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Styx Tall Trees Conservation Area: A Guide to Tasmania’s Forest Giants
- Styx Big Tree Reserve - Tourism Australia & Graham Freeman
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Found beyond Maydena in Tasmania’s Derwent Valley, this remarkable patch of forest is home to giant ash trees soaring more than 90 metres above the forest floor. Some have been standing here for more than 500 years.
There are no grand entrances or busy visitor centres waiting when you arrive. Just a gravel road, a short walk into the forest and some seriously big trees.
And that is rather the point.
The Styx Tall Trees Conservation Area sits west of Mount Field National Park, around two hours from nipaluna / Hobart.
The Styx River winds through a landscape of giant eucalypts and temperate rainforest, with myrtles, tree ferns and thick green undergrowth filling the spaces beneath the canopy.
The area also has an important place in Tasmania’s environmental history. After decades of debate and campaigning over forestry in the Styx Valley, these forests were added to Tasmania’s reserve system and the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area in 2013.
Today, it is one of the easiest places in southern Tasmania to stand beneath some genuinely enormous trees.
Image Credits: Carmel Gledhill
Allow around two hours to drive from nipaluna / Hobart to the Styx Tall Trees Conservation Area.
Follow the road through New Norfolk and Westerway towards Maydena. From Maydena, continue to the signposted turn for Styx Road and follow the signs towards the conservation area. The final section is on gravel roads.
A standard 2WD can access the reserve in suitable conditions, but this is still a remote forest road. Expect potholes and corrugations, particularly after heavy rain or snow, and take things slowly.
Westerway is the last reliable stop for fuel and basic supplies, so it is worth filling up before heading further west. Also worth knowing: logging trucks continue to use roads in the area.
If you only do one walk in the Styx, make it this one.
The Big Tree Reserve has an easy 700 metre track and boardwalk winding through the forest beneath some enormous giant ash trees.
It doesn’t take long to walk, although looking straight up into a 90 metre tree tends to slow proceedings considerably.
Among the forest are trees with names including Gandalf’s Staff, Icarus Dream, Firebird Wonder, Two Towers and the Chapel Tree.
The Chapel Tree is particularly memorable. Its enormous hollow trunk is large enough for a group of people to stand inside.
There is also a viewing platform and the only toilet facilities in the Styx Tall Trees Conservation Area.
Very.
The giant ash, Eucalyptus regnans, is the tallest flowering plant on Earth and one of the tallest tree species anywhere on the planet.
Trees in the Styx can reach more than 90 metres high, while some are more than 20 metres around the trunk and over 500 years old.
But the numbers only tell part of the story.
Standing underneath one is different. The trunks disappear into the canopy, tree ferns suddenly look tiny and fallen logs can be bigger than trees you’d normally stop to admire.
The forest is also among the most carbon dense in the world.
Wildlife including platypus and native water rats can be found around the river, while owls, bats and black cockatoos make use of the forest above.
The Styx is beautiful, but its story is not particularly simple.
For much of the twentieth century, the valley formed part of a major pulpwood concession. Later, the Styx became one of Tasmania’s best known battlegrounds in the debate over old growth logging and forest conservation.
Protests and campaigns brought international attention to the area’s enormous trees.
In 2013, parts of the Styx Valley were formally added to Tasmania’s reserve system and incorporated into the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
Knowing a little of that history makes walking through the forest today feel quite different.
These trees are still standing, but there was a time when that wasn’t guaranteed.
The Styx feels remote because it is.
There is no mobile phone coverage in the conservation area, so download your maps before leaving and let someone know where you’re heading.
Wear sturdy shoes and take a waterproof jacket. Rainfall is reasonably high throughout the year and conditions can change quickly.
The gravel roads are accessible by 2WD in suitable conditions, but take care after heavy rain or snow.
Avoid relying on roads beyond the main visitor area. Styx Road east of the Big Tree Reserve crosses private property and can be closed without notice.
And give yourself more time than Google Maps suggests. This isn’t really somewhere to rush.
The Styx works particularly well as a side trip from Mount Field National Park, which is around 45 minutes away.
You could spend the morning walking to Russell Falls and exploring Mount Field before continuing towards Maydena and the Styx in the afternoon.
Have more time? Keep heading west and the Gordon River Road eventually leads towards Lake Pedder and Gordon Dam, taking you deep into Tasmania’s southwest.
Closer to Hobart, New Norfolk and the wider Derwent Valley are also worth leaving some room for on the way through.
Allow around two hours each way from Hobart, depending on road conditions and where you stop.
No. The main visitor area can generally be reached in a standard 2WD, although the roads are gravel and conditions can deteriorate after rain or snow.
No. Mobile coverage is unavailable in the reserve. Download maps before you leave and tell someone where you are going.
The easy grade walk is approximately 700 metres and follows a developed track and boardwalk through the tall tree forest.
Sturdy footwear, warm clothing and wet weather gear are sensible year round. Take drinking water and anything else you need with you, as facilities are very limited once you leave the main road.
Mount Field National Park is around 45 minutes away, while Maydena, New Norfolk, Lake Pedder and Gordon Dam can all form part of a longer Derwent Valley road trip.
The Hobart and Beyond Editorial Team is dedicated to bringing you the best insider tips, local stories, and up-to-date guides to exploring southern Tasmania.
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