Huon Valley Drive

The road

The Huon Valley back road from Huonville to Geeveston is Tasmania's answer to the question of what a short afternoon drive should look like. The 22-kilometre sealed route follows the east bank of the Huon River through working apple orchards, blue gum forest and small farming properties on a narrow road that the main highway traffic does not bother with. The river is visible for most of the route and the Huon River at this point is wide, tidal and lined with the old wooden jetties and boat sheds that give it a character unlike most rivers in Australia. The corners are not challenging but they are consistent and the road surface is good. This is a drive for when you want to move slowly through a landscape and notice things - the apple blossom in spring, the picking activity in autumn, the blue gum colour changes through winter. Geeveston at the far end is a former timber town that reinvented itself as a food and arts destination, with a good cafe and the gateway to the Hartz Mountain National Park.

The region

The Huon Valley is the agricultural heartland of southern Tasmania - orchards, salmon farms and timber country in a valley system bounded by the Hartz Mountains to the west and the channel country to the east. The apple industry here dates from the 1840s and for much of the 20th century the Huon Valley supplied a significant portion of Australia's apples. The industry has contracted but the orchard character remains and the valley produces excellent apples, berries and Atlantic salmon.

Before you go

Fuel at Huonville and Geeveston. The road is open year-round and fully sealed. Very light traffic. Good phone coverage throughout. The drive can be extended south from Geeveston to Hartz Mountains National Park on an increasingly narrow sealed road with good views.

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