From Gowrie Park, a range of jagged outcrops and peaks dominates the skyline from west to east, merging with the enormous massif of Mt. Roland to the east and north - the skyline route followed each year in the famous Triple Top Mountain Run. You won't need to do any running on this walk. Only the westernmost of the "triple" will be visited - Mt. Claude, but it's a great miniature wilderness experience. It offers landforms similar to some of Tasmania's most iconic wilderness areas such as the Eastern Arthurs, but you can go home for dinner after enjoying a solid workout and panoramic views in every direction.
Walk Route:
The walk begins from the Round Mountain lookout, already 680 m altitude, and follows a vehicular track for about 1.5 km to reach a communications facility at about 880m alt. After a brief respite over the next 500m, the track again rises steeply to reach a side track on the left at 980m, which must be taken to reach the summit, another 500m away. While mostly obvious, some care is needed over the final section, which is described in detail on Bushwalk Australia Mt Claude Summit. While just under 3 km each way, the walk is rated "medium" due to the steepness and slightly tricky scramble needed for the final ascent. A reasonably good level of fitness will be needed for the steep ascent. Energetic and resilient children should be able to manage the walk.
Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone your walk leader, Peter Davies, ph. 0414 516 268 to book in. The departure time is 8:00am from the Door of Hope Church car park, Launceston. Suggested meeting place if coming from elsewhere could be Sheffield at Claude Rd. turnoff at 8:50 am. 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 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, follow Bass Hwy for 60 km, past Deloraine and turn left just short of Elizabeth Town into into Railton Road (B13), following for 12 km to Kimberley. Just past Kimberley and across the bridge, turn left into Bridal Track Rd (C156) and follow for 11km to turn left into Sheffield Rd (B14), continuing a further 4 km to Sheffield. From Sheffield, go south along Claude Rd (C136) for 18km through Gowrie Park and westward to the junction of Olivers Rd (C138). Turn left into Olivers Rd and continue for 3 km steeply uphill to reach Round Mountain lookout. The walk starts from there.
Warnings:
The following codes [from our 2023 walks calendar] apply:
S Steep incline for at least part of the way
E Exposed alpine conditions ; can be dangerous in poor weather if not adequately equipped;
Walkers should wear sturdy boots due to uneven surfaces. Gaiters recommended due to off-track walking near the summit. You should always carry wet weather gear as well as warm clothing in case of sudden weather changes. For equipment guidelines, CLICK HERE.
Map details: Mt. Claude: 1:100000 map is Forth (Tasmap 8115) and 1:25000 map for upper area is Cethana (TasMap 4240).
Map reference:
Short ref. 328063
Zone Easting Northing Latitude Longitude
55G 4 32 980 54 06 380 -41.49139 146.19712
Mt. Claude 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: Right-click here to download. Google Earth version of the track: Click here to open in Google Earth [if available on your device].
Click here to browse our entire collection of walk tracks, including to find GPX (.gpx) and Google Earth (.kml) versions of the track for this walk.
Click here to learn about using your phone as a navigation device, or to find out about handheld GPS devices.
