Self Guided Maria Island Pack-Free Walk
3-Day Self-Guided Maria Island Pack-Free Walk – A Life’s An Adventure Experience
Discover the enchanting beauty of Maria Island on Tasmania’s east coast with this 3-day self-guided Pack Free walking tour. Maria Island is a captivating blend of natural beauty and historical significance, featuring stunning landscapes, abundant wildlife, and a rich convict past. As a World Heritage-listed Australian Convict Site and a unique wildlife sanctuary, the island offers an ideal escape where you can connect with nature, explore history, and enjoy diverse outdoor activities.
The island serves as a conservation haven, home to Tasmanian Devils, a thriving population of wombats, and rare bird species, both land and sea. As you traverse the island’s network of trails, roads, and scenic viewpoints, you’ll encounter a variety of landscapes, from dramatic coastal cliffs to serene beaches and secluded coves.
This 3-day self-guided Pack Free walk provides the opportunity to explore Maria Island at your own pace, with a thoughtfully planned itinerary that highlights the island’s most iconic natural features. Visit the fascinating Fossil Cliffs, where ancient sea life is embedded in the rock, and marvel at the stunning colours and patterns of the Painted Cliffs, sculpted by nature into a masterpiece of swirling sandstone.
Experience the challenge and reward of summiting the island’s highest peaks. Stand atop Bishop and Clerk Mountain, with its dramatic rocky outcrops offering panoramic views over the coastline, and conquer Mt Maria, the island’s tallest peak, for a truly unforgettable hiking experience. Each summit provides breathtaking vistas that capture the island’s rugged beauty and the vastness of the surrounding sea.
To add a unique twist to your adventure, embark on a cycling journey to the remote southern parts of the island. Explore pristine beaches, crystal-clear waters, and the untamed wilderness, creating a perfect combination of walking and cycling that showcases the diverse attractions of this extraordinary island.
The Pack Free approach ensures a hassle-free experience, allowing you to explore without the burden of carrying heavy packs. Enjoy handpicked accommodations on the island, offering comfort and convenience after each day of adventure. With all logistics taken care of, including transfers and accommodations, you can focus on immersing yourself in the island’s magic.
Ideal for nature lovers, history enthusiasts, and adventure seekers, this 3-day self-guided walk offers an intimate connection with Maria Island’s landscapes, wildlife, and convict heritage. Wander through its unique environments, encounter fascinating wildlife, and explore the historical remnants that tell stories of the past.
The 3-day Self-Guided Maria Island Pack Free walk by Life’s An Adventure provides a perfect blend of nature, history, and outdoor fun, making for a memorable island getaway. With its dramatic scenery, rich heritage, and a balance of walking and cycling, this self-guided adventure is an ideal way to experience the charm and wonder of Maria Island.
Our Exclusive Walking APP
Designed by Life's An Adventure
Exclusively designed by Life’s An Adventure, our Self-Guided Walking Tours are more than just a set of track notes on your smart phone. We have developed a fully interactive Self-Guided Walking App which will include easy-to-follow notes with gps tracking, photos at track junctions and points of interest en-route as well as information about the natural environment and the island’s multi-layered human history. The app gives distances for each section and even optional side-trips as well as short and long options for each day’s activity.
As part of the App, you get route information on the Google map platform, so each waypoint on each walk is triggered when you arrive. This gives real time feedback so you know you’re where you think you are! On top of this, you receive a good, old-fashioned hard copy of each day’s notes.
Pack Free Self Guided Hike and Bike
Carry as little as your water, camera and lunch
Our self guided adventures are Pack-Free. On your Maria Island adventure, activities are organised so that you can leave your overnight bags in your accommodation so you have the freedom of walking and riding with just a small day pack containing your water, lunch and camera
Personal Emergency Beacon hire
For extra safety
All guests are expected to carry an emergency personal locator beacon to take with you when walking. You can hire an EPIRB/PLB through epirbhire.com.au. If you mention you are guests of Life’s an Adventure, you will receive a discount on your hire. However, Maria Island has well marked trails and good phone coverage.
Transfers
To the trail
Our self-guided walks include transfers from Launceston in Tasmania to the start of the trail. On the final day a transfer will be provided to get you back to Launceston with an airport drop off available enroute if required.
Flexibility and Freedom
Discover on your own
A self-guided walking holiday offers you independence, flexibility and freedom. You get to discover Maria Island at your own pace. You walk, and ride, independently but have access to detailed track notes, both on your smart phone and as a hard copy, compiled by our experienced guides. The beauty of this is our guides know these tracks inside out and they have incorporated this into the App and track notes – the best lookouts, scenic lunch stops, and where to get great photos as well as information about the natural environment and the island’s multi-layered history. For our Maria Island self guided tour, the App and Track Notes allow you to choose between short and longer, more strenuous options on each day, to suit your preference and your groups varied needs.
Historic Accommodation
Stay in the historic, but beautifully refurbished Convict Penitentiary
Your Maria Island self-guided package includes 2 nights in the historic convict built Penitentiary Accommodation at Darlington settlement. Each room sleeps 6 people, has shelves for luggage storage and a large table with bench seats for meals. There is a wood heater to warm you on those chilly nights, and firewood is provided free of charge. Hot showers and toilets are available nearby.
There are no transfers to the start of any walks – simply stroll out your door and away you go.
And then each evening, sit out on the beautiful long deck to enjoy sunsets and relive your day’s adventures, as the wombats and Cape Barren Geese graze the lawns below.
Great meals included
featuring Tasmanian Produce
During your walk you will be provided with easy to prepare, delicious healthy meals from our local Tasmanian provider, featuring high-quality local produce. For example enjoy slow cooked beef cheeks in rich, shiraz-infused stock with celery and carrots served with fresh green beans and creamy buttery mashed potato.
The Penitentiary accommodation has a large, separate dining area and kitchen with gas cooking rings for your use – the old convict-built Mess Hall.
Our local provider can also cater for special dietary requirements. Please give us as many details as possible when booking.
Flexible walking
Shorter options available
For our Maria Island self guided tour, the App and Track Notes allow you to choose between short and longer, more strenuous options on each day, to suit your preference and your groups varied needs.
To find out more click on any of the below links:
Why should you choose us?
Tour Itinerary
- Pack Free walk – carry as little as your water, lunch and camera each day.
- A walking APP with GPS coordinates on your walk
- Detailed maps and trail notes, hard copy and on the App
- Transfers to and from Maria Island from Launceston
- Gourmet easy to prepare food supplied including 2 x dinners, 3 lunches and 2 breakfasts
- Accommodation at the fabulous Penitentiary in the World Heritage-listed convict precinct at Darlington Settlement
- Equipment gear required – overnight pack, sleeping bag, eating utensils, bowls
- Bicycle hire for one day
- National Park Pass
Guests are required to hire an EPIRB/PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) at an additional cost. You can hire this through epirbhire.com.au and you will receive a discount if you mention you are a guest of Life’s an Adventure.
SUGGESTED PRE NIGHT ACCOMMODATION: Grand Chancellor Launceston
DEPARTURE TIME: 6.00am
TRANSFERS: Morning: 2 hour 15 mins transfer from Launceston to Triabunna where you jump on board the ferry to Maria Island. Ferry ride 30 minutes. From ferry terminal, it is a 5-minute walk to your accommodation. Free luggage trolleys are available at the Maria Island wharf. Afternoon: Walk straight to your accommodation.
WALK GRADE: 11 km return, 3-5 hours. Medium Grade. OPTIONAL SHORTER WALK: A shorter and less strenuous walking option is also available today.
TERRAIN: The walk begins on formed gravel roads and crosses open grassy hills before becoming a narrow, natural trail that climbs steeply over uneven terrain. For those doing the full walk to the summit, there is some rock hopping over large boulders and some scrambling up rocks to reach the top.
WALK ITINERARY: Meet your driver in Launceston, they will have your pack prepared for you with sleeping bag, gourmet meals and eating utensils. From here we enjoy a scenic drive winding through farmland and forests to the east coast town of Triabunna where you embark on the Maria Island Ferry, for a pleasant cruise across the Mercury Passage to the island. Once on the island, you check-in at the Commissariat building close to the wharf then proceeds to your Penitentiary accommodation at Darlington settlement. Simply drop your bags, grab your lunch and water and head off on your first walking adventure to the spectacular summit of Bishop and Clerk mountain. Have lunch on the way, atop the cliffs overlooking Fossil Bay where if you are lucky you may see whales resting in the clear blue waters below. After climbing the mountain and enjoying the views, return to your accommodation in the historic surrounds of Darlington. Wombats graze the lawns outside your accommodation and keep an eye out at dusk for Tasmanian Devils emerging for a night of scavenging.
WALK GRADE: Mt Maria walk 16 km return, 8 hours. Difficult Grade.
TERRAIN: Well-formed roads and a narrow foot track with some obstacles such as rocks and fallen trees. There are steep uphill and down hill sections plus half an hour of physical scrambling over large boulders to the summit.
OPTIONAL SHORTER WALK: An optional shorter walk is available today to Painted Cliffs 9km circuit, 3-5 hours. Easy Grade.
TERRAIN: Lightly undulating walk along gravel, dirt and sand roads and across open grassy hills with one short section of beach.
WALK ITINERARY: After a hearty breakfast, today you head off to climb the highest peak on Maria Island – the 711m high Mt Maria, a dolerite outcrop with sweeping views across the island and south towards the Tasman Peninsula. This is undoubtedly a full-day trek. It leads through a variety of the island’s ecosystems from coastal woodland and tall, wet forest to mountain top heath. It’s a great challenge. For those wanting a shorter and less strenuous walk today, the alternative option is a relaxing walk, exploring Maria Island’s history and its most famous natural and geological wonders – Fossil Cliffs and Painted Cliffs. Enjoy strolling along open grassy hillsides, along stunning coast and through open woodlands. There is even time for a refreshing dip at either Darlington or Hopground Beach.
CYCLE GRADE: 26km circuit, 4-5 hours. Optional side trips, add 1 ½ – 2 hours.
TERRAIN: Medium riding grade with a few hills and some rocky sections. Optional ride available for those who are not confident cyclists or who feel like a smoother ride on well-groomed gravel roads.
OPTIONAL WALK: For those not interested in cycling, several walking options are available today up to 9kms in distance.
ITINERARY: Maria Island is a cyclist’s paradise with gently undulating and well-formed roads with virtually no traffic to worry about. This cycling circuit takes in the island’s rich and beautiful forests, its more remote historic locations, at the southern end of the island, as well as its stunning coastline of hidden coves and scenic headlands. It is a fabulous and easy way to reach some gorgeous scenery and take in everything this magnificent island has to offer. There is an optional walk available for those that prefer not to cycle. Afterwards, collect your luggage and enjoy the final ferry ride back to mainland Tasmania. Here you’ll meet your driver for the transfer back to Launceston; the end of a remarkable adventure.
ARRIVAL TIME: We arrive back into Launceston at approximately 7:30pm.
Tour Prices
Tour Price per person
$1699 per person
Departure of your choice subject to availability
SOLO TRAVELLERS
Unfortunately due to safety reasons, we require a minimum of 2 walkers on our self-guided walks.
Additional Information
- Prices are per person in Australian dollars and include GST.
- A non-refundable deposit of $300 per person is required to secure your booking.
- Note: If you are booking within 90 days of your departure date – we will require full payment at the time of booking
- Prices are based on twin share of rooms.
- Payments must be made online via our NAB (National Australia Bank) secure payment page via credit card (Visa or Mastercard) or over the phone.
- Your detailed self-guided kit will be sent to you 6 weeks prior to your walk.
- We advise taking our Travel Insurance to cover items such as cancellation of tour due to adverse weather conditions, injury, evacuation, delayed flights, lost luggage, illness, etc.
Booking Terms and Conditions
Before you book please read our Booking Terms and Conditions. Click here.
