Signs

Mount Field—Where and What?

Written by Adrian Blackman

Want to know where you are? How about knowing what you are looking at? When you visit Mount Field National Park some answers to these questions are now provided. New information signs have been installed by the Friends of Mount Field with the help of a Wildcare grant.

Mount Field National Park is Tasmania's oldest and 3^rd most visited national park and attracts almost 200,000 visitors annually with a 20 per cent per annum increase in recent years. The park is a magnet for experienced bushwalkers familiar with the area but a significant number of people come to the park for the first time. The information signs are designed particularly for this latter type of visitor. Two groups of signs have been deployed by the volunteers of the Friends of Mount Field. One group has been placed on the first section of Wombat Moor that leads to the Woodland Mosaic. The second set of signs is located along the tracks leading to Mount Field East. The work was performed in cooperation with the local Parks and Wildlife Service staff.

The first part of this project, completed in 2014, involved the design and installation of signs on Wombat Moor. The signs give illustrations and information about local subalpine plants; there is also a panorama sign with a photo showing names of some of the nearby topographical features. These colourful and durable signs are located so that they can be easily read from the boardwalk to the Woodland Mosaic. This boardwalk provides an easy and short (300 metres) walk and is readily accessible from the main Lake Dobson Road. It is heavily used by the general public, not just bushwalkers. (The boardwalk was an earlier construction project. It was mostly funded by the Tasmania Community Fund but also by Wildcare and the Friends of Mount Field helped Parks and Wildlife Service staff built it.) Sign installation involved hammering treated pine posts (with the tops cut at 45°) into the sometimes rocky ground. Next marine ply backing boards were added and the signs then attached. Each flora sign is devoted to only one plant species with a photo of the actual nearby plant and a brief description. In all 17 flora signs were made and they highlight for visitors the considerable degree of plant diversity in the area.

Mount Field East (1274 metres altitude) is one of the more popular alpine day walk destinations in the park. Bushwalkers going there can experience extensive views with varying landscapes of glacial lakes, high peaks, snow gum woodland, alpine moorlands and herb fields. The Mount Field East Track starts at Lake Fenton. Alternatively the Lake Nicholls Track beginning further east from the Lake Dobson Road can be used. (A circuit walk is possible by using both of these tracks together with the Old Pack Track and Lake Dobson Road.) For the second part of this project (completed in 2018) signs were placed at strategic points along these three tracks to guide newcomers. These ‘you are here’ signs, also colourful and durable, have a diagrammatic map of the area with the tracks marked and the location of the sign highlighted. Most of these signs were attached to existing posts by using special custom-designed brackets. First time visitors should find these 11 signs particularly useful since there are often numerous track junctions and side tracks to negotiate.

The Friends of Mount Field (FOMF) gratefully acknowledge financial support from Wildcare ($1600). The project would not have been possible without these funds and the contributions from FOMF volunteers, two of whom are worth special mention—Peter Franklin and Greg Bell. Peter, President of FOMF, was the driving force behind this project. His photographic, drafting and design skills were used to create the signs. Greg’s fabrication expertise especially with metal was invaluable. He designed and constructed the ingenious rammer (for post hammering) and the sign-mounting brackets.