In-depth guide · CampingSpirit
From Launceston through the Georgian villages of the Midlands to Ross, Oatlands and Bothwell, up onto the Central Plateau to the Great Lake and back over the Great Western Tiers: a good 530 kilometres of slow travel between sandstone, sheep pastures and a thousand metres of altitude.
The spirit of the route
This route is Tasmania’s counterpoint to beaches and rainforest. Between Launceston and Hobart the old coach road runs through yellow pastures, poplar avenues and hawthorn hedges, past bridges, mills and homesteads of brick and sandstone that convicts built almost two hundred years ago. In the morning the Macquarie River steams beneath the Ross Bridge, sheep stand in the frost, and in Oatlands the Callington Mill turns above a main street that looks as if someone stopped time in 1840. Then the road climbs: beyond Bothwell the forest grows low, the air thin and cold, and from the sliding door you look out on grey lakes, cushion plants and lichen-covered rocks. At the Great Lake anglers cast their flies, wombats graze at the edge of the campsite, and in the evening it can snow even in summer. If you drive here, you drive slowly – and you stop before dusk.
Stage-by-stage plan
1Stage 1: Launceston to Longford (via Evandale) (approx. 50 km)
- The drive
- In the morning, a short visit to Cataract Gorge on the edge of Launceston, then via the Breadalbane junction and the B41 past the airport to Evandale (around 20 km, flat and well made). From there on back roads along the Nile and South Esk rivers via Perth to Longford. Pure driving time under an hour; in Launceston there are several roundabouts – enter clockwise and give way to vehicles already on the roundabout.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Cataract Gorge: a short walk from King’s Bridge to the Alexandra Suspension Bridge; if you have more time, walk on to Duck Reach, where one of the early hydro-electric power stations of the southern hemisphere ran in 1895 – a fitting start to a route that ends at hydro lakes in the highlands.
- Evandale: Georgian village with the striking water tower at the entrance to town, 19th-century churches and shops, and a statue of the painter John Glover; Sunday market in Falls Park.
- Clarendon House (National Trust) south of Evandale: grand 1838 country house with outbuildings on the South Esk River – check opening hours in advance.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Longford Riverside Caravan Park on the Macquarie River, a few minutes’ walk from the town centre: powered and grass sites, amenities, camp kitchen, laundry. Quietly located and a good base for the two World Heritage estates the next morning.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): The Northern Midlands Council runs free overnight rest areas for self-contained vehicles, all with a 48-hour limit and a permit requirement (free online from the council; display the number clearly behind the windscreen). In Evandale there is Falls Park on Logan Road – weekdays only, because of the Sunday market: leave by 10 am on Saturday, don’t arrive before 6 pm on Sunday, and park on the roadway rather than the grass – and the Honeysuckle Banks Reserve on Leighlands Road (November to April only). Further areas are in Bishopsbourne and Cressy. A permit does not reserve a spot; in high season space is tight.
- Insider tip for campers
- For Cataract Gorge, don’t force the camper through the narrow residential streets to the First Basin: park in Launceston somewhere as flat as possible and without height restrictions on the edge of the centre and walk to King’s Bridge. Stock up on supplies, gas and water in Launceston before the highlands – you won’t find supermarkets this size on the route again until you return.
2Stage 2: Longford to Ross (via Brickendon, Woolmers and Campbell Town) (approx. 80 km)
- The drive
- In the morning, the few kilometres to the Brickendon and Woolmers estates south of Longford, then on back roads past Cressy or back via Perth onto the Midland Highway (National Highway 1). The highway is wide and well made, with wire-rope median barriers and overtaking lanes on many sections; in between, long straights through pastureland. A good hour’s drive to Campbell Town, then around 12 km more to Ross.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Brickendon and Woolmers Estates: two neighbouring estates that are among the eleven UNESCO World Heritage sites “Australian Convict Sites”. Brickendon is still a working family farm with a farm village from convict times; Woolmers has the homestead and a large rose garden; both charge admission.
- Campbell Town: the Red Bridge over the Elizabeth River, built of brick by convicts in 1838 and still carrying highway traffic today – best viewed from the riverside park below.
