Tasman Peninsula: Three Capes Track

General Information

Grading:  hard

Distance: 48.2 kilometers

                            Day 1 - 4.4 kilometers

                            Day 2 - 11.6 kilometers

                            Day 3 - 17.9 kilometers

                            Day 4 - 14.3 kilometers 

Total climb:   1,994 meters

                            Day 1 - 211 meters

                            Day 2 - 407 meters

                            Day 3 - 633 meters

                            Day 4 - 743 meters 

Time taken on track:   16 hours 20 minutes

                                           Day 1 - 1 hour 20 minutes

                                           Day 2 - 4 hours

                                           Day 3 - 5 hours

                                           Day 4 - 6 hours
Moving time on track: 11 hours

                                            Day 1 - 1 hour 10 minutes

                                            Day 2 - 2 hours 30 minutes

                                            Day 3 - 4 hours

                                            Day 4 - 3 hours 30 minutes

Start point map grid reference: 55G EN 69385 22514

Destination map grid reference:  55G EN 78364 22846

Dates walked: 4-7 December 2025

 

Day 1

 

This adventure actually started with a bus trip from Hobart to the Port Arthur Historical Site. After a few hours to look around at Port Arthur, we started the official Three Capes journey by a boat trip to the cliffs below Mount Brown and thence to our landing beach at Denmans Cove.

We walked along Denmans Creek for a short distance before taking to the track and walking the relatively short distance to our first night's accommodation at Surveyors, with occasional views across Port Arthur.

A spectacular view southwest towards Mount Brown and Cape Raoul can be had from the deck at Surveyors.

 

Day 2

 

Waking up early we continued along the track southwards towards Arthurs Peak, which proved to be a lot easier to climb than it looked from the boat on Day 1. From the peak we had views back to Cape Raoul and got our first glimpse of Cape Pillar.

 

Continuing from Arthurs Peak we walked eastwards through open heath full of seasonal wildflowers...

 

...before turning south back into forest on to Cape Pillar and our second night's accommodation at Munro.

 

Day 3

 We got up early to watch the sunrise.

Leaving our heavy overnight packs at Munro, we started walking with light day packs southeast towards the tip of Cape Pillar. This was a mix of walking through heath and along cliff lines.

Eventually we reached a side track to The Blade, a notorious narrow outcrop with sheer drops on both sides. I walked up until I felt uncomfortable, then turned around.

 

Eventually we reached the end of the track on Cape Pillar with its excellent views over to Tasman Island.

We returned to Munro the same way we had come, picked up our overnight packs and made our way to our third night's accommodation at Retakunna.

 

Thanks to our early start we were able to get there before the rain started. It lasted all night, accompanied by howling winds.

 

Day 4

 

The first challenge on Day 4 was to climb Mount Fortescue, which looms above Retakunna to the northeast. I think this was my favourite part of the track, passing as it does through some very pretty rainforest.

Continuing northeast along the cliff line from Mount Fortescue we came to an intersection, with the left heading to our final destination of Fortescue Bay and the right towards Cape Hauy. Leaving our overnight packs again by the trackside we headed towards Cape Hauy. Even without our overnight packs, this proved to be the most physically demanding section of the Track, with a series of steep ups and downs on uneven stone steps.

 

Eventually reaching the end of the Track at Cape Hauy, I observed seals basking on the rocks far below (so far that they looked more like slugs) and sea birds flying around the cliff face.

 

Turning around we then made our way back to the intersection and collected our overnight packs. We then continued on the track towards Fortescue Bay; a short distance, but made difficult by the level of exhaustion after the earlier sections of the day's walk. From Fortescue Bay we were bussed back to the Port Arthur Historical Site, and then on to Hobart.