Mt. Rogoona Sat. 10th October 2015

Mt. Rogoona is situated in a beautiful alpine area close to the Walls of Jerusalem, featuring button grass plains & lakes. The scenery varies depending on which of the two routes is followed.

Our walk leader has advised that the route to Mt. Rogoona will follow the Jackson's Creek track to Lake Myrtle, from which the ascent to the summit will begin. (It is also possible, with a 3.5 km car shuttle, to return via the Lake Myrtle track and Lake Bill.)
The walk begins at the very end of the Mersey Forest Road (alt. 600m), south of Lake Rowallan. A kilometre south, after crossing the Jackson Creek footbridge, the track splits from the Moses Creek track and climbs steeply to the south, rising 200 metres over the next 500 metres. After a short respite, climbing resumes for a further 160 metres rise over the next 500 metres, after which the going is less steep. Lake Myrtle (alt. 1027m) is reached after about 4.5 km walk from the car park. From the lake, we begin to climb steadily, past a relatively level respite, then more steeply to a high alpine valley at 1200 metres. About 600 metres south and a further 400 metres west, the summit is reached.( alt.1350m). Return to Lake Myrtle the same way, and either return west, then north, via Jackson's Creek track, or if going via Lake Bill, about 4 km north via Lake Bill (some descent and rise) to reach the edge of the escarpment (still alt. 960m), before descending steeply to the Mersey Forest Rd. at alt. 570m. Total walk distance is about 16 km (Jackson Ck. both ways) or 17 km if returning via Lake Bill. Because of the off-track walking from Lake Myrtle to summit, with some patches of scrub, this walk should be considered medium-hard and suited for more experienced alpine walkers. This could include fit and energetic older children who are used to the conditions.

Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone Peter Davies on 6344 8235   to book in. The departure time is 6:30 am Sat. 10th October from Door of Hope car park. If you wish to meet with the group at any other place, please arrange with the leader.  Please be at any meeting place 5 minutes ahead of departure time. However, you still need to contact the walk leader per details above if intending to walk. The leader should be notified of any other people you intend to bring along.

To access the area from Launceston, proceed along the Bass Highway to Deloraine (about 51 km), but do not turn off at the eastern exit into Deloraine. Instead, continue across Meander R. and up hill to the western exit, and to the roundabout at start of Mole Creek Rd. A further 24km will bring you to Mole Creek (sometimes used as a meeting place for our walks - check with leader). Continue west past Mole Creek, on what is now Liena Rd, making sure you turn south at the caravan park 4 km from the town. The road continues west until about 14 km from Mole Creek, it branches south, now called Mersey Forest Road. A little over 6 km south, you will pass turnoffs to Cradle Mountain and Devil's Gullet (Lake Mackenzie) but keep going south, crossing the Mersey at Lake Parangana and passing the turnoffs for Bare Hill and Arm River. Another 17 km should see you cross below the Rowallan Dam. Continue south along the east side of Lake Rowallan, for about 16 km, by which time you are south of Lake Rowallan, until you reach the very end of the road and the beginning of the Moses Creek/Jackson's Creek walking track.

Warnings:
  The following codes [from our 2015 walks calendar] apply:
    D    Drive distance requires early departure
    S    Steep incline for at least part of the way
    L    A long days walk in excess of 3 hours each way
    M    Marshy or muddy sections be prepared to walk with wet feet.
    E     Exposed alpine conditions ; can be dangerous in poor weather if not adequately equipped; see www.sutas.org.au/bush-walking/bush-walking for some guidelines.

Unsure of equipment requirements? Visit the Boots N' All section of the sutas.org.au website per link above and read "Clothing suggestions for exposed conditions"

Map details:

Mt. Rogoona: 1:100000 map is Mersey (Tasmap 8114) and 1:25000 map is Cathedral (Tasmap 4236)
Short map reference: 333619

Zone      Easting        Northing      Latitude     Longitude

55G     4 33 405    53 62 065      -41.89054  146.19726

Mt. Rogoona is worth 2 peakbagger points. For listing of peakbagger points, see the Hobart Walking Club Peakbagger's Guide (2000 revision) which can be downloaded (Excel) from http://tastracks.webs.com/peakbaggers.htm  The same web page contains several other listings of Tasmanian peaks.

GPX version of the track: Click here to download. Google Earth version of the track: Click here to download.
Right-click on the file and save target as to a location of your choice. (Suggest you click the Last modified at top to sort by date to get the most recent at top to find the file for the next walk).