How to Summit Cradle Mountain, Tasmania (2026 Guide)

Cradle Mountain is a unique, beautiful and challenging hike located in central Tasmania. Cradle Mountain National Park was continuously recommended to me when I told people I was going to Tassie. But I had no idea how to summit Cradle Mountain itself.

If you’re curious about the national park and the crown jewel – the Cradle Mountain summit hike – keep reading! I’ve got a complete hiking guide on how to summit Cradle Mountain. You seriously won’t regret this hike, the views are rewarding and every step of the way is an adventure!

Make sure you read each section as the logistics for entering the National Park aren’t super straight forward. If you don’t have time to read it all now, you can jump down to the logistics section using the table of contents.

Quick Stats

Where is Cradle Mountain

Cradle Mountain National Park is located in the northwest region of the island state of Tasmania.

The national park is about a 2 hour 15 minute drive from the northern town of Launceston, and a 4.5 hour drive from Hobart.

In my personal opinion, a trip to Tassie just isn’t complete without a stop at Cradle Mountain NP. Because Tasmania is relatively small, visiting the NP can be worked into almost any itinerary. You can build your own itinerary based off of my 7-day Tasmania highlights road trip itinerary!

I recommend visiting Tasmania from Launceston or another town in the north. It makes for a perfect day trip if you’re coming from Devonport or Launceston and it felt very doable for me to undertake the summit hike and still have energy to drive afterwards.

I personally camped at a nearby free campground and it worked out perfectly after a full day of hiking.

How to Visit Cradle Mountain National Park with a Car

The national park is incredibly accessible by car (it’s just a short 2 hr drive from Launceston) but there are some car logistics to know ahead of time. Namely that you can’t drive yourself all the way into park… more on that in a second.

Quick note about rentals in Tasmania – rental cars book out far in advance in Tasmania, so if you want to get your pick of cars at a good price, book well in advance!

I’ve made it easy and you can browse rental cars right here:

Okay – now that you’ve got that sorted, you need to figure out where Cradle Mountain is going to fit in your itinerary and you need to know about the visitors center.

To summit Cradle Mountain (or even just hike a some of it) is going to be an all day endeavor. This means you’re going to want to get to the Cradle Mountain visitors center in the morning.

All visitors to Cradle Mountain must go to the visitors center to park, then enter the NP via the shuttle bus.

Honestly you don’t have to think tooooo hard about this. You just route yourself to the visitors center, park, chat with the rangers and hop on the bus. The busses run all day from around 6am – 7pm. That’s plenty of time to summit!

You will have to pay to park your car. If you’re planning on seeing more than 1 national park, get the 90 day NP visitors pass!

The trailhead for the summit hike is at the last stop (Dove Lake) on the shuttle bus. The bus drivers are kind and informative and will help you get off on the right stop.

How to Visit Cradle Mountain Without a Car

Visiting Tasmania without a car? There are a few options for getting to Cradle Mountain.

Coach Bus

McDermotts coach group offers coach transfers from Launceston to the Cradle Mountain visitors center for $135 AUD ($95 USD). The round trip ticket (which I would recommend booking) is $270 AUD.

This option will get you to the park at 10:30am. You should arrive to the trail head at Dove Lake around 11am once you’ve taken the National Park shuttle. This makes the timing a little tight as it takes anywhere from 6-8 hours to summit and the last shuttle bus is at 7:30 pm.

Overland Track Transport

The overland track transport company offers a bus departing Launceston at 6am arriving in Cradle Mountain just after 8am. This is a $90 AUD ($65 USD) ticket. You will need to email them about the return bus because unfortunately a return is not advertised on the website.

Hitchhiking?!

I found hitchhiking to be very doable in Tasmania! While I wouldn’t recommend it for getting up the mountain in the morning, it may be a viable option at the end of the day if you need a ride out of the national park.

While their are non-car options, Tasmania is very much a car dominated place and I would strongly recommend renting a car.

Logistics for Hiking Cradle Mountain

We’ve covered a few logistics but I just want to make some the hurdles known so you can plan accordingly (and conquer the summit hike).

You will need a National Park pass to enter the national park. I recommend getting the 90 day visitor pass if you plan on driving to more than one park. If you take the Spirit of Tasmania ferry to Tasmania, buy the pass on the boat because they offer a discount!

You have to take the shuttle bus into the park. There’s really no way around this, all visitors must park in the main parking lot where the visitor center is and enter the park via shuttle bus. So make sure you have a backpack ready with everything you will need for the day, because it won’t be easy to go back to the car.

The shuttle bus has 3 drop off points within the park. To get to the summit trail head, get off at the last stop (Dove Lake).

I highly recommend talking to the National Park rangers in the visitor center to get an accurate weather forecast and route advice.

What to Expect & How to Summit Cradle Mountain

Summiting Cradle Mountain was one of the highlights of my time in Tasmania!

The trail is well marked at the start and leaves from Dove Lake. It is an easy trail at the start but then quickly ascends. There are many step sections on this trail but I do not recommend hiking poles because the actual mountain itself is very boulder and you will need your hands free.

You will reach Marion lookout after about an hour, which is a good time to access if the weather still looks good to summit. It’s always important to make good judgement calls regarding weather, but especially at Cradle Mountain because it is incredibly exposed and the terrain is very technical at the top!

From there it’s a relatively flat trail on a beautiful boardwalk, you’ll have a great view of the mountain on a clear day. Once you reach the outhouse, things get technical.

After you pass the outhouse you will start to ascend up the side of the mountain. This is where the trail can be easily lost – watch for the metal trail markers and watch also your footing. This last portion of the trail is very technical, but I was people of all ages doing it. So just know yourself and what you’re capable of, the most important thing is to go at a pace you’re comfortable with.

The trail is incredibly rocky and bouldery, you will need all limbs available to you! There are also lots of crevices to fall into or accidentally drop things into. Don’t have any loose water bottles that could fall into an unreachable place.

This last section to reach the summit takes around 1.5-2.5 hours. It is a tough hike but honestly very fun as long as you are being safe and courteous to others! It was certainly the most memorable part for me.

Once you reach the summit you’ll have beautiful views of Tasmania! This really is an incredible hike not ot be missed by the adventurous person!

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Cradle Mountain is a beautiful hiking and nature experience – I can’t wait for you to see it yourself. From the alpine flora to the unique Tassie fauna, there is top notch wilderness in this area. Bring lots of water and snacks for the summit hike, and look after your fellow hikers. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!