Great Western Tiers alpine walks

Where the Tiers begin

From the Deloraine river walk the Great Western Tiers fill the southern sky as a single dolerite wall, the northern escarpment of the Central Plateau. The Pallittorre people called the range Kooparoona Niara, the mountain of spirits. Everything on this sheet climbs that wall: Quamby Bluff on an outlying spur, Ironstone Mountain on the plateau rim, and Meander Falls at the head of the valley where the river comes off the cliffs.

The three walks share the same geology and the same hazards. Jurassic dolerite cooled into columns, then frost and ice shattered the columns into boulder fields. Below the cliffs sits a skirt of scree. Above them is a plateau of tarns, cushion plant and pencil pine, exposed to every westerly that crosses the island.

Great Western Tiers tracks at a glance (Trust GPS logs, steady pace, summer conditions)

Track	Return distance	Total ascent	High point	Naismith base	Trust allowance
Quamby Bluff Summit	6.4 km	650 m	1,227 m	3 h 25	4 h 30 – 5 h
Ironstone Mountain via Lake Mackenzie	13.0 km	420 m	1,444 m	3 h 20	5 h – 6 h
Meander Falls Track	13.0 km	560 m	1,060 m	3 h 35	5 h – 6 h
Liffey Falls (upper car park)	2.0 km	110 m	520 m	0 h 35	45 min – 1 h

Quamby Bluff Summit, 1,227 m

Trailhead

Lake Highway (A5), signed car park 11 km south of Deloraine on the Golden Valley side. AMG Z55 468200E 5392500N approx.

Grade

Tasmania Parks Grade 4. Steep, unmarked across the scree, some hands-on scrambling.

Return

6.4 km, 650 m ascent. Allow 4.5 to 5 hours.

Water

None reliable above the forest. Carry 2 litres per person.

The track climbs quickly through wet myrtle forest and sassafras, then breaks out onto the first boulder field at roughly 950 metres. From here the route is marked by cairns and the occasional pole. On the scree, walk from cairn to cairn rather than trying to pick a line of your own: the boulders are car-sized, the gaps between them are leg-breaking, and the lichen is glass when wet.

The summit is a flat dolerite plateau with a cairn and a 360-degree view: Deloraine and the Meander Valley to the north, the whole escarpment of the Tiers running east and west, and on clear days Bass Strait. It is also the most exposed point on this sheet. In a westerly the wind chill at the cairn is routinely ten degrees below the valley.

Dolerite scree navigation

Scree on the Tiers comes in two kinds. Fine, mobile scree sits in the gullies and moves under every step. Boulder scree, the kind on Quamby Bluff and under the Ironstone cliffs, is stable but slow. The rules for both:

• Test each boulder with weight before committing. Rocking boulders are common where the frost has lifted them.
• Keep three points of contact and step on the top faces, never on the sloping sides.
• Spread out across the slope, not up and down it. A dislodged rock falls on whoever is directly below.
• Walking poles collapse and go on the pack. They jam in the gaps and throw you off balance.
• Gaiters are not optional. They save ankles from the sharp edges and keep the scoparia out of your socks.
• After rain or frost, halve your scree speed in the planner. Lichen-covered dolerite holds a film of water for hours.

Ironstone Mountain, 1,444 m

Ironstone is the highest point on this sheet and the easiest summit to walk, because the car park at Lake Mackenzie is already on the plateau at about 1,120 metres. The walk follows the Lake Mackenzie track across open moorland, past tarns and pencil pine stands, then climbs the last 300 metres over gentler boulders to the summit trig. The hazard is not the gradient but the exposure. The plateau offers no shelter, no landmarks in mist, and the track is intermittently marked. A compass bearing from the lake to the summit is the only reliable navigation when cloud comes down.

The Lake Mackenzie road is unsealed and closes with snow. Check Hydro Tasmania road notices before you leave Deloraine.

Meander Falls Track

The Meander Falls walk begins at the Meander Forest Reserve picnic area at the end of Meander Falls Road, about 30 minutes' drive from Deloraine. It follows the Meander River up a steep-sided glacial valley through rainforest, past the Split Rock turn-off, to the base of a 100 metre fall that pours off the plateau rim. Expect 13 kilometres return with about 560 metres of climb, most of it in the last third.

The track is well formed to Split Rock, then rougher and frequently washed out above it. Several side creeks have no bridges. After heavy rain they are impassable, and the river below the falls rises fast enough to trap walkers on the wrong bank. Do not attempt the upper track if the Bureau forecast carries a flood watch for the northern rivers.

Alpine weather windows

Seasonal conditions on the Tiers plateau, 1,100 to 1,450 m

Season	Typical plateau temp	Snow	Prevailing wind	Window
Summer (Dec–Feb)	4 – 18 °C	Possible any month	W/NW 20–40 km/h	Longest days. Start before 8am for the big walks.
Autumn (Mar–May)	0 – 14 °C	From April	W 25–45 km/h	Most stable. Fagus turns gold in late April.
Winter (Jun–Aug)	-6 – 5 °C	Likely, drifts to 1 m	W/SW 40–70 km/h	Short days. Scree under snow is the main hazard.
Spring (Sep–Nov)	-2 – 12 °C	Frequent fronts	W/NW 35–60 km/h	Volatile. Wait for a high over the Bight.

A usable window on the Tiers is a slow-moving high pressure system centred over the Great Australian Bight with the cold front still west of Cape Grim. That gives one to three days of settled weather. The Bureau of Meteorology's Central Plateau district forecast and the Tasmania Parks alerts page are the two sources the Trust checks every morning. If the forecast includes the words "vigorous westerly" or "snow above 900 metres", move the walk to the caves.

Before every walk

• Sign the registration book at the trailhead, and sign out. Searches start from these books.
• Carry a personal locator beacon. They are available to borrow from the Deloraine visitor centre.
• Tell someone in the valley your turnaround time. Mobile coverage ends at the forest edge.
• Run your plan through the track time planner and take the gear list it prints.