Cataract Gorge

The Cataract Gorge is a river gorge in Launceston, northern Tasmania, Australia and is one of the region's premier tourist attractions.

A pathway, known as the King’s Bridge-Cataract Walk, and originally built by volunteers in the 1890s, runs along the north bank of the Cataract Gorge, and is a popular tourist destination.

The chairlift crossing the Gorge is the longest single span chairlift in the world, with the longest span being 308m (924 ft). The chairlift, built in 1972, has a total span of 457m.

Before the Hydro Dam was built in the 1950s upstream, flood waters could rise up as high as 12 metres.[] In the past, there was a power station at Duck Reach, about 2.5 kilometres from the suspension bridge. It was washed away in the floods of 1929, rebuilt and then decommissioned when the new Hydro Dam was finished in 1955. The building is now an interpretive museum.

The First Basin on the southern side features a swimming pool and an open area surrounded by bushland.

At the lower end of the Gorge, the South Esk spills into the Tamar River going under King's Bridge on the way. This was the only bridge leading north out of the city for nearly 100 years.

Gallery

References

Further Reading

  • Green, Anne (2006). The Home of Sports and Manly Exercise : Places of Leisure in Launceston. Launceston City Council. ISBN . 

External links

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Shiva Das
23 February 2014
It's interesting ride on cable car. Very nice scenery. Buy one way ticket only so you can enjoy more interesting animals like kangaroo, peacock, birds and so on by walking back.
James B
25 October 2013
Lovely little place with a world famous? Cable car. Probably better if a bit warmer. Hottest coffee ever in the cafe (hot as in I can't feel my mouth not the good kind of hot).
Boon Koh
10 January 2017
Two car parks available, at the bottom and top of the gorge. Bottom is closer to the swimming pool and chairlift base station.
Y Y
12 April 2019
Good for ppl of all walks of life. For photography / ppl who can’t walk much & ppl who can walk for hours. Great park!
Yvonne Thompson
12 July 2014
Nice walks and chairlift. Swim pool closed winter ofcourse but still nice for a picnic.
Narina
28 December 2014
Beautiful place – cable car, seal spotting, a good hike, peacocks, wallabies, perfect for a swim and a picnic.
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0.4km from Basin Road, West Launceston TAS 7250, Australia Get directions
Mon-Sun 9:00 AM–5:00 PM

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