The Tarkine is a remote and secluded mystery awaiting your discovery. The Tarkine region is home to the Southern Hemisphere’s largest cool temperate rainforest; whose biological evolution dates back millennia, providing us today with a unique richness in biodiversity, unseen in most parts of the world.
Take a step back in time and experience the raw beauty of the largest cool temperate rainforest in the southern hemisphere, the takayna/Tarkine. With World Heritage significance, this 65 million year old rainforest sits in the North-West region of Tasmania and is a hidden gem for tourists and locals alike. Come walk with us to experience this ancient rainforest, full of cathedral-like groves with mosses and fungi carpeting the forest floor, and discover why our guests have “life-altering” experiences in this “untouched paradise”.
Spend your evenings accompanied by views of the forested valley whilst indulging in some fine local produce; the perfect way to end each day of total forest immersion. Designed with a broad range of fitness levels in mind, this four-day tour provides everyone with access to the stunning takayna/Tarkine wilderness while still maintaining a great level of comfort.
Tiger Ridge camp
Tiger Ridge is unique and the perfect base camp for you to truly experience the wonder of the Tarkine Rainforest. Its design creates a balance between offering you some creature comforts whilst not removing you from the ability to immerse yourself in this rainforest home. We feel it is extremely important to the experience to be able to be a part of the landscape that you are visiting rather than detached inside built-up infrastructure. Tiger Ridge allows our guests to truly get back to nature and fully immersive themselves in the magical rainforest surrounds.
Itinerary Summary
Day 1 : Pick up Launceston, transfer to Tiger Ridge Camp | 2kms
*There is a pre-trip briefing this morning at the Aspire Adventure Equipment Gear Store 136 York Street, Launceston
Day 2 : Exploratory rainforest valley walk | 5kms
Day 3 : Discover an ancient rainforest river system| 7km walk
Day 4 : Depart Tiger Ridge Camp, return transfer to Launceston via Waratah | 2kms
What’s included
- 3 nights Exclusive camp accommodation (twin share tents)
- 3 breakfasts, 4 lunches and 3 dinners
- All delicious snacks for on and off the trail
- Professional guides with a passion for Tasmanian wilderness
- Emergency satellite communication/navigation equipment
- Wilderness first aid equipment, safety gear and supplies
- Transport from Launceston and return
- Alcohol is not included
- Maximum 10 people
Notes to consider
Your 4 Day Tarkine Rainforest Experience is graded as an introductory/ moderate tour. We advise you to do as much training as you can before your tour. The more you train for the walk, the easier you will handle the terrain and the more you will enjoy this wonderful part of the world. It’s also important to come along with an open mind ready for an awesome experience, whatever the weather. Please note that Tasmanian weather can be unpredictable; storms can arise very quickly and heavy rain and even snow can fall at any time of the year. It is very important that you bring the right gear for the conditions.
Note: This itinerary is subject to change with any change in Community regulations as well as Governmental changes and natural circumstances beyond our control. The Tarkine is a remote wilderness and therefore, access via remote roads is required and driving times might differ depending on local conditions.
Your home in the Tarkine - Tiger Ridge
The base camp at Tiger Ridge is truly unique and the perfect basecamp for you to truly experience the wonder of the Tarkine. Its design creates a balance between offering you some creature comforts whilst not removing you from the ability to immerse yourself in this rainforest home. We feel it is extremely important to the experience to be able to be a part of the landscape that you are visiting rather than detached inside built-up infrastructure.
Tiger Ridge allows our guests to truly get back to nature and escape the unavoidable hustle and bustle we now endure on a daily basis. Tiger Ridge is very comfortable but remains humble, sitting perched upon a beautiful ridge line overseeing the Tarkine. The long house is where we all gather for delicious breakfasts, hearty dinners, a few laughs and some interpretation from our guides. Complete with kitchen, specially designed wood fire, a large dining table and a balcony hanging out over the ridge, the long house has created many memories since
its creation. A large amount of our relaxation time is spent here, enjoying good company and the serenity of the rainforest. However, you are free to retire at any time to your accommodation.
Designed to let you feel as much a part of the rainforest as possible, your sleeping quarters are twin share, large, tents spread throughout the rainforest. Complete with wooden frame beds and mattresses designed for back support, our regular feedback is that our guests have never had such a good night’s sleep! We consider our base camp at Tiger Ridge to be as close
to being one with the rainforest as is possible while still having little luxuries along the way. It has been designed to be particularly environmentally friendly and to allow our guests to access some of the most remote and untouched landscapes left remaining in the world.
