Mt. Maurice Sat. 3rd December 2016
December already? Celebrate the coming of summer with our annual walk to Mt. Maurice this coming weekend, Sat. 3rd December. This open-topped mountain is north-east of Mt. Barrow and offers views of the north east forests and out to the coast. Waratah and wild flowers are usually in season!Walk route:
This year, due to deterioration of the Maurice Road, we will not be using the formerly popular eastern Mt. Maurice track. Instead, we will take the western approach which takes logging roads to 850m altitude, then climbs steadily over about 3.5 km to reach the summit at 1120m. While distance and altitude are similar to the eastern track, walk conditions are somewhat easier and less overgrown, hence the later and more relaxed departure from town!
Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone Andrew Madden on 6399 3315 to book in. Please let Andrew know if you are bringing a vehicle. His advice is that 2WD vehicles with good ground clearance will be able to reach the intended start point of the walk.
The departure time is 9:30am from the car park behind the Commonwealth Bank at Newstead - access off David St. approx. 50 metres from the Elphin Rd. traffic lights. The alternative meeting place is at the entrance to Myrtle Park at 10 am. 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. Please be at any meeting place 5 minutes ahead of departure time.
To access this area from northern Tasmania: From Launceston, proceed along the Tasman Hwy through Waverley and continue 33 km to reach the Myrtle Park picnic ground gate. After joining with any vehicles meeting us there, continue a further 500 metres and turn right into Camden Hill Rd. After approx. 6.5 km, turn left into Diddleum Rd, and after a further 2.5 km, take the right turn at the junction of East Diddleum Rd. A further 7 km along Diddleum Rd will bring you to the junction of Knight's Rd. Turn left, and about 500m north, the St. Patrick's River is crossed. The logging roads will take you about 4.5 km further, first northwards, then east towards the mountain. This will bring you to the start of the Mt. Maurice track.
Warnings:
S... Steep incline for at least part of the way
Make sure you have a good supply of drinking water.
Some sections of the track will be uneven and rocky. Walkers are advised to wear strong shoes or boots.
You should always carry wet weather gear.
If unsure of equipment requirements for bushwalking, see www.sutas.org.au/bush-walking/bush-walking for some guidelines
Map details:
Map reference:
Short ref. is 491270
Zone Easting Northing Latitude Longitude
55G 5 49 145 54 27 200 -41.30516 147.58707
Mt.
Maurice 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).