Hardings Falls -25th January 2020

As in previous years, Boots N' All is combining with campers from Scripture Union's Northern Family Camp, held over the Australia Day weekend, for a walk in Tasmania's north-east. This year, the destination is quite easy - Hardings Falls - also visited last year with Family Camp. A really good description, including photos, can be seen at
https://waterfallsoftasmania.com.au/waterfalls/hardings_falls
Walk distance is less than 2 km each way, beginning with a relatively level walk along old logging roads before the steep descent (about 60 metres drop) into the gorge. The walk will commence around 10.45am after a small session on safety in the bush etc.  We will have early lunch at the falls on the rocks and have some time there for the children to explore and the grownups to relax and enjoy the scenery. Bring bathers if you would like to swim in the pool below the falls. This walk is particularly aimed at catering for families with younger children, and people who aren't experienced bushwalkers. All ages welcome. The descent into the gorge is not suitable for wheelchairs or strollers.

Bushfires: At the time of writing (6th Jan.), there are active bushfires some kilometres to the north of the area. We will take note of all warnings, and if necessary, either cancel the walk or offer an alternative. Check your email a couple of days before the walk (if on our email distribution). Your walk leader will take your phone details when you register, in case we need to change plans at short notice. We will also update this web page if that happens.

Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone your walk leader, Brian Roach, ph. 6344 7672  (mob) 0429 852 227 to book in (before Thursday). Please contact Basil Tkaczuk on 0438 664 402 if you are unable to reach Brian by phone (he will be at the camp...). The departure time is 8:30 am from the Door of Hope Church car park, Launceston. The groups from Launceston and other places will need to meet with Brian and the Family Camp people at Avoca - just east of the bridge, there is a park with a toilet block. Meet there. If you haven't been able to contact anyone, you could meet the groups there, but please be there a little before 9:30 am. Please be at any meeting place 5 minutes ahead of the listed time. For most Boots N' All walks, the leader must be notified of any other people you intend to bring along, and you should always contact the walk leader if intending to participate in a particular Boots N' All walk.

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 20 km to Avoca. The meeting place is at the park on the right, just after crossing the bridge. From Avoca, turn right into Royal George Rd, and follow through Royal George (17 km from Avoca). At 24 km from Avoca, the road is no longer sealed, and at 27 km, it swings south and becomes the Old Coach Road. Continue south a further 5 km (now 2 km from Avoca) and turn left into McKay's Rd. The road now winds eastward for a further 8 km, and the turnoff to Hardings Falls is on the right. The walk will commence from near the turnoff, as the road towards the falls is somewhat degraded and rough.

Warnings:
Please take note of the weather forecast on the day. Be aware of possible hazards such as insect bites and snakes.
For equipment guidelines, see our Safety and Equipment page.

Map details and references:
For Hardings Falls, 1:100000 map is Break O' Day (Tasmap 8514) and 1:25000 map is Henry (TasMap 5836).

 Short ref. n/a
Zone      Easting        Northing    Latitude      Longitude  (Hardings Falls)
55G                                        -41.50.974    147.59.119
Three are no peakbagger points associated with this walk. For listing of peakbagger points, see the Hobart Walking Club Peakbagger's Guide (2000 revision) which can be found and downloaded (as an Excel spreadsheet) from http://tastracks.webs.com/peakbaggers.htm  The same web page contains several other listings of Tasmanian peaks.
For GPX (.gpx) and Google Earth (.kml) versions 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).

When you have downloaded the track file, double-clicking on the Google Earth (kml) track should open Google Earth and zoom in to the location if you have Google Earth installed on your computer. The .gpx version of the track should import into mapping software or devices that support gpx tracks and waypoints.

 Boots’n’All activities are open to all, but intending walkers are a