Day 1: Depart Launceston and transfer to Tiger Ridge camp
This morning we collect you from your Launceston accommodation between 7:30am and 8:00am and transfer you to the Aspire Adventure Equipment gear store in Launceston for a trip briefing. Your guides will do a thorough gear check, just to make sure you have everything needed for our Tarkine Trails adventure.
Our first day will transfer you from Launceston into the vast quiet of the Tarkine. We stop for morning tea and an introductory briefing before continuing to our remote destination deep on the edge of the Tarkine. Todays walk is about arriving at your rainforest home and our walking
route immerses us into the vast rainforest landscape immediately. We invite you to keep a look out for the Tiger Ridge camp as it is cleverly nestled into the surrounding forest and will surprise you.
Once at camp, it is all about settling in and enjoying your new forest home. Food, fire and the company of new friends are essential ingredients to this process. Every meal that is served bears testimony to the quality of Tasmanian produce. By the end of today you’ll feel as if you haven’t just traversed Tasmania but transcended it.
5kms walking
Meals: Lunch, Dinner
Day 2: Explore a rainforest valley
Begin to understand the ancient relationships of a rainforest landscape with a day of total forest immersion. Our walk today, focuses on the beautiful forests to the east of Tiger Ridge. Today is about getting to know and understand the cool temperate rainforest and its numerous landscapes and ecosystems. Your guides will introduce you to the subtleties of the rainforest, its
complex web of self-perpetuating life. Start to discover the micro world of the rainforest, including the unique fungi, plants and insects that may well go unnoticed to the untrained eye. Slowly, the forests intricacies will unfold before you and everything’s interconnectedness will be
revealed.
With our knowledgeable and passionate guides introducing you to the relationships that the palawa have shared with a wide variety of plant species, you will begin to feel as though you have stepped back in time, tens of thousands of years. There are a few different walks to choose from that your guides will tailor to each individual group.
After another relaxed evening meal, we’ll review what we’ve discovered and what the cameras have captured that day. Afterwards, we may venture out with our headtorches to discover what goes on around us in the mysterious Tarkine night.
5-10 kms walking
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 3: Exploring a river
Starting the day on the balcony with your favourite morning beverage, taking in the incredible birdlife of the rainforest, you may be thinking, “I could really get used to this!” Look out for yellow-tailed black cockatoos, green rosellas and even the endangered white goshawk.
Our day today features a slow walk down to the Huskisson River. Walk beneath the most ancient of rainforest forms – the cathedral-shaped callidendrous forest. The Huskisson itself is a wild river that broadens in the valley floor and, if the water level is low, meanders and warms in pools perfect for a midday swim. After lunch we too meander in this valley for a time, before making our way back to Tiger Ridge to relax and refresh before dinner. Tiger Ridge’s Japanese style washroom hangs out over the ferns and myrtles in the basin below. It truly is a bathroom with a view. Then, after another meal of amazing Tassie produce, we settle around the fire for our last night in this amazing wilderness
5-10 kms walking
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 4: Depart Tiger Ridge Camp, return to Launceston
On your last morning in the stunning Tarkine, take in the incredible rainforest for one last time (for this trip, at least!); share your highlights with your companions and prepare for your walk out of the wilderness. Although it is time to say a sad farewell to your rainforest home, we have
one last stop before our journey comes to an end.
The small scenic town of Waratah sits on the edge of the Tarkine wilderness. Once home to the richest tin mine in the Southern Hemisphere, there is much to learn and discover. This is your time to explore and enjoy what this remote, historical village has to offer and reacquaint yourself with civilisation before heading home. Best sure to visit the unique water piece in the centre of town. After lunch we’ll continue to Launceston via a delicious local product stop. We will return you to your Launceston accommodation for the night to reminisce on the rainforest that captivates and inspires so many before you head home.
2kms walking
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
NOTES TO CONSIDER
Your 4 Day Tarkine Rainforest Experience is graded as an introductory/ moderate tour. We advise you to do as much training as you can before your tour. The more you train for the walk, the easier you will handle the terrain and the more you will enjoy this wonderful part of the world. It’s also important to come along with an open mind ready for an awesome experience, whatever the weather. Please note that Tasmanian weather can be unpredictable; storms can arise very quickly and heavy rain and even snow can fall at any time of the year. It is very important that you bring the right gear for the conditions.
