South Coast Track

You need an excellent level of fitness. Days run 8-10 hours, sometimes more, over rugged terrain with 20-22 kg (44-48 lb) on your back. Prepare with an hour of strenuous exercise four times a week, weekly walks carrying a 5-7 kg (11-15 lb) day pack, and demanding bushwalks at full pack weight.

The South Coast Track is graded 7, Challenging, and Parks & Wildlife Tasmania rates it much more difficult than the Overland Track. Expect 8-10 hours of walking a day across 85 km (53 miles), carrying 20-22 kg (44-48 lb), over mud, beaches, river crossings and one 900 m (2,950 ft) range.

Our guided trek takes 8 days - 7 days walking with a full pack, 7 nights camping and one full rest day. Independent walkers typically allow 6-8 days and should budget spare days for weather. The rest day sits after the Ironbound Range crossing, the hardest day at 13 km (8 miles) and 10-12 hours.

November to March is the walking season, and our departures run from mid-November to late March when days are longest and creek levels most predictable. Snow, gale-force wind and steady rain are possible in any month on this coast, so the season improves the odds rather than guaranteeing anything.

No booking or permit system applies to the South Coast Track, unlike the Overland Track. You need a valid Tasmanian parks pass, and Parks & Wildlife asks every walker to sign the logbook at Melaleuca and again at Cockle Creek. On our guided trek, national park fees are included.

Walk east, from Melaleuca to Cockle Creek. Almost every walker flies in and walks out, because a flight at the end can be delayed for days by weather or by creeks too high to reach the airstrip. Our trek flies to Melaleuca on Day 1 and finishes on foot at Cockle Creek.

A rowboat crossing of the lagoon outlet sits on Day 5. Boats are kept on both banks, so a party rows across, tows the second boat over, leaves one behind and rows back - every crossing ends with a boat on each side. Wind, not depth, is the usual difficulty.

Day 3 climbs to almost 1,000 m (3,280 ft) and returns to sea level across 13 km (8 miles), taking 10-12 hours. We start before dawn. The exposed tops carry no shade and no shelter, and wind strong enough to knock a walker off the boardwalk is common rather than exceptional.

It is all camping. The only huts on the route are two at Melaleuca beside the airstrip; there is nothing between there and Cockle Creek. Pit toilets sit at every major campsite. Our trek supplies tents and inflatable sleeping mats and carries all group cooking and eating equipment.

Creeks and rivers along the route supply all drinking water; there is no tank water between Melaleuca and Cockle Creek. Parks & Wildlife advises boiling water before drinking. Some creeks near campsites run poorly after dry spells, so our guides fill at the reliable sources rather than the nearest one.

We walk in it. Rain, wind and cold are normal on this coast in every month, and the itinerary carries the time to absorb them. Where a creek is genuinely unsafe our guides wait for it to drop, which is one reason the trip finishes on foot at Cockle Creek rather than on a flight.

Walking the South Coast Track alone is strongly discouraged. Creek crossings, the rowboat crossing and the exposed Ironbound tops are all materially safer with a party, and evacuation from most of the route is very difficult. Our treks run with a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 10 walkers plus two guides.

The minimum age on our South Coast Track trek is 18. The combination of pack weight, day length and remoteness makes it unsuitable for younger walkers, and it is not suitable for people with limited mobility. Travellers with a pre-existing medical condition, or aged over 60, need a doctor-signed medical form.

The mud and Day 3. Mud is more constant and deeper than photographs suggest and it slows everything down. The Ironbound Range crossing is 10-12 hours with a full pack and no shelter on top. Distance is rarely the problem; arriving under-trained is.

On our guided trek you carry a share of the group food, not all of it, and the guides carry the cooking equipment and do the cooking. Food is the single biggest variable in what your pack ends up weighing, and also whether you have a good time on the South Coast Track or not!

You carry 20-22 kg (44-48 lb) - your clothing, sleeping bag, and a share of the group food and equipment. A 75-90 litre pack is required. Baggage on the light aircraft to Melaleuca is capped, so anything you do not need on the track stays behind in Hobart.

Rugged and remote throughout. You cross the Ironbound Range from sea level to almost 1,000 m (3,280 ft) and back in a day, wade the Louisa River, walk long sand beaches at Prion and Granite, and cross South Cape Rivulet. Between them: buttongrass plain, rainforest, boardwalk and sustained mud.

It is not advised. Previous multi-day experience is essential, and so is previous experience carrying a full pack. If you have not carried 20 kg (44 lb) for a full day and enjoyed it, this is not the walk to start on, and there is no way to shorten it once you begin. Walk the Overland Track first.

Tasmania's south west is renowned for wild, unpredictable weather. Expect strong wind, heavy rain and sunshine, often in a single day, in any month of the season. Snow and gale-force wind are both possible on the exposed Ironbound tops in summer, so wet-weather gear and warm layers are carried every day, not packed for later.

Bad enough that gaiters are essential rather than optional. Expect sustained shin-deep mud through the buttongrass plains and forested descents, and sections up to a few kilometres long where walkers have been known to sink to waist depth. Walk through it, not around it - skirting mud widens the trail and damages the buttongrass.

There is no power anywhere between Melaleuca and Cockle Creek. Bring a power bank sized for eight days and keep it dry, because everything on this track gets wet. Cold nights drain batteries faster than most people expect, so store devices and power banks inside your sleeping bag.