3 replies to this topic

[Mystic]

Lake King William is located on the A10, just west of Derwent Bridge. The entry to this camping area is a little tricky to find. Turn left at the second boat ramp sign, around 5 kilometres west of Derwent Bridge. This sign comes up on you suddenly after a left hand bend, and points to a narrow track. Follow the track to the end, though you will find numerous places to camp along its length.

This is a strange place. Butlers Gorge is at the southern end of this lake, and the differences between the two are stunning.

I say this place is strange, because it is unlike anywhere else you are likely to camp in Tasmania. We nicknamed this location the "Tree Graveyard". It is really quite an eerie sight, and for us, this made it a worthwhile place to stay. The ground is covered in a red ochre like clay, with small pebbles. Whilst there are shady and green trees here, the majority of your vista will be taken up with a seemingly barren landscape of red clay with dead gum trees and stumps protruding.

So far it does not sound exactly like a nice place, but, trust me, the uniqueness of this location makes it worth visiting. There are no facilities here, and although the water source is the same as as Butlers, there are many more stagnant areas here, and I would be cautious of using this water. Water can be obtained at Derwent Bridge fuel station though. One of the other benefits of using this location is that it is only around a 5 minute drive to Lake St Clair from here, and whereas the camping area there is commercial and costly, this one is free.

We enjoyed this place, the eeriness of it endeared the location to us, and whilst our first impressions were negative, the place grew on us and provided some very spectacular imagery over the few days we spent here. There are glorious views to be had, and the way in which the landscape absorbs the light and changes accordingly is quite stunning. A strange place to be sure, but worth seeing.

Weather in this region can be very unpredictable. Our visit was in the first days of summer, and we found ourselves huddling in our tent for 2 days waiting for snow to stop falling.

This place gets due to its unique atmosphere.

Lake King William (north) Campsite

Location map

Map supplied by Tasmap, for more mapping information
please see www.tasmap.tas.gov.au

[Shane V]

After spending a few days on the south end of Lake King William I was looking forward to seeing the campground at North Lake King William. I had an expectation that it would be the same if not similar to where we were at Butlers Gorge. Was I mistaken. It was dead. Most of the trees near the lake were dead and this gave me a feeling of sadness, in a way.

In its own way this site was beautiful. It contrasted with most of the rest of the state. The bleached branches and stumps of trees stuck out of the water looking like headstones in a cemetery.

The ground here was firm and nowhere near as rocky as Butlers Gorge. There were hills and mountains all around which were forested, which made for great viewing, especially when it was snowing. There were only a few bird species in the area and they were cool to watch as they flitted around. There wasn't a lot in the way of bug life here either. It was almost desolate.

I enjoyed my time here, even though it may sound like I didn't. It was nice to see the contrast.

I would recommend that everyone go and see this place. It doesn't matter if you camp there or not, just see the site for yourself and you will also be amazed.

I would rate this site a

[tassiesim]

This sounds like a very interesting place indeed , I guess it would be very cold in winder and often not accessible due to snow

[Mystic]

I imagine it could get exceptionally cold around here in winter Sim. More likely to be cut off from the west rather than the east, for any length of time. The surrounding area in the east is fairly open, and likely to melt any snow quickly. heading west you soon enter the WHA with very shaded roads that are much more susceptible to being cut by snow and dangerous amounts of ice.