Mt Blackboy and Evercreech Reserve - Sat. 8th April 2017

As far as we can gather, there has never been a Boots N' All bushwalk to Mt. Blackboy, which is 6 km due south of the better-known Mt. Albert in Tasmania's mountainous northeast. As with many walks in this part of the state, access can change over time as roads are damaged by floods or falling trees, and left unrepaired. If all goes to plan, the group will gather at Mathinna and drive north, then west, skirting the ridges above Mathinna Falls and high onto the NW shoulder of the mountain to begin the short walk through untracked bushland from the road to the summit, gaining about 120 metres altitude over less than 1 km. If the roads have deteriorated, it may be necessary to add further road walking of 1 to 2 km, and 100 metres or so altitude. The walk is rated easy-medium due to the off-track part of the walk, but should be suitable for energetic children and less experienced adults.
A further drive follows, taking the group to the better-known Evercreech Forest Reserve, home of the gigantic "White Knights" eucalypts, reserved as early as the 1970s because of their magnificent and unusual size for that species. Evercreech Falls can also be visited along the walking tracks of the reserve. If there is still time, Mathinna Falls could perhaps be visited before heading home.

Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone Louise Fairfax on 0438 272370   to book in. The departure time is 8:00 am from Door of Hope carpark in South Launceston. The alternative meeting place/time is the road junction at Mathinna at 9:30 am. (approximate time - be prepared to wait!). If you would like to arrange to meet the group at these places or elsewhere, please arrange with the leader, and please be at any meeting place 5 minutes ahead of the listed time. The leader must be notified of any other people you intend to bring along.

To access this area from northern Tasmania: From Launceston, follow the Midland Highway 55km south to the junction of the Esk Main Road at Conara. Turn left and continue a further 54 km. Turn left into Mathinna Rd, and -crossing the South Esk River, continue north, then west, for approximately 24 km to reach the junction at the north end of Mathinna township. Your leader will make decisions on roads to reach the walk sites from Mathinna, as there are some alternative choices. Past Mathinna, all the driving is on a network of gravel forestry roads, and could involve up to 40 km before returning to sealed roads.

If only joining the party for the Evercreech Reserve section, you can make a more leisurely start, and after leaving Fingal, drive north about 18 km along Mathinna Rd. to reach the junction of Evercreech Rd. Leaving the sealed road, follow this for 9 km to the junction of Egan's Rd, reached after some bends and climbing on the last 2 km. Turn right into Egan's Rd. and descend a further 1.5 km to the Evercreech Reserve.

It is also possible to reach Mathinna by a much shorter and more direct route as follows:
From Launceston, head through St. Leonards and follow Blessington Rd. past the Ben Lomond turnoff to upper Blessington (about 51 km). Keep right at the township and follow  Roses' Tier Rd. for about 9 km to reach the junction of Gunns Rd. on top of the tier. Turn right and follow Gunns Rd. for a further 8.5 km, east and then north to meet the sealed Upper Esk Rd. Turn right, and another 13 km will bring you to Mathinna. This route should take about 75 minutes from Launceston and is substantially shorter, but there are long sections of logging road which can vary in condition (17 km on gravel).

Warnings:
    D    Drive distance requires early departure
 
Make sure you have a good supply of drinking water - suggest 1 litre per person. There will not be drinkable water on Mt. Blackboy.  Walkers are advised to wear strong shoes or boots. Gaiters recommended due to off-track walking. You should always carry wet weather gear as well as warm clothing in case of sudden weather changes.
Click this link for a more detailed discussion of Preparation, Food and Safety guidelines for Boots N' All walks

Map details:

Mt. Blackboy: 1:100000 map is Forester (Tasmap 8415)  and 1:25000 map is 5641(Saddleback)
Map references:
Short ref. 733161
Zone      Easting        Northing       Latitude        Longitude
 55G   5 73 390 54     16 280        -41.40167     147.87798 Mt.

For Evercreech, 1:100000 map is Forester (Tasmap 8415) and 1:25000 map is Brilliant (TasMap 5841). Mathinna Falls, 1:100000 map is Forester (Tasmap 8415) and 1:25000 map is Saddleback (TasMap 5641).
 

Mt. Blackboy is worth 1 peakbagger point. 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).