Lake Osborne Walk

Easy

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A 2km, 45-minute return walk to the glacial Lake Osborne in the Hartz Mountains, Grade 2.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

1.04 km

Est. time

16 min

Elevation gain

9 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 Hartz Mountains National Park, Geeveston, TAS. 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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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.

Tasmanian Waratah

Telopea truncata

Tasmanian endemic▾

Tasmanian endemic

Tasmania's endemic waratah, a multi-stemmed shrub to about 3m (occasionally a small tree to 10m) found in wet sclerophyll forest and subalpine scrub between 600-1,200m elevation.

How to spot it

Bright red (occasionally yellow) globular flower heads held above spathulate to obovate leaves 3-14cm long. Flowers in early-to-mid summer. Look for it in heathy understorey on higher-altitude tracks such as those around Cradle Mountain and Hartz Mountains.

Family Proteaceae · Source: Wikipedia — Telopea truncata; Wikipedia — Hartz Mountains National Park

Photo: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Geum talbotianum

Near Threatened — TAS: Near Threatened▾

Near Threatened — TAS: Near Threatened

Geum talbotianum, also known as the Tasmanian snowrose, is a perennial rosette herb endemic to Tasmania and confined to the high rocky places of Tasmania's Southern mountains.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Hartz Mountains National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 1985) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Rosaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Geum talbotianum

Wildlife you might see on this trail

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

Platypus

Ornithorhynchus anatinus

IUCN Near Threatened▾

IUCN Near Threatened

The platypus is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia and the sole living member of its family, combining a duck-like bill, dense waterproof fur, and (in males) a venomous ankle spur. It hunts underwater using electroreception, detecting the tiny electrical fields of prey rather than relying on sight.

How to spot it

Best spotted at dawn or dusk on still freshwater streams, rivers, or lakes — look for a low, rippling wake and a dark, streamlined body about 40-50 cm long with a rubbery grey-brown bill and a flattened beaver-like tail. They dive briefly and repeatedly, surfacing to chew food at the surface; genuinely wild sightings require patience and quiet.

Family Ornithorhynchidae · Source: Wikipedia; IUCN Red List

Photo: Charles J. Sharp (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Short-beaked echidna

Tachyglossus aculeatus

IUCN Least Concern — Australia's most widespread native mammal▾

IUCN Least Concern — Australia's most widespread native mammal

The short-beaked echidna is an egg-laying monotreme covered in cream-coloured spines and fur, with a long toothless snout and a fast, sticky tongue for catching ants and termites. It is found across almost every Australian habitat, from alpine areas to arid interior, making it one of the country's most widespread native mammals.

How to spot it

Usually seen ambling slowly across a trail or frozen mid-dig at the base of a log — a spiny, dome-shaped animal 30-45 cm long with a slender snout. If disturbed it will curl or dig straight down into the soil rather than run, leaving just a dome of spines visible. Most active by day in cooler months, more nocturnal in warmer weather.

Family Tachyglossidae · Source: Wikipedia; IUCN Red List

Photo: Charles J. Sharp (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons