February Plains - Sat. 12th September 2015

This walk takes us to the recently reconstructed Steer's No. 1 Hut on the February Plains in the high country west of Lake Rowallan. After about 1.5-2 hours drive up to the Borradaile Plains with the last few km on generally good dirt roads, we will park and begin the reasonably easy 2.7 km walk to the hut at the northern end of the February Plains. This is along a well marked track through the forest, climbing about 150 metres over about 1.5-2 hours.  We will have a relaxed lunch at the hut and spend some time exploring the open February Plains in the vicinity, depending on the weather and how the group is faring. We will begin our return journey on the same track and then after about 30 mins leave it to follow a shorter route for another 30 mins or so down to a different car park. The return walk will be 1.8 km making a total of 4.5 km for the walk. We will have a car shuttle to bring the vehicles to the car park where the walk ends.

The walk is rated easy-medium and would be suitable for children. However, the track will probably be waterlogged in a couple of places and will require some hopping around. Good boots will be helpful to you can keep your feet dry. As it is an alpine area with changeable weather, normal precautions should be taken against cold and rain.

Meeting Times and Places:

If you would like to participate please telephone the walk leader, Phil Andrew, on 6300 1067 or 0408 014 757. We will meet at the Door of Hope car park in Launceston at 8 am. Meeting points along the way could be 8.30 at the Mole Creek Road roundabout at the western end of Deloraine, 8.50 at Mole Creek or 9.05 at the Lake Mackenzie (Devil's Gullet) Road junction with the Mersey Forest Road. Please contact the leader to discuss if you would like meet along the way. Our return time will depend on weather, how the group fares and how much time is spent up top, but should be between 4-6 pm in Launceston.
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. It is also courtesy to let the leader know if you have have changed plans and are no longer coming.
The leader should always 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, 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. The Bare Hill Rd. turnoff is about 6.5km south of the bridge. Turn right and follow up the winding road. About 5km will bring you to the Borradaile Rd. turnoff. Turn left. Another 3.5 km will take you to the turnoff for February Plains.

Warnings:
A reminder that weather in Tasmania can be very changeable in early spring, so warm clothing, suitable footwear and a raincoat should be carried.
The following codes [from our 2015 walks calendar] apply:
    D    Drive distance requires early departure
    M   Marshy or muddy sections – be prepared to walk with wet feet.
  
Map details:
February Plains:
 1:100000 map is Mersey (Tasmap 8114) and 1:25000 map is Borradaile  (TasMap 4238)
Map reference:
n/a
Zone      Easting        Northing    Latitude    Longitude
n/a

There are no peakbagger points for the area covered by 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.