Tasmania Western Explorer (238 km)
Smithton to Corinna · one way, about 238 km back to the start
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Why this ride
From Smithton it runs 238 km to the finish; allow about 3 h 17 of riding. The stops in between: Arthur River and Western Explorer highland. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Roadbook
- Smithton
start
Smithton is the main town of Tasmania's far northwest, a farming and timber service town at the mouth of the Duck River, in a corner of the island known as Circular Head. With about four thousand people it is the last place of any size before the wild country west and south, and the land around it is gently rolling dairy and beef pasture, very green and often very wet. The air that blows in here has crossed the Southern Ocean with nothing in its way, and the Cape Grim station, not far off, measures it as some of the cleanest on the planet.
The district has an old, tough history. Timber cutters and farmers settled here in the nineteenth century, working for the Van Diemen's Land Company, which held enormous grants of land in the northwest. Nearby Stanley, with its flat-topped volcanic plug called The Nut, is a fine little fishing village with historic buildings, and it is worth a detour for a lunch of fresh seafood and a look at the view from the top. Cape Grim beef and local cheese turn up on the menus, and it is hard to go wrong.
Riders come to Smithton as the gateway to the Tarkine, the great wild rainforest region that spreads south and west. The Western Explorer is not a casual road: much of it is unsealed gravel, rutted and patchy, with corrugations, dust, and a lot of water when it rains. If you are on a big road bike with road tyres, think hard before you commit, and check the current state of the road before setting off. Keep the speed down, give yourself time, and carry a puncture kit.
Services are the big question. Fill up here in Smithton, because fuel is thin on the ground once you head into the Tarkine, and the next sure supply is far to the south. Buy food and water as well, and tell someone where you are going. The reward is a landscape of button-grass plains, tannin-stained rivers and dense myrtle forest, with the smell of wet earth and the chance of seeing a wedge-tailed eagle or a Tasmanian devil's tracks. Weather can turn cold and wet at any time of year, so pack rain gear and be ready for it.
- Arthur River
scenic
Arthur River is a fishing and holiday village at the mouth of a tannin-brown river on Tasmania's far north-west coast, and the people who live here describe the place as the end of the world with a straight face. A signboard on the rocky shore a few minutes away makes the claim official: the next land to the west is Argentina, about fifteen thousand kilometres across the Southern Ocean. The wind that arrives here has crossed nothing but water since South America, and it brings the long swells, the salt and a constant bright, wild light.
The river itself is the centrepiece. It runs dark as tea, stained by the buttongrass moorland and the rainforest of the Tarkine, the largest tract of temperate rainforest in Australia, and boat cruises take visitors upstream through myrtle and sassafras forest hung with moss. The Tarkine, called takayna in the language of the Aboriginal people of this coast, has a long history of human use, with middens along the shore and a deep cultural connection that goes back thousands of years. The beaches nearby are strewn with enormous bleached logs, driftwood carried down in floods and thrown back by the sea.
Riding here means a decision. The sealed road reaches the village from Smithton, and it is a pleasure, rolling through farmland, plantation and low forest. South of Arthur River the Western Explorer Road turns to gravel and crosses the wild interior toward Corinna, and that is a ride for a bike with proper tyres and a rider who is happy on loose surfaces. Even on the sealed section, the weather can be harsh, with sideways rain, strong gusts and a temperature that drops in minutes. Take a waterproof layer whatever the morning looks like.
The village is tiny and its services are small. There is a general store and a place to eat, but you should not assume that fuel is available on any given day, and the safe course is to fill the tank at Smithton, which is the nearest proper town, before you come out. Smithton has supermarkets, a bakery and a workshop, and it is the place to buy what you need.
The wildlife is part of the charm. Wallabies, pademelons and the occasional Tasmanian devil come out at dusk, and the road at night is a hazard, so plan to arrive before dark. In winter the village is often battered by storms, but the sea is spectacular. Spring and autumn offer the best compromise between light, calm and temperature.
- Western Explorer highland
scenic
The Western Explorer Road is a long gravel track across the empty heart of north-west Tasmania, and in its highland stretches it passes through a landscape that looks like the surface of another planet. Buttongrass moorland rolls out in every direction, an orange-brown mat of sedges stained by tannins and burned by lightning in the dry years, with low ridges and quartzite outcrops sticking out like bones. There are no villages, no farms and, in many places, no trees, and the sky is huge.
The road was pushed through in stages over the late twentieth century to link the north-west coast with the west, partly to serve the mines and partly to open up the wilderness, and it still carries only a trickle of traffic. In wet weather the surface is slippery clay and standing water, and in dry weather it is dusty gravel with corrugations that can shake a bike hard. Riders usually choose dual-sport machines or well-set-up adventure bikes, and travel it with a little more patience than they would on tarmac. Rain can arrive at any time of year and with little warning, and the temperature on the plateau, even in summer, can be cold enough to need a thick layer.
The area lies on the edge of the Tarkine and not far from the Savage River, where an old iron ore mine and a slurry pipeline cut through the forest. The contrast between wilderness and industry is part of the story of the region, and the debates about mining and conservation here have been hard fought for decades. A short way down the road is Corinna, a former gold-mining settlement on the Pieman River, where a small barge carries vehicles across the water. It is a lovely old place with a handful of cottages and a cafe, but check the operating times of the crossing before you plan your day.
Wildlife is abundant if you slow down and look. Wedge-tailed eagles circle over the open ground, wallabies and pademelons graze on the verges, and in the quiet hours of dusk and dawn you may spot a Tasmanian devil or a quoll. They tend to appear on the road at the worst moment, so keep your speed modest.
Smithton to the north and Zeehan to the south are the practical stops. Carry water, tools, a tyre repair kit and some food, and let someone know your plan. It is a magnificent road for those who prepare for it, and an unforgiving one for those who do not.
- Corinna
finish
Corinna is a place with a lot of history packed into very little space. A gold rush in the 1880s turned this bend of the Pieman River into a town of hundreds, with a hotel, shops and a stream of miners and timber cutters, and then the gold ran out and the people left. Today it is a handful of buildings in the middle of the Tarkine, one of the largest tracts of temperate rainforest in Australia, with a small wilderness lodge and a few cabins on the old townsite. The Pieman River is dark as tea, stained by tannins from the button-grass and the forest, and it moves slowly under the trees.
What sets Corinna apart is the river crossing. The road to the north crosses the Pieman by a small cable barge, nicknamed the Fatman, which carries a few vehicles at a time and runs during daylight, so check the times and have the fare ready. On a motorbike it is a gentle, slightly comic moment, standing with your helmet in your hand while the river drifts by. Beyond the crossing, the road changes character, and the gravel of the Western Explorer begins in earnest.
Around the settlement the forest is dense and mossy, full of myrtle, sassafras and the treasured huon pine, which can live for over a thousand years, and was once logged in the area. Cruises run on the Pieman toward the coast, where the river meets the sea at Pieman Heads, and the walks along the riverbank are gentle. The Tarkine's Aboriginal name, takayna, is increasingly used, and the area is rich with Aboriginal heritage, including ancient middens along the coast.
You should treat Corinna as remote. The nearest sizeable settlement is Zeehan to the south, a mining town with a mining museum, but the roads are long and slow. Mobile reception is unreliable, so tell someone your plan. In return you get a feeling of being properly far from anything, with only the sound of rain in the leaves and the creak of the barge cable to keep you company.