The Cradle Mountain Lake St. Clair National Park (engl. Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park) is a National park in the center of the Australian State Tasmania.
The park has a size of about 1612 km² and is part of the UNESCO World Natural HeritageTasmanian wilderness. The native Austrian has taken care of the preservation of his pristine landscape Gustav Weindorfer deservedly done. Through his efforts, a national park was established on May 16, 1922.
getting there
- The access from the south is the Lyell Highway about the small place Derwent Bridge.
- Access from the north is from Devonport by the Cradle Valley above Sheffield or over Mole Creek.
background
Landscape picture
The national park is located in the central Tasmanian highlands. There are numerous mountain lakes, waterfalls, gorges, mountain ranges and, among other things, the highest mountain in Tasmania, the 1,617 m high 1 Mount Ossa
and the 1216 m high, popular with hikers and mountaineers 2 Artillery Knob. In the lower elevations there are larger forests. Four regions of different characteristics can be distinguished:
- The 3 Cradle Mountain Region
with moors, gorges and valleys and the 4 Dove Lake - the 5 Pelion Range, a level,
- the rugged 6 You cane range and finally
- the Lake St. Clair region, the culmination of which is the 7 Lake St. Clair is.
Flora
Due to the diversity of the landscape, the vegetation comprises a multifaceted and attractive mosaic of vegetation communities with a span from rainforests to grasslands.
In the Cradle Mountain Region there are moorland and heathland areas that cover large parts of the park.
In the forests, on the other hand, there are ancient plant species, their settlement history up to Gondwana is traceable. This includes long-lived conifers like the Sickle-shaped scaly spruce, the Cypress-like scaly spruce as well as the other scaly spruce species Athrotaxis laxifolia and the Tasmanian leaf disk Phyllocladus aspleniifolius.
These are other notable plant species Cunonia plantBauera rubioides, the WinteraceaeTasmannia lanceolata, the Shot plantStylidium graminifolium and the Southern beechNothofagus gunnii and Nothofagus cunninghamii.
Wildlife
The "Thylacine"that once occurred in the park area is extinct. In the national park, however, there is the largest, still living predator, the "Tasmanian devil", as well as two slightly smaller predatory pouches, the "Giant Pouch Marder" and the "Dotted Pouch Marder". Other notable animals in the area are "Platypus" and the "Kurzschnabeligel".
In addition, the following bird species endemic to Tasmania were found in the park: the South Sea warbler species "Acanthiza ewingii" and "Acanthornis magnus", the "Tasman flycatcher", the "Rough-billed honey-eater", the "Yellow-throated honeyeater" and the "Yellow-throated honeyeater" "Tasman crab", the "yellow-bellied parakeet]] and the" Tasmanian grouse ", but also species such as blackbirds, goldfinches and" starlings "that have been introduced from Europe.
tourism
The most famous hiking trail in Australia is the 85 km long Overland Trackwho crosses the Cradle Valley at the north end of the park with the Lake St. Clair connects at the south end. The hiking route leads through the Tasmanian highlands, past Tasmania's highest mountain, the Mount Ossa (1617 m) and other impressive mountains such as the Cradle Mountain. Depending on the equipment and weather conditions, the track can be tackled in around five to seven days. Since 2005 you have to register for the hiking trail at certain times of the year. There are also numerous shorter hiking trails; there is one in Cradle Valley 1 Visitor centeroffering information about the area. There are also various camping facilities in the park.
.JPG/120px-The_Acropolis_(Mountain).JPG)
The southern flank of the Acropolis, a rock formation in the park
Plant flowers in the park
Two Red-necked wallabies in the fight
Dove Lake in the park
Plant fruits in the park
A felled tree in the park
Bare-nosed wombat in the national park
.JPG/120px-The_Acropolis_(Mountain).JPG)
See also
Web links
- List of several walks around Cradle Mountain (Archived version of July 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive archive.org) (English)
- Park & Wildlife Service Tasmania site to Cradle Mountain National Park (English)
- Park & Wildlife Service Tasmania site to Lake St. Clair National Park (English)
- Park & Wildlife Service Tasmania website for the Overland Track (Archived version of July 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive archive.org) (English)