Note: This itinerary is subject to change with any change in Community regulations as well as Governmental changes and natural circumstances beyond our control. The Tarkine is a remote wilderness and therefore, access via remote roads is required and driving times might differ depending on local conditions.
TARKINE TRAIL NOTES
The terrain experienced on this trek is a mix of natural walking trails through dense and at times steep rainforest ecology. You can expect to spend 4-8 hours trekking each day on basically marked but uneven (roots, mud, moss) forest trails, with some steep hills / ridges at times. We stress that the Tarkine region (northwest coast of Tasmania) can experience all year-round inclement weather conditions, which can affect trail conditions.
Experience is not necessary at this level and anyone who is in good health and fit enough to enjoy an extended weekend beach walk and some moderate inclines and declines – will be able to handle this trek. You can expect to spend 4-8 hours trekking each day on marked but uneven trails.
Mostly but not limited to Australian Walking Track Grade 2 – No bushwalking experience required. The track is hardened or compacted surface and may have a gentle hill section or sections and occasional steps.
Some Australian Walking Track Grade 3 – Suitable for most ages and fitness levels. Some bushwalking experience recommended. Tracks may have short steep hill sections a rough surface and many steps.
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TARKINE TRAILS
Tarkine Trails was established in 2002 by a group of like-minded, passionate individuals, with a focus to provide exposure from the threats to the Tarkine region through tourism. From here the company has evolved to provide multiple unique deep immersion walking experiences, both within the Tarkine’s vast rainforest areas and along its wild coastline.
Tarkine Trails is now proudly part of the Trek Tours Australia family, continuing the legacy of offering truly unique and genuine takayna / Tarkine experiences.
We feel privileged to continue the important work set by the founders and more recently through Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. Protecting the takayna/Tarkine for future generations is our core philosophy. This has remained unchanged, to this very day and has been the driving force and bond for those individuals involved with Tarkine Trails from inception.
Tarkine Trails is here to get it right. We are proud to be an ambassador for business, community and the environment. This is what we believe ecotourism should be for anyone with the privilege to operate in an incredible natural environment such as takayna. Tarkine Trails believes that working collaboratively with the north west community and industry will create the strongest outcome for a positive future.
ABOUT TAKAYNA/TARKINE
The takayna/Tarkine wilderness region is located in the north-west of Tasmania. The area encompasses approximately 447,000 hectares of wilderness including the southern hemisphere’s largest single tract of temperate rain forest, a wild coastline with an extraordinary wealth of Aboriginal cultural heritage sites, and habitat for over 50 threatened species.
Over 90% of the natural values in takayna / Tarkine are largely intact. A living example of one of the most primitive vegetation formations on Earth. Providing a unique window into our planet’s ancient past, the cool temperate rain-forests in takayna were once widespread across the ancient super continent Gondwana. Some of the best-preserved plant fossil sites in the world, dating back 65 million years. Magnesite karst systems of caves and pinnacles considered internationally rare. There are groves of some the tallest hardwood trees around, numerous wild rivers, and spectacular mountain ranges.
takayna / Tarkine is now gaining international recognition for the its’ outstanding beauty, natural and cultural values and the important position it holds for the future of our planet. Until the early 2000s the forests of Tarkine were inaccessible for walking tours. Tarkine Trails facilitates immersive small group walking experiences in this ancient wilderness. It is our privilege and passion to be part of showcasing this unique place to our visitors.
WHY ‘TAKAYNA’?
You may see us refer to the Tarkine as ‘takayna/Tarkine’. ‘takayna’ (tah kye nah) is the palawa kani name for this region. The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre says:
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takayna (tah kye nah) is recorded as the name of the people from the Sandy Cape-Pieman River area.
It is an acceptable practice to use the same word for a place as for the people of that place. Other words for a place are the same as the word for ‘the nation at that place’; some examples are nungu and yingina.
So we revive takayna for the Tarkine area, and also for the people of that area.
There are no other names recorded for this place or its people.
The English spelling ‘Tarkine’ has been used since the 1980s as the place name for an area of more than 447,000 hectares between the Arthur and Pieman Rivers. Conservationists chose that word with Aboriginal approval to name the area, based on one spelling variant of the name of the Aboriginal people from the Sandy Cape/Pieman River area – ‘Tarkiner’.
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Out of respect for the original inhabitants of the land, we refer to it by takayna first, and Tarkine second, where possible.
