Fern Glade Circuit

Fern Tree and Wellington Park, Hobart

Distance: 1.7km

Bush

This short, easy bushwalk offers a gentle and rewarding experience for visitors of all ages, making it an ideal choice for families and those looking for a relaxed nature outing. The well-formed track winds through a cool, sheltered rainforest gully, where towering tree ferns, mossy logs and dense greenery create a peaceful, immersive environment. Along the way, small creeks trickle through the landscape, adding movement and sound, and providing perfect spots to pause, explore, and enjoy the calm of the forest.

A highlight of the walk is the opportunity to stand among the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans), the tallest flowering plants on Earth. These remarkable trees rise high above the forest floor, their straight trunks reaching skyward and creating a sense of awe at nature’s scale. Easily accessible from the track, they offer a powerful visual reminder of the unique forests found in this region and the extraordinary life cycles that sustain them.

Mountain Ash forests, rare on the mainland, have a fascinating and complex relationship with fire. Unlike many other eucalypts, these trees are killed outright by intense bushfires, yet rely on that same fire to regenerate—heat triggers their seed capsules to open, releasing millions of seeds that rapidly establish a new forest on the ash bed. This cycle depends on a delicate balance: fires must occur at just the right intervals to allow the forest to renew. However, changing climate conditions in Tasmania and increasingly severe fire seasons are placing this system under pressure, making these forests both resilient and vulnerable at the same time.