- Convict Brick Trail in Campbell Town: bricks set into the footpath of the main street bearing the names, origins and offences of individual convicts.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Ross Caravan Park on the Macquarie River near the Ross Bridge, a few steps from the village centre: powered and unpowered sites, amenities, barbecue area, coin laundry, plus heritage-listed cabins by the river. In summer and on long weekends, call early.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): In Campbell Town, the Blackburn Park rest area lies on the Elizabeth River on the south-east side of the Red Bridge: free, self-contained vehicles only, 48 hours, with a Northern Midlands Council permit; toilets available, no showers. Cooking, washing and toilet use strictly inside the vehicle – the council punishes waste water on the ground under the Litter Act with hefty fines. There is no free overnight area in Ross itself.
- Insider tip for campers
- Fill up with fuel and water in Campbell Town; the village is the classic rest stop between Launceston and Hobart, with bakeries and cafés. In Ross, walk over the bridge and to the “Four Corners” crossroads in the evening after the day coaches have left – then the village is completely still.
3Stage 3: Ross to Oatlands (approx. 55 km)
- The drive
- After a morning in Ross, head south on the Midland Highway via Tunbridge and through gently rolling pastureland with scattered eucalypts. The highway bypasses the villages; for Oatlands, turn off at the signposted exit. Around 40 minutes’ driving, no narrow sections.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Ross Bridge (1836): sandstone bridge over the Macquarie River with 186 carvings by the convict stonemasons Daniel Herbert and James Colbeck – heads, animals, Celtic symbols. The figures stand out most clearly in low morning or evening light.
- Ross Female Factory: remains of a convict station for women and their children on the edge of the village, with information boards and the former overseer’s cottage – a quiet, moving place that shows how many women and children passed through the penal system.
- Callington Mill in Oatlands: restored 1837 windmill above the main street, plus the High Street with one of the densest collections of Georgian sandstone buildings in Australia.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Oatlands has no campground with power, but it does have the free Oatlands Lakeside Stopover run by the Southern Midlands Council on the Esplanade by Lake Dulverton, a few minutes’ walk from the High Street (overflow in Callington Park): picnic table, fresh water, toilets and showers within walking distance. The dump point is in town at the corner of Williams Street and Wellington Street. If you need power, stay a second night in Ross or carry on to Bothwell the next day.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): Motorhomes may stay free of charge at Lake Dulverton for up to 72 hours; the council asks for a donation (box on site or online). Check the conditions on the sign on site, as they have been changed in the past. Lake Dulverton is a conservation area – don’t drive on grassed areas, fires only in the existing fire pit and never during a fire ban, dogs on a lead.
- Insider tip for campers
- Depending on rainfall, Lake Dulverton holds very little or no water at all – don’t expect a swimming lake. For an evening stroll, the loop along the High Street to the mill and the old courthouse is worthwhile; most of the houses are privately occupied, so look at them from the street.
4Stage 4: Oatlands to Bothwell (via Kempton) (approx. 70 km)
- The drive
- Continue south on the Midland Highway to the Kempton exit – the highway now bypasses the village – for a short stop on its Georgian main street. Back to the junction at Melton Mowbray and west on the Highland Lakes Road (A5) through dry hill country with sheep pastures and open woodland to Bothwell on the Clyde River. A good hour’s drive; narrower and more winding from Melton Mowbray, but sealed throughout.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Kempton: quiet main street with sandstone houses and the Dysart House homestead – a short walk is enough.
- Bothwell: village founded by Scottish settlers, with Queens Park, the historic Castle Hotel and the Australasian Golf Museum, which tells the story of golf in Australia; on the edge of town lies Ratho, the oldest golf course in Australia still in play.
- Whisky on the Clyde River: on the former Nant Estate on the edge of Bothwell (Nant Lane), the Clyde Mill Distillery now distils – Nant Distillery went into insolvency in 2017 and the estate changed hands. Clyde Mill has a cellar door, restaurant and bar and offers tours. Ask about opening hours in advance, and if you taste, you don’t drive any more that day.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Bothwell Caravan Park, run by the Central Highlands Council, on the edge of town: powered and grass sites, showers, toilets, laundry and dump point. Bookings are not possible (except during a festival in November); you pay at the council office or, outside office hours, at the service station in town.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): The Central Highlands Council has no free sites in Bothwell itself; the council refers you to its campgrounds and simple lakeside sites. On the way, the Southern Midlands Council’s Kempton Roadside Stopover on Main Street by Station Park (southern end of town) offers a free overnight stay for self-contained vehicles, 48 hours maximum, donation requested; fresh water available, toilets and showers on request at the council office. The dump point in Kempton (behind the Victoria Hall, Old Hunting Ground Road) is suitable for cassettes only and difficult to reach for large motorhomes. Don’t stay overnight in car parks or on road verges between the villages – the land usually belongs to farms or the road authority.
