The Tarkine region of North West Tasmania is a very special part of the state, as it contains extensive high-quality wilderness as well as extensive, largely undisturbed tracts of cool temperate rainforest which are extremely rare. It also represents Australia's largest remaining single tract of temperate rainforest. What makes it extra-special is that it is relatively accessible.

The name "Tarkine" was coined by the conservation movement in the 1980s, being the anglicised pronunciation of one of the Aboriginal tribes who inhabited the western Tasmanian coastline from the Arthur River to the Pieman River before European colonisation. The Tarkiners seasonally travelled throughout the region, travelling as far as 140 km north to the Hunter Islands hunting for mutton birds and fur seals, and as far as 100 km east to the Surrey Hills for wallabies and emus.

The campaign to protect the Tarkine began in the 1960s with a formal proposal to establish a 'Norfolk Range National Park'. The proposal was ahead of its time, though his proposal wasn't seen to fruition. From the late 1990s, the area came under increasing national and international scrutiny in a similar vein to the environmental protests surrounding Tasmania's Franklin River and Queensland's Daintree Rainforest. The case for protecting the Tarkine was significantly advanced with the Federal Government's Forestry Package in 2005 adding 70,000 hectares (170,000 acres) to reserves in the Tarkine. A significant proportion of the Tarkine area including the Savage River National Park is already contained in the Tasmanian Reserve system, which protects the largest contiguous area of cool temperate rainforest surviving in Australia.

Rainforest and Habitat

The Tarkine contains approximately 1,800 km² of rainforest, around 400 km² of eucalypt forest and a mosaic of other vegetation communities, including dry sclerophyll forest, woodland, buttongrass moorland, sandy littoral communities, wetlands, grassland and Sphagnum communities. The Tarkine provides habitat for over 60 rare, threatened and endangered species of flora and fauna. Local residents include the platypus, echidna, wombat, bandicoot, possum and glider - not to mention the famous Tasmanian devil and the state's other predators, the spotted-tailed quoll and eastern quoll.

Balfour cemetery

Mining Heritage

The Tarkine played a central role in the development of Tasmania's early mining industry, and remains of early mining activity can still be seen in many rivers and creeks in the area that were mined for gold, tin and osmiridium. Nowadays the remains of approximately 600 sites of historic mining activity in the area are still evident. The majority of these mining operations were alluvial workings or small hard-rock mines, consisting often of single adits. Larger scale mining has been carried out mainly at Luina, Savage River and Mt Bischoff. Part of the area is contained in the Arthur – Pieman Conservation Area managed by the Tasmania parks and wildlife service.

The areas of Corinna - Long Plains, as well as the Savage, Donaldson and Whyte rivers, were important early goldfields, exploited since the 1870s. Tasmania's two largest gold nuggets, of 7.6 and 4.4 kg, were found near the confluence of the Whyte and Rocky rivers. Tin mining was prominent in both the Mt Bischoff - Waratah area, starting in the 1870s, and the Meredith Range - Stanley River - Wilson River area. The Mt. Bischoff mine in Waratah was in its heyday one of the richest tin deposits in the world. From the 1880s onwards, osmiridium was extensively mined in many creeks and rivers in the catchments of the Savage, Haezlewood and Wilson rivers, and particularly the Bald Hill area. Tin, copper and tungsten were mined at Balfour,and, from the 1890s, the Magnet mine was exploited for silver. It continues to be an significant amateur fossicking area for mineral specimens to this day.

Mining activity in the Tarkine has continued uninterrupted since the 1870s, and two modern industrial mines are currently operating in the area: a small silica quarry, and a large open-cut iron ore mine at Savage River. Conservation groups, such as the Tarkine National Coalition and Operation Groundswell, oppose new mines and mining exploration in the Tarkine, and have threatened a campaign to surpass the Franklin River campaign of the 1980s.

Trowutta Arch

Trowutta Arch

The Tarkine region contains a number of unique cave systems. There are a series of extraordinary magnesite karst systems, including unique cave and pinnacle formations at Lyons River and the Arthur River-Victory Springs area, including warm springs. These cave systems are not only unique in themselves, but are also home to extraordinary cave dwelling creatures, such as the bizarretroglodyte (cave dwelling spider) and other fascinating creatures.

