Lake Rhona

Every overnight walker heading to Lake Rhona must hold a Parks and Wildlife Service walker registration for their start date. Registration is free, but it is not unlimited: the booking system caps each departure date at a maximum of 20 walkers, and you register for a specific start date and party size. It exists for walker safety and to keep numbers sustainable on a fragile alpine site.

Twenty places a day sounds generous, and on most dates it is. But Lake Rhona is small and famous, and the good dates concentrate hard: a settled summer forecast, a long weekend or the school holidays can push a popular start date close to or all the way to its cap. When that happens your date shows as full, and you are left refreshing the page hoping someone drops out.

And they do drop out. A trip this weather-dependent means plans change constantly: forecasts turn, the Florentine comes up after rain, parties lose a member or slip to the next clear spell. Places quietly free up as a date approaches. The trouble is that a freed place is taken by whoever happens to be looking at that moment.

That is what Spotbagger watches for. We check the PWS walker registration page for Lake Rhona often and alert you the moment a date you want has room for your whole party, so you can register before the place is gone again.

The usual season is summer and early autumn (December to April), when the days are longest, the buttongrass driest and the tops most often clear. Even then the south-west is one of the wettest, most exposed places in Australia: rain, cold wind, cloud and even summer snow are all possible, and the track holds water long after a front passes.

The Florentine River crossing is the crux of the conditions. In normal flows it is straightforward, but after heavy rain it can rise quickly and become dangerous or impassable, stranding parties on either side. Check the forecast for the whole trip, not just the first day, and be prepared to wait out high water rather than force a crossing. Outside the main season the walk becomes a full cold-weather undertaking and is for experienced, well-equipped parties only.

There are no huts on this walk: every night is a tent night and your shelter is what you carry. The classic camp is on the quartzite beach at the lake itself, one of the most memorable campsites in Tasmania, with a scatter of sheltered tent sites back in the scrub behind the sand.

The site is small and fragile, so tread lightly: camp on the established pads rather than the vegetation, keep well back from the water's edge, use the provided facilities or pack out where there are none, and take all your rubbish home. Water comes from the lake and the creeks along the way and is generally reliable in season. Fuel stoves only; there is no firewood and fires are not permitted.

This is exposed south-west Tasmania with a river crossing and no hut. The short list:

• Rain jacket and overtrousers: genuinely waterproof hard-shell, not water-resistant
• Tent: there is no hut; your shelter must take wind and rain on an exposed beach
• Warm layers: fleece or down, plus hat and gloves, even in summer
• Sleeping bag and mat: rated for cold, wet nights
• Stove and fuel: no fires, no firewood; carry enough for the whole trip
• Sturdy boots and gaiters: for deep mud, buttongrass and wet rock
• Map, compass and PLB: the pads are faint and there is no phone coverage; carry them and know how to use them

PWS publish a recommended gear list with the walker registration; read it before you finalise your pack.

The walk begins at the old Gordonvale clearing, reached via the Gordon River Road and the Florentine forestry roads west of Maydena, roughly a 1.5 to 2-hour drive from Hobart. The last stretch is unsealed and can be rough; check current road conditions before you go, as forestry gates and washouts occasionally change the access.

There is no public transport to the trailhead, so walkers self-drive and leave a vehicle for the duration, or arrange a private shuttle from Hobart. You will also need a Tasmanian parks pass for the national park, separate from the free walker registration. Lock in your start date and your registration as soon as your plans and a settled forecast line up; on the busy summer dates the good ones fill first.

Do I need to book Lake Rhona?

Yes. Every overnight walker heading to Lake Rhona needs a PWS walker registration for a specific start date and party size. Registration is free, but each departure date is capped at 20 walkers. You will also need a Tasmanian parks pass.

My start date is full. Can I still get a place?

Often, yes. Lake Rhona is a weather-dependent walk and plans change constantly: forecasts turn, the Florentine rises after rain, parties shrink or slip to the next clear spell. Places quietly free up as a date approaches. Set up a watch and we will alert you the moment your date has room for your whole party.

How hard is it?

It is a Grade 4 wilderness walk for people with previous overnight bushwalking experience. The distance is modest, but the track is rough, wet and muddy, there is a real river crossing and a climb over the saddle both ways, and there is no hut and no easy bail-out. Fit, self-sufficient parties comfortable with navigation and changeable weather manage it well.

Can I do it in one night?

Most parties camp one or two nights on the lake beach; the registration allows a maximum stay of two nights. A single night in and out is possible for strong walkers in good conditions, but the beach is worth lingering on, and a spare day gives you room to sit out high water on the Florentine if the river comes up.