Mt Field National Park

Waterfalls, fences and weather

Mt Field National Park is less than 2 hours from Hobart, Tasmania and famous for its three waterfalls and its high alpine plains and tarns. In today’s newsletter, I share some of my images exploring the park over two days following my South Coast walk in February 2026.

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Russell Falls

From the main visitor centre, there is a beautiful 8.4 km circuit that traverses a range of forest types as it connects the three main waterfalls. Being the end of summer, the volume of water was low, but the waterfalls exceeded my expectations.

Even mid-week, the visitor centre and section to the first waterfall (above) are busy. Beyond the first falls, the track climbs steeply and the number of people quickly drops off. It’s not quite the South Coast Track, but there is plenty of opportunity to take your time and enjoy the quiet serenity of the bush.

The vegetation is a mix of rainforest in the gullies through to dry eucalypt forest on the higher sections. Near the start of the walk the track passes through a very impressive patch of tree ferns. The main photography challenge was dealing with shooting up towards the bright sky and trying to eliminate the bitumen path and stone walls on this very accessible section.

Horseshoe Falls

There is plenty of trail infrastructure, especially around the waterfalls. Fences are a necessity in popular locations to protect the environment, but they do limit opportunities for different compositions. I much prefer locations where there are fewer people and more opportunities to explore.

When placement of the camera is limited, the final images are much more dependent on flow and atmospheric conditions. I am sure my photos are the same as thousands taken before me. No matter; they were fun to make and nice reminders of a beautiful location. If I get the chance, I would definitely come back to photograph these waterfalls under different conditions.

Lady Barron Falls

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The drive up to the car park at Lake Dobson takes about 30-40 minutes on a narrow, dirt road. From here, a number of walks start across the alpine environment. By the afternoon, when I went up to do an initial walk around and get a sense of the higher terrain, the weather was not good and getting worse.

It’s a beautiful location, even with wind and rain, and I had a great walk for a couple of hours. I spent quite a bit of time trying different compositions of a pencil pine leaning over Lake Dobson.

I wanted to capture the drama of the scene and the strength of the tree. This photo is two images blended. The main image was taken at 1/125th of a second that gave me sharp vegetation in the wind (just) and 1/8th to slightly blur the water. I found the water too busy and distracting in the sharp version.

I drove back to the car park before dawn the next morning and did a similar walk as the previous evening. Despite the poor forecast my optimism was rewarded with about 20 minutes of nice light through a gap in the clouds as the sun rose above the horizon.

The image below of the western shoreline of Lake Dobson demonstrates those moments of light that we photographers cherish.

There is an amazing grove of pandani, only about 20 minutes from the car park, that is well worth the walk. Pandani are the world’s tallest heath plant (growing up to 12 metres in height) and found only in Tasmania’s alpine areas and wet forest mountains. They have long strap like leaves that remain on the plant as they die, creating a wonderful range of colours.

The image below was taken from the shoreline during the burst of light that make the colours really pop. I took more images of the tallest pandani I had ever seen - it is remarkable how big some of these plants can grow in the right conditions - but the clouds had moved in and the light was flat.

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With the weather worsening, I walked back to the car to have breakfast in the shelter shed and decide what to do. I got back just in time as the weather hit. There was really no choice; the temperature was dropping and gale force winds and heavy rain do not make for fun (or safe) walking over exposed high country. Photography would be impossible. Instead, I decided to explore some other locations from the warmth of my car and search out some good food before flying home the next day.