takayna / Tarkine

takayna, also called the Tarkine, covers around four hundred and fifty thousand hectares of northwest Tasmania, holding the largest continuous tract of cool temperate rainforest in Australia and one of the most significant in the world, dominated by myrtle beech, sassafras and leatherwood with an understorey of ferns. Its coast holds one of the densest concentrations of Aboriginal archaeological sites in the country: middens, hut depressions and stone artefacts recording occupation over tens of thousands of years by the palawa people. The Western Explorer road crosses it, Corinna on the Pieman River offers river cruises and a cable ferry, and mining and logging in the area remain contested.

What you actually see

• The rainforest - the largest cool temperate rainforest tract in Australia.
• The Aboriginal coast - middens and hut depressions along the western shore.
• Corinna and the Pieman - the river settlement, cruises and the cable ferry.
• The Western Explorer - the road crossing the region north to south.

When to go

November to April; the northwest is wet and cold much of the year and tracks become boggy. The Western Explorer is unsealed and rough. Rain should be expected in any season, and the coast is exposed to the Roaring Forties.

Honest expectations

There is no formal park covering the whole area and infrastructure is limited. Many tracks need four-wheel drive. Aboriginal sites are protected and walking on middens is damaging and illegal. Logging and mining operate within the region, which is visible in places.

Nearby

Corinna sits on the Pieman; Smithton and Arthur River are north.