Tasmania For Everyone: Arthur River

Arthur River

Situated at the mouth of the Arthur River, the tiny settlement of Arthur River is an ideal base for walking (both in the bush and along the coastline), horse riding, fishing, off road driving, cruising the river and picnics in this remote, beautiful area.

Where Is it?

16 km south of Marrawah, 308 km west of Launceston, 85 km south west of Smithton.

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Things To See And Do

Arthur River Cruise

The Arthur River is one of the State��s seven major rivers, but it is the only one which is completely wild, having never been logged, dammed or had a hot fire through the rainforest for almost 650 years. One of the best and most convenient ways to experience the river is on a cruise from the settlement of Arthur River. The MV George Robinson leaves Arthur River daily at 10.00 am and travels upstream for 70 minutes. The cruise includes lunch and a walk in the riverside rainforest, before returning to Arthur River by 3.00 pm.

Gardiner Point

Just to the south of Arthur River, Gardiner Point has been dubbed The Edge of The world as the sea here stretches uninterrupted all the way to Argentina, 15,000 km away. The sea west of Tasmania is in fact the longest uninterrupted expanse of ocean on the globe. From Argentina the currents known as the roaring 40?s sweep unimpeded more than halfway around the planet until they hit this point.
These ocean currents mix with the river flow, creating a washing machine effect. Foaming waves push ancient logs that have been carried perhaps 170km down river from the heart of the Tarkine Wilderness up onto lonely beaches. As a result, five hundred year old forest giants of Tasmanian oak, Blackwood, myrtle, or sassafras, became the foundation of coastal dunes, having laid buried in the sand for perhaps 1000 years.
To get there from Arthur River township, cross the bridge and take the second street past it and make your way to the car park at Gardiner Point. A cairn explains the significance of the locality.

Arthur River Kayaking

The Arthur River is suitable for kayaking or whitewater rafter by relative novices with at least one experienced party member. It has a good deal of flat water and regular rapids up to grade 3. Regular kayakers start their descent of the river at Farquhars Bridge via Takone West. About 30 km after the Trowutta Bridge, the river enters a 10 km gorge with numerous small rapids. The journey ends at the Arthur River bridge at the coastal township.

Surrounding Area

Preminghana

The Aboriginal sites at Sundown Point, 8 km south of the mouth of the Arthur River, has been recorded in the National Register as ‘Engravings on 40 separate rock slabs of laminated mudstone…many have clearly defined motifs…The designs comprise circles, including concentric and overlapping circles, grooves or lines of pits sometimes running just inside a rock slab’s periphery, crosses and other linear motifs… Engraving sites are very rare in Tasmania, and at least one panel shows the same complexity as found at Mt Cameron West, further up the coast.’

Preminghana, formerly known as Mt. Cameron West, covers an area of 524 hectares and was declared an Indigenous Protected Area in 1999. Most noted for the splendid Tasmanian Aboriginal cave etchings, it is a unique destination for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people alike. The Preminghana artwork is the finest example of Tasmanian Aboriginal art, and one of the finest displays of hunter/gatherer art in the world. Preminghana is also a popular fishing and 4WD spot.

Tarkine Wilderness

��Tasmania��s largest unprotected wilderness area, the Tarkine hosts the only wilderness landscape dominated by rainforest in Australia. Its rainforests form the largest continuous tract of rainforest in Australia, they being the largest temperate rainforests in Australia. 350,000 hectares in size. it is hugely diverse extending from thundering west coast beaches, through giant sand dunes, across rolling button grass plains, to towering eucalypt forests and into lush temperate rainforests.

Temma Harbour

Little more than a collection of fishermen’s shacks, Temma Harbour is one of the most isolated localities in Australia. For around 20 years it was the sea port for the 700 residents of the copper and tin mining town of Balfour after tin was first found in the area in the 1870s. A horse-drawn wooden tramway connecting the town and port. Balfour is one of the most mineralized copper districts in Tasmania; copper workings occur intermittently along a 35km track between the two localities.

The origin of the name Temma Harbour is not known. Mary Hopkin’s 1969 hit song of the same name is not about this locality. Its name did inspire the song, however, but the songwriter, Philamore Lincoln, states the name was selected randomly from a map while looking for a place name that sounded romantic.