Тасманияның Overland жолы

Hiking trail in Tasmania, Australia
the Australian hiking track

The Overland Track is an Australian bushwalking track, traversing Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park, within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. It's walked by more than nine thousand people each year, with numbers limited in the warmer months. Officially the track runs for from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair however many choose to extend it by walking along Lake St Clair for an extra day, bringing it to It winds through terrain ranging from glacial mountains, temperate rainforest, wild rivers and alpine plains. There are several well known side tracks, including walks to the summits of Cradle Mountain and Mount Ossa, the tallest mountain in Tasmania and a group of tarns called The Labyrinth. Known for its pristine environment and beauty, the Overland Track is listed by Lonely Planet as one of the best treks in the world. The walk can be done independently, with six main public huts maintained by Tasmania Parks and Wildlife and five private huts for commercial groups only. Bushwalkers usually complete the track in five or six days, usually from north to south. The record time is seven hours and 25 minutes, achieved by Andy Kromar during the Cradle Mountain Run.

The Overland Track spans the boundary between the Big River and Northern Tasmanian Aboriginal nations and may have been used as an access route. Several artifacts and campsites containing various stone types and tools have been discovered between Pelion Plains and Lake St Clair, and early surveyors reported huts in the area. Aboriginal Tasmanians were persecuted by the European settlers upon their arrival, and the last free Aboriginals in the area were seen between Barn Bluff and Lake Windemere in 1836.

Europeans first explored Cradle Mountain in 1827 and 1828 with Joseph Fossey and Henry Hellyer surveying for the Van Diemen's Land Company. Lake St Clair was sighted by surveyor William Sharland in 1832, with George Frankland leading an expedition to it three years later. In the 1970s management of the park passed to the newly formed Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service after the controversial flooding of Lake Pedder and commercially guided tours were reintroduced. During their tenure the popularity of the track increased dramatically, with the number of walkers increased from 1500 to 8800 between 1971 and 2004. The demographics also shifted away from being mostly locals to 35% international, 57% from the mainland, and 8% from Tasmania. In 1982, major Tasmanian national parks were recognised as a World Heritage Area, and federal funding was allocated to hut and track upgrades. In 2014 an international student from Victoria died from hypothermia between