Lake St Clair

Lake St Clair is Australia's deepest natural freshwater lake, located at the southern end of Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in the Central Highlands of Tasmania. Formed by glaciation and surrounded by mountains and temperate rainforest, it marks the southern terminus of the famous Overland Track. Part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, it is renowned for its clear waters, wilderness setting and visitor facilities.

Visitors can expect a large glacial lake surrounded by forested mountains and button grass plains within a World Heritage national park. The foreshore area includes a visitor centre, jetty, and walking tracks ranging from short boardwalks to longer bushwalks. Visitors can take lake cruises on the ferry, enjoy photography and wildlife viewing, explore temperate rainforest, and access the start/end of the Overland Track. Accommodation, camping and a cafe are available near the lake edge.

Lake St Clair was formed by glacial activity during the last ice age. Known to Tasmanian Aboriginal people as Leeawuleena, the area was used for seasonal occupation. European sighting is attributed to surveyor George Frankland in 1835. The surrounding area was reserved as a scenic reserve in 1922 and later incorporated into Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in 1971, subsequently inscribed as part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area in 1982.

The lake and surrounding landscape hold significance for Tasmanian Aboriginal people as part of the Big River Country. Today it is valued as a major natural and wilderness icon of Tasmania and forms the southern anchor of the Overland Track, one of Australia's most renowned bushwalks, reflecting Tasmania's bushwalking and conservation heritage.