Queens Domain and Cornelian Bay nature trails
A great place to dig deeper into the natural and cultural history of Hobart.
Walks
Cornelian Bay Coastal Walk
4 km – Moderate
Start at the Cornelian Bay foreshore following the track up to Cornelian Bay Point for great water views. Return to the foreshore along the same track, then follow the Cornelian Bay Foreshore Track past the colourful old boat sheds and wander beneath coastal trees before returning along the same track.
Maxs Infinity Loop
2.7 km loop – Very Easy
A great walk or run with views, Maxs Infinity Loop has an asphalt surface and a softfall bark mulch surface, specially designed for low-impact running, people with prams, wheelchairs or mobility devices.
Learn more on the Greater Hobart Trails website.
City to Gardens Circuit
2.4 km loop – Easy
This loop track leaves from either the Bridge of Remembrance or the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. It links a variety of natural and cultural heritage features.
Learn more on the Greater Hobart Trails website.
Map
Download the map(PNG, 382KB)
Getting there
The Queens Domain is a short walk from the Hobart CBD, with parking at the summit, Legacy Park and on Lower Domain Road.
Cornelian Bay has plenty of parking.
What to do
The Queens Domain is a botanical treasure house. It is home to the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens and its native grassy woodlands, which speak to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people's long and continuous association with the area, are rich in rare and threatened native plant species.
The summit area offers views of Hobart, the River Derwent and kunanyi / Mt Wellington, while its lower grounds are filled with running trails, bushland tracks and the sweeping Soldiers Memorial Avenue.
Legacy Park's nature-based play area features a kids climbing wall and sand pit, barbecues and picnic area. It even has a wood-fired pizza oven operating every second Sunday. Just bring your own dough and toppings.
The short walk from Cornelian Bay out to the point offers great water views and the old boat houses at the start of the foreshore track are not to be missed.
Exploring the Queens Domain and Cornelian Bay is a great way to dig deeper into the natural and cultural history of Hobart.
What to see
While sombre cypresses from foreign soils dominate the skyline of the Soldiers Memorial Avenue and pay homage to those who fell during World War I, the grasslands that surround them hold a secret of their own. The Avenue is a sanctuary for critically endangered lowland temperate grasslands, mostly cleared from surrounding urban areas.
Flanking the avenue, the sea of native grasslands hides indigenous herbs, creepers and shrubs, exquisite for their shy natures and fleeting, beautiful colours. If you look closely at the right time of year you might spy a native buttercup, early nancy or shiny button!
The Queens Domain is also home to some of the oldest white gums in Hobart.
Ghosts of fur and claw
The Beaumaris Zoo is now a quiet place but it once shook to the roar of lions, the screech of spider monkeys and the coughing bark of Tasmanian tigers.
Caged leopards paced restlessly behind bars, deer grazed beneath the trees, waterbirds dabbled in the hour-glass shaped pond now drained of life and an elephant trundled along the pathways, children on his back.
Little is left, but you can still see the remains of the enclosure where polar bears splashed in a moat and rested in the Tasmanian sun. Just beyond was the Tasmanian tiger cage, where the last known thylacine died in 1936.
Download the brochure(PDF, 804KB)