- Insider tip for campers
- Fill the fuel tank and the fresh-water tank in Bothwell: on the plateau, fuel is available only at the shop by the Great Lake Hotel in Miena, with limited opening hours; the next reliable service stations are not until Deloraine or down in the valley near Longford. Also buy food for two or three days. If you want to continue south from Kempton: Hobart and Richmond, the east coast and Cradle Mountain are covered in the CampingSpirit travel guide to the grand Tasmania loop, and the south as far as Cockle Creek in the travel guide to the Huon Valley and Bruny Island.
5Stage 5: Bothwell to Miena (via Arthurs Lake) (approx. 95 km)
- The drive
- Beyond Bothwell the Highland Lakes Road (A5) climbs steadily through eucalypt forest and open uplands; after around an hour you reach a good 1,000 metres. Detour east to Arthurs Lake, then back to the A5 and on to Miena at the southern end of the Great Lake. Sealed but narrow, with frost heave and no shoulder; access roads to the lakes partly gravel. About two hours’ driving in total.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Arthurs Lake: shallow, deeply indented Hydro Tasmania reservoir, one of the island’s most popular trout lakes – at Pumphouse Bay with a boat ramp and shoreline paths.
- The dam at the southern end of the Great Lake near Miena, with views over the lake, which was raised by hydro-electric schemes and is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Australia.
- Highland vegetation by the roadside: cushion plants, snow grasses, cider gums and wind-sculpted eucalypts – short stops at the pull-outs are worthwhile, but only where the camper can get completely off the road.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Pumphouse Bay Campground on Arthurs Lake (plus Jonah Bay on the same lake): Hydro Tasmania land, and Hydro Tasmania now manages both sites itself – no site fee, no booking, first come, first served; long-term and seasonal camps are no longer provided for. The sites follow the fishing season: closing in May, reopening around August. Basic facilities without power; check current conditions on the Hydro Tasmania website. In Miena itself, behind the pub and the shop, there is the simple Great Lake Caravan Park with powered and unpowered sites on gravel – ask in advance whether it is open.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): Much of the Great Lake shoreline belongs to the Central Plateau Conservation Area. Parks and Wildlife allows camping there at a few simple, designated sites – the best known is the site near Liawenee on the western shore (see next stage). Away from these: only on existing cleared areas, never on peat or cushion plants, no new tracks. Many shore access tracks are gravel or dirt, soft after rain – don’t drive in without checking on foot first.
- Insider tip for campers
- Take the altitude seriously: Miena sits at a good 1,000 metres, snow is possible in any month, night frost even in summer. Before the climb, check the Bureau of Meteorology forecast for the Central Plateau and road closures on TasALERT. The gas bottle should be full – the heater runs almost every night up here.
6Stage 6: Miena to Miena (Great Lake and Liawenee) (approx. 60 km)
- The drive
- A day without moving camp: north on the A5 along the western shore of the Great Lake to Liawenee (around 12 km), with detours to bays and canals. Optionally via the Poatina Road on the eastern shore to the lookouts on the edge of the plateau and back. Short distances, but side roads mostly gravel; drive slowly, lights on.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Liawenee: small settlement with an Inland Fisheries Service field station; in 2020 Tasmania’s cold record of slightly below minus 14 degrees was measured here. In autumn and early winter, spawning brown trout run up the canal.
- Shoreline walks and birdwatching at the Great Lake: wedge-tailed eagles over the plateau, black swans in the bays, and in the evening wallabies and wombats on the lakeside meadows.
- Fly fishing for trout from the shore or a boat – Tasmania’s highland lakes have been stocked with brown trout since the 19th century. Fishing is not permitted without an Inland Fisheries Service licence (see Practicalities).
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Second night at Pumphouse Bay, in the caravan park in Miena or at the simple campground near Liawenee by the canal (Central Plateau Conservation Area): free, very basic, no power, no showers, no reliable drinking water; check facilities and rules on the sign on site. No bookings – in the fishing season, arrive early at weekends.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): On the Central Plateau the line between campground and wilderness is blurred, but the rules are not: overnight stays only at designated Parks and Wildlife or Hydro Tasmania sites; the pastures and farmland around Miena are private. Parts of the plateau west of the road (Walls of Jerusalem, Western Lakes) are national park or World Heritage Area – a parks pass is required there and often “fuel stove only” applies, and you can’t get in with a vehicle anyway.