Trowutta Caves are located south of Smithton, beyond the beautiful Allendale Gardens, Trowutta and Milkshake Hills. The Trowutta Arch track begins soon after the Trowutta Caves State Reserve is reached. A short 10 minute easy well defined walk leads to the park s most interesting geological feature - the Trowutta Arch. The reserve protects an area of sinkholes covered in temperate rainforest full of myrtles, sassafrass, blackwoods, massive manferns and a variety of other ferns.

Meredith Range

Meredith Range

Meredith Range (reaching over 900 metres) is an undulating granite plateau, the largest exposed area of granite in the south of the Tarkine region. It affords spectacular views of Cradle Mountain, and the South-West. Pockets and stretches of tall, implicate and sub-alpine rainforest exist amongst the granite pillars and plates of the Meredith Range. Access to Meridith Range Regional Reserve is by four-wheel drive vehicles only.

Norfolk Range

Norfolk Range

Norfolk Range distinctively rises above coastal plateau, to over 700m. It contains a belt of sub-alpine rainforest. This region is blanketed in a tapestry of heath and buttongrass, moorland, pockets of varying forest types, and gorge-like drainage lines.

Although contemporary records are sketchy, high grade but small deposits of pyrite, chalcopyrite with minor bornite, chalcocite, tenorite and native copper were reported during geological surveys by the Mt Lyell Mining and Railway Company between 1907 and 1911. Parts of the Norfolk Range Sandy Cape area have been held under exploration licence at various times but, perhaps deterred by difficulty of access, only a few companies have undertaken significant grass roots  fieldwork. No significant mining has subsequently taken place.

Corinna

Accessing The Tarkine

The generally accepted definition of The Tarkine is the area between the Arthur River in the North, the Pieman River in the south, the ocean to the west and the Murchison Highway in the east. The name does not appear in maps, but in recent decades has featured prominently in the Australian media as a subject of contention between conservationists and mining/logging interests.

The Tarkine can be entered from several points, with the most common being via Sumac Road from the north, Corinna in the south, Waratah in the west and Wynyard from the north-east. There are plenty of ways to enjoy the beauty of the Tarkine area. The town of Arthur River sits on the border of the Tarkine Reserve and is the starting point for beach and forest journeys and adventures, including a visit to the 'Edge of the World' at Gardiner Point.

Edge of the World, Arthur River

The Tarkine has a spectacularly wild coastline, battered by the winds of the roaring 40s. The purest air in the world. Huge dunes that stretch inland up to several kilometres. Rocky, jagged coastal stretches. Incredible Granite Tor formations (especially at Conical Rocks south of the Pieman River), extensive long sandy beaches, lagoons, grassy woodland, coastal heathland, marshes and swampland. Sandy cape forms a dominant and spectacular feature of the Tarkine's coast.

Pieman River

Waterways can be explored by canoe, kayak and riverboat cruises through forests of blackwood, myrtle and celery top pine all the way to the sea. There are numerous walking trails from Arthur River and the nearby South Arthur Forest drive, including the Celery Top pine nature trail and the Balfour Track rainforest walk.

Further south, the Western Explorer touring route winds its way to the tiny settlement of Corinna on the Pieman River, where the Fat Man punt carries cars across the river to continue their journey. A river cruise here leads to a wild West Coast beach strewn with huge logs washed up the furious Southern Ocean.

Walking The Tarkine

Save the Tarkine has produced a visitor guide to the Tarkine featuring 24 accessible walks and sites of interest in the Tarkine.

download here

Driving The Tarkine

The Tarkine is very well suited to the self-drive visitor who is keen to camp, or stay at nearby accommodation along the North-West coast. There are several great touring loops and roads in and around the Tarkine that provide great access points to different parts of the Tarkine. There are several key towns that provide access points to different parts of the Tarkine. Coming from the north, at Burnie you can choose to head west to visit some of the northern forests, rivers, heathland or the Tarkine’s spectacular coastal region, or you can choose to head south (via Somerset) through the Hellyer gorge, to then visit the southern rainforests, river systems and more mountainous country in the Tarkine.

Go There

More information onlne

Our Tasmania: The Tarkine >
Our Tasmania: The Tarkine Coast >
Discover Tasmania >
Discover The Tarkine >
Save The Tarkine >
Tarkine Trails (walking tours) >