How To Walk The Dove Lake Walk Beneath Cradle Mountain, Tasmania

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Tasmania has a list called “60 Great Short Walks,” and one of the top walks on that list is the walk around Dove Lake beneath Cradle Mountain.

We love to walk and hike but our days of strenuous walking are over for now with having young kids, which made the Dove Lake walk sound like the ideal short walk.

We were craving some exercise, and some sunny weather, as we’d been eating and drinking our way around Tassie and the weather had been very inconsistent.

In this guide, I will show you how to walk the Dove Lake circuit and share our experience doing this walk.

Where is Dove Lake?

Dove Lake is a glacially carved lake that lies beneath Cradle Mountain, a mountain in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. Cradle Mountain is 1.5 hour’s drive from Devonport, or 2.5 hour’s drive from Launceston, and 4 hours and 20 minutes from Hobart. Click here for rates and availability if you need a rental car.

You can drive directly to Dove Lake by driving up Dove Lake Road inside the Dove River Conservation Area.

It’s one of the most famous destinations in Tasmania, thanks to its natural beauty and the area around having over 20 different self-guided walking tracks, ranging from 20 minutes to 9 hours.

It’s also the starting point for the world-famous Overland Track, a magnificent 6-day walk that takes you through the heart of some of the finest mountain terrain.

We’d love to come back and take on that walk when the kids are older, but for now, we’ll settle for the pleasant short Dove Lake Circuit.

Before you drive up Dove Lake Road, stop by The Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre at the National Park entrance to the park to pick up a map and further details on walks and other activities in the area. Otherwise, visit the official website for all the details.

You can park your car at the visitor center and take a shuttle bus service to the start of the trail, which runs every 10 minutes.

The Dove Lake Circuit Walk, Cradle Mountain

• Distance: 6km loop trail
• Time: 2-3 hours
• Difficulty: easy to moderate, though some of the trail has short steep sections and a rocky terrain
• Terrain: natural surface
• Trailhead: The Dove Lake car park on Dove Lake Road
• Facilities: there are toilet facilities at the car park but none along…