Blue Lake Walk

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A four-hour return walk from Charlotte Pass along the Main Range Track over the Snowy River headwaters to Hedley Tarn and Blue Lake, one of only four glacial cirque lakes on the Australian mainland, with wildflower meadows in early summer; camping is not permitted at the lake.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

1.06 km

Est. time

15 min

Elevation gain

0 m

Route type

Out & back

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In an emergency

Call 000 for police, fire or ambulance — Australia's emergency number works even with a weak signal, and without a SIM if any carrier has coverage.

You're in Kosciuszko National Park, Charlotte Pass, NSW. Mobile reception in this area is not guaranteed — this is exactly why the offline map and GPS position on this page work without signal.

Tell someone your plan and expected return time before you set off. A PLB is the most reliable backup where there's no reception at all.

Tracks & plans

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About this hike

The walk to Blue Lake follows part of the Main Range Track from Charlotte Pass, crossing the headwaters of the Snowy River before reaching Hedley Tarn and finally Blue Lake itself. Blue Lake sits in a classic U-shaped glacial valley and is one of only a handful of lakes on the Australian mainland formed by glaciation, alongside nearby Hedley Tarn, Club Lake and Lake Albina. In early summer the surrounding slopes fill with alpine wildflowers as the winter snowpack melts, though camping at the lake itself is not permitted, to protect the fragile alpine environment. At around four hours return, it's a genuine taste of Australia's small alpine zone without committing to the full Main Range loop.

Species to look for on this trail

Ancient trees and rare flora confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Anemone ButtercupDocumented on this trail

Ranunculus anemoneus

Endangered alpine endemic▾

Endangered alpine endemic

An endangered alpine buttercup restricted to the high country of the Snowy Mountains, photographed growing above Lake Albina on the Main Range within Kosciuszko National Park.

How to spot it

A perennial alpine herb of the buttercup family, flowering in the short high-altitude summer near snowmelt streams and alpine lakes such as Lake Albina, well above the treeline.

Family Ranunculaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Ranunculus anemoneus

Feldmark GrassDocumented on this trail

Rytidosperma pumilum

Vulnerable — AUS: Vulnerable, NSW: Vulnerable▾

Vulnerable — AUS: Vulnerable, NSW: Vulnerable

Rytidosperma pumilum, also known as feldmark grass, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It indigenous to Australia and New Zealand and was described as Atropis pumila in 1881 by English-New Zealand botanist Thomas Kirk.

How to spot it

Feldmark grass is a small and inconspicuous tufted bunchgrass, with its leaves growing to about 3 cm in height, and its flowering stems to about 7 cm. The leaves have broad, papery sheaths which are often curved or twisted spirally. The two to four spikelets are held against the flowering stem, with each containing two to four flowers.

Family Poaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Rytidosperma pumilum

Alpine Ash

Eucalyptus delegatensis

Subalpine forest eucalypt▾

Subalpine forest eucalypt

A tall, straight-trunked eucalypt that forms large pure stands of subalpine forest through Kosciuszko National Park, growing 40-50m tall in the wetter, higher-rainfall parts of the park below the treeless alpine zone.

How to spot it

Rough, fibrous bark on the lower half of the trunk giving way to smooth white bark above. Glossy green to bluish adult leaves, flower buds in groups of 7-15, and white flowers from December to March.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Kosciuszko National Park

Mountain Gum

Eucalyptus dalrympleana

Higher-elevation tablelands eucalypt▾

Higher-elevation tablelands eucalypt

A tall forest eucalypt of the higher-elevation forests through Kosciuszko National Park and the NSW southern tablelands, recognisable by its smooth white-to-yellow bark.

How to spot it

A tall tree to about 40m with smooth white to yellowish bark, lance-shaped adult leaves 80-220mm long, flower buds in groups of three or seven, and white flowers from March to June.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Kosciuszko National Park; Wikipedia: Eucalyptus dalrympleana

Mountain Plum-pine

Podocarpus lawrencei

Ancient alpine conifer, individuals can live 600 years▾

Ancient alpine conifer, individuals can live 600 years

A low, wind-sculpted alpine conifer named among the characteristic plants of the Snowy Mountains, where Kosciuszko National Park protects virtually all of the range's true alpine habitat. Growth rings can persist for up to 600 years, making it valuable for alpine climate research.

How to spot it

A low, spreading conifer rarely exceeding 1m in the Australian Alps, with small leaves 1cm long that often flush reddish in cold weather. Bears small, bright red, berry-like cones with a 5-10mm aril.

Family Podocarpaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Snowy Mountains; Wikipedia: Podocarpus lawrencei

Wildlife you might see on this trail

Animals confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Greater glider

Petauroides volans

EPBC-listed Endangered (uplisted 2022)▾

EPBC-listed Endangered (uplisted 2022)

Australia's largest gliding marsupial, the (southern) greater glider was uplisted from Vulnerable to Endangered under the EPBC Act in July 2022 after severe habitat loss from logging and the 2019-20 bushfires. It is a nocturnal, solitary specialist that feeds almost exclusively on eucalypt leaves and buds.

How to spot it

Look up into tall, hollow-bearing eucalypts at night with a spotlight - the eyeshine glows a bright orange-red. Body 35-46cm plus a long, non-prehensile bushy tail up to 60cm; fur ranges from a dark almost-black morph to pale mottled grey, always with a lighter belly. Unlike sugar or yellow-bellied gliders it is silent and solitary, gliding in long slow swoops between tall trees rather than bounding through the canopy.

Family Pseudocheiridae · Source: Wikipedia (Southern greater glider; Greater glider)

Photo: Samrhorton (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Gang-gang Cockatoo

Callocephalon fimbriatum

EPBC-listed Endangered (uplisted from Vulnerable in 2022 after the Black Summer bushfires); IUCN Vulnerable▾

EPBC-listed Endangered (uplisted from Vulnerable in 2022 after the Black Summer bushfires); IUCN Vulnerable

The gang-gang cockatoo is the faunal emblem of the Australian Capital Territory, found in cool, wet forests and woodlands of the mountains and tablelands of south-eastern Australia. It was uplisted from Vulnerable to Endangered under Australia's EPBC Act in 2022 after the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires burned a large share of its habitat.

How to spot it

A small, stocky cockatoo (32-37cm). Males have an unmistakable wispy, curled bright-red head and crest against slate-grey body plumage; females are all grey with a smaller grey crest. The call is distinctive - a creaky, grinding growl often likened to a rusty gate hinge or a cork being pulled from a bottle. Found in tall mountain forest over summer, moving to lower woodlands (including suburban Canberra) in winter.

Family Cacatuidae · Source: Wikipedia; EPBC Act conservation listing

Photo: JJ Harrison (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Wedge-tailed eagle

Aquila audax

IUCN Least Concern — common but iconic▾

IUCN Least Concern — common but iconic

The wedge-tailed eagle is Australia's largest bird of prey, with a wingspan of up to 2.84 metres. Once persecuted as a livestock threat, it is now widespread and secure across virtually every Australian habitat from desert to alpine woodland.

How to spot it

Unmistakable in flight: a huge dark raptor with a long, diamond-shaped tail, often seen soaring high on thermals over open or rocky country. Adults are blackish-brown with tawny-rufous hackles on the neck; juveniles are paler and more rufous. Despite its size, its call is a surprisingly thin, high whistle.

Family Accipitridae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: JJ Harrison (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Southern corroboree frog

Pseudophryne corroboree

IUCN Critically Endangered — functionally extinct in the wild▾

IUCN Critically Endangered — functionally extinct in the wild

The southern corroboree frog is one of the most endangered amphibians on Earth: chytrid fungus has driven its wild population to fewer than 30 individuals (as of 2022), confined entirely to alpine sphagnum bogs above roughly 1,300m in Kosciuszko National Park. It survives today mainly through an intensive captive breeding and release program — without it, this species would already be extinct in the wild.

How to spot it

Small (22-31mm) but striking: a bold yellow-and-black striped frog with no webbing between its fingers or toes. Only ever found in sphagnum bogs and wet heath in Kosciuszko National Park's alpine zone, calling and breeding there in summer (roughly November to February). Never handle any frog you find here — report sightings to NPWS instead, as this population cannot withstand additional disease risk.

Family Myobatrachidae · Source: Wikipedia; IUCN Red List

Photo: Andrew c (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons