is approached. Past the 1100m level, the route continues west into a saddle at nearly 1200 m, before turning north for the final scramble onto the open and flat summit area. Those in the know may be able to find a marriage proposal carved into a rock a little NE of the summit some years ago. The answer was yes, apparently.
Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone or text your walk leader, Miranda Gracie on 0458 175 703. The departure time is from Door of Hope car park in Launceston at 7:45 am, with the opportunity meet (by arrangement with the leader) at the Deloraine train park at 8:15 am. Please arrange with leader if needing to meet at any other place. Please be at any meeting place 5 minutes ahead of departure time. 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.
To access the walk from Launceston, head towards Deloraine on the Bass Highway (50 km) and take the first (eastern) turn from the highway into Deloraine. Continue into the town and turn left immediately before the bridge (meeting place - see above). From Deloraine, head south along the "Lake Highway" - now Highland Lakes Rd. (but the first bit may be called Meander Rd!). Make sure to turn left after 7 km at signposted junction for Highland Lakes Rd. Continue south through Golden Valley, 13km from the junction, by which time you should have reached the beginning of an open saddle with Quamby Bluff clearly visible on the right. The car park is marked and is on opposite side of road from the track which starts a few metres further south on the west side of the road, passing by a private residence before climbing through the forest.
Warnings:
The following codes [from our 2022 walks calendar] apply:
S Steep incline for at least part of the way (very steep, in fact!)
E Exposed alpine conditions ; can be dangerous in poor weather if not adequately equipped.
This walk is above 1000 metres altitude for much of its distance and can be very exposed if the weather is bad, even at this time of year. Be prepared! Walkers should wear sturdy boots due to uneven surfaces. You should always carry wet weather gear as well as warm clothing in case of sudden weather changes. For equipment guidelines, CLICK HERE.
Map details:
Quamby Bluff (alt. 1228m): 1:100000 map is Meander (Tasmap 8214) and 1:25000 map is Quamby Bluff (Tasmap 4638)
Map references:
Short ref. 747885
Zone Easting Northing Latitude Longitude
55G 4 74 790 53 88 730 -41.65278 146.69724
For peakbaggers, Quamby Bluff is worth 2 points. 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 download.
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).