- Insider tip for campers
- If you want to fish: buy a licence online from the Inland Fisheries Service in advance and read the fishing rules for the lake in question – season dates, bag limits and permitted methods vary from water to water. Clean and dry waders and boats before moving to another water (“Check, Clean, Dry”) so as not to spread algae and diseases.
7Stage 7: Miena to Launceston (via Deloraine or Poatina) (approx. 125 km)
- The drive
- Two ways down: the Lake Highway (A5) runs north via Liawenee and past Pine Lake to the edge of the Great Western Tiers and then down in long curves and hairpins to Deloraine (around 75 km), then on the Bass Highway to Launceston (around 50 km). The alternative is the Poatina Road (B51) on the eastern shore of the Great Lake: fast at the top, then steeply down the escarpment with tight bends to Poatina and through Cressy and Longford to Launceston, of similar length. Both sealed; both may be closed in snow and ice. Drive downhill in a low gear and don’t overheat the brakes.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Pine Lake: short boardwalk through alpine vegetation with ancient pencil pines, a conifer that grows only in Tasmania’s highlands and barely regenerates after fires.
- Views from the edge of the Great Western Tiers over the green Meander Valley or, on the Poatina option, over the Northern Midlands as far as Ben Lomond.
- Deloraine, just briefly: riverside park on the Meander River and a main street with cafés and galleries. Poatina is a Hydro settlement built for the underground power station.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: At the end, in Launceston at one of the holiday parks on the edge of town or, if you want one more evening in the countryside, in Deloraine at the Deloraine Apex Caravan Park on the Meander River (power, amenities). If you are continuing to the ferry in Devonport, the terminal is a good 40 minutes from Deloraine.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): The Meander Valley Council sets its own rules for sleeping in vehicles; free sites are scarce – check the current situation in WikiCamps and at the visitor centre in Deloraine. On the Poatina option, the Northern Midlands rest areas in Cressy (with dump point) and Bishopsbourne offer a last free night for self-contained vehicles – with a permit, 48 hours.
- Insider tip for campers
- Check your tanks before leaving the plateau: the dump point in Cressy or the stations in Launceston are the next chances to empty. Don’t drive the Poatina Road with a heavy rig in the wet or at dusk – the descent is long, the bends tight, and at the foot of the Tiers many wallabies cross in the evening. If you want to head west from here, you’ll find the Tarkine, Stanley and the north-west coast in the CampingSpirit travel guide to Tasmania’s north-west; Cradle Mountain is part of the grand Tasmania loop.
Camping practice & local rules
Wild camping & overnight parking
- Tasmania has no statewide freedom camping law: whether you may sleep in your vehicle is decided by the councils – on this route Launceston, Northern Midlands, Southern Midlands, Central Highlands and Meander Valley – and by Parks and Wildlife and Hydro Tasmania on their land. Rule of thumb: only sleep at designated sites; town car parks, highway lay-bys and farm entrances are off limits.
- Northern Midlands: free overnight rest areas in Campbell Town (Blackburn Park), Evandale (Falls Park, weekdays only; Honeysuckle Banks, November–April only), Cressy and Bishopsbourne – self-contained vehicles only, 48 hours, with a free online permit that must be clearly displayed. Anyone who empties waste water risks fines under the Litter Act.
- Southern Midlands: Oatlands Lakeside Stopover at Lake Dulverton (free, up to 72 hours) and Kempton Roadside Stopover by Station Park (self-contained only, 48 hours); both by donation. Central Highlands: Bothwell Caravan Park, Great Lake Caravan Park in Miena; plus Pumphouse Bay and Jonah Bay on Arthurs Lake (Hydro Tasmania, no fee, no booking, closed from May to around August) and simple sites such as Liawenee. Conditions change – signs on site take precedence.
- There is no official self-contained certificate in Tasmania as there is in New Zealand; “self-contained” means: fixed toilet or cassette, fresh- and grey-water tanks, and everything stays in the vehicle.
- Tasmania Parks Pass: mandatory for national parks, including for overnight stays. On this route most stops lie outside national parks (Cataract Gorge, Great Lake and Liawenee in the conservation area); if you combine the trip with Cradle Mountain, Freycinet or the south, get the Holiday Pass per vehicle. Check current prices and coverage with Parks and Wildlife.
