Hike Pandani Grove Nature Walk, Mount Field National Park, Tasmania

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The Pandani Grove is a delightful green oasis nestled beneath the ski slopes of Mount Field. The easy 1.5km circuit around Lake Dobson passes close by pandani growing amidst alpine gums and soft treeferns. These characterful pandani are the tallest heath in the world. Their tough, drooping foliage sheds snow and ice, helping protect them from the cold at this altitude (1000m). There’s a population of platypus here too, so watch for their tell-tale ripples on the surface of the lake—particularly at dawn and dusk. The remarkable pandani is just one of many subalpine plants that are found in Tasmania and nowhere else on Earth. Along the walk you will encounter numerous alpine plants. Mount Field is unusual in that the diversity of plants in the upper reaches of the mountain is greater than the diversity of plants in the forests at the base of the mountain. At the far end of the lake, you will enter a stunning patch of forest dominated by a mixture of pandanis and pencil pines. Pencil pines are one of a number of ancient conifers that are endemic to Tasmania.

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