West Coast Travel Guide

The West Coast of Tasmania is a wind and rain swept strech of the world, where thunderous seas pound against shores that rise towards a jumble of forested valleys and broken peaks. This gothic atmosphere almost certainly has some effect on the residents, mainly mining communities that tap the rich ore bodies under the ancient volcanic ranges. One should not visit the West Coast just to visit the townships, but as part of a larger tour that either circum-navigates the state or explores one of the major wilderness areas that abutt the West Coast on all sides.

The most tourist-oriented town on the coast is probably Strahan, situated at the mouth of the Franklin-Gordon river. North of Strahan are the coastal townships of Roseberry, Zeehan and Savage River. The Lyell highway connects Strahan to Hobart through Queenstown. The West Coast can be also be reached from the North either by an inland road from the North-West that skirts the Cradle-Mountain National Park, or by a recent coastal road that has ploughed through the Tarkine region - Australia's largest single tract of temperate rainforest.

An extremely short trip to Tasmania would probably miss the West Coast, although a three-day circumnavigation of the state might include Strahan. A longer trip should visit the area as part of a wilderness experience in the Central Highlands, South-West or Tarkine region.