- Fire: on the plateau firewood is scarce and the vegetation fragile; cook with gas. In summer the Tasmania Fire Service often declares total fire bans, which also apply to fire pits. Apps: WikiCamps Australia and CamperMate show sites, dump points and user reports; mobile coverage on the plateau is patchy – save maps offline.
Waste disposal & supplies
- Dump points: Launceston (several stations and holiday parks), Cressy Recreation Ground, Oatlands (Williams Street/Wellington Street, with water), Kempton (behind the Victoria Hall, cassettes only), Bothwell Caravan Park. There is no public dump point on the Central Plateau – drive up with an empty cassette and an empty grey-water tank. The National Public Toilet Map shows further locations.
- Water: town supplies in the Midlands are drinkable; rest areas often have no water at all, and at Parks campgrounds in the highlands the tank water is untreated and must be boiled. Fill the fresh-water tank in Bothwell and carry a spare jerrycan; in frost, protect pipes and external tanks.
- Gas: Australian bottles now mostly have the LCC27 valve, older ones still POL; swaps at service stations and hardware stores, and on the plateau only at the shop in Miena; refills at filling stations only with a valid test date. European bottles don’t fit. On the plateau the heater runs almost every night – drive up with a full bottle and, if possible, a second one.
- Fuel: full supply in Launceston, Longford, Campbell Town and Oatlands; in Bothwell a village service station with limited opening hours. Between Bothwell and Deloraine or Poatina, only the shop by the Great Lake Hotel in Miena sells fuel, at limited times – go up onto the plateau with a full tank.
- Biosecurity: if you come from the mainland on the Spirit of Tasmania, you may not bring fruit, vegetables or plants; there are checks at the terminal. In the Midlands you can buy apples, cherries and cheese at farm shops.
Vehicle size & traffic rules
- Left-hand traffic: drive on the left, overtake on the right. Roundabouts are driven clockwise; vehicles already on the roundabout have right of way. On narrow highland roads keep well to the left on bends – log trucks and livestock trucks like to take the middle.
- Speed limits: generally 50 km/h in built-up areas, 100 km/h outside them, 110 km/h on upgraded sections of the Midland Highway; 80 km/h on unsealed roads outside built-up areas unless otherwise signposted. There are no toll roads in Tasmania. On the Midland Highway wire ropes separate the carriageways in many places – use the breakdown bays, never stop on the roadway.
- Animals on the road: between dusk and dawn, wallabies, pademelons, wombats, possums and Tasmanian devils cross – especially often on the plateau and at the foot of the Tiers. Don’t drive at night; if you must, go slowly and be ready to brake, without risky swerving. A wombat is as heavy as a small boulder.
- Weather and snow: on the Central Plateau the weather can turn within hours, and snow and black ice are possible in any month; the Lake Highway and the Poatina Road are sometimes closed in snow. Check current warnings on TasALERT and with the Bureau of Meteorology; snow chains are rarely on board rental campers and not always permitted – better to wait a day.
- Rental campervans: many contracts exclude unsealed roads from insurance cover, often with a higher excess for animal collisions and restrictions on night driving. Clarify short gravel access roads to lakeside sites in advance; in the wet drive slowly, lights on, and keep your distance because of flying stones.
- Foreign driving licences not in English are valid only with an International Driving Permit or a translation; blood-alcohol limit 0.05, phone only in a fixed cradle and hands-free, seatbelts compulsory in all seats.
CampingSpirit packing & preparation checklist
- Down jacket, hat and gloves – even in January: at the Great Lake temperatures drop below zero at night, and snow in summer is not unusual.
- A second gas bottle (Australian valve) or a full spare – the heater runs every night on the plateau, and up there the only place for a replacement is, at best, the shop in Miena.
- 20-litre water jerrycan and a pot for boiling at highland campgrounds with untreated tank water.
- Polarised sunglasses and wading shoes for stalking trout along the lake shore, plus your Inland Fisheries Service licence on your phone and printed out.
- Head torch with red light for evening encounters with wombats and devils at camp, without dazzling the animals.
- A printout or screenshot of your Northern Midlands permits – there is often no reception at the rest areas, and the number must be clearly displayed.
As of 2026-10. Closures, fees and booking rules change: check official sources before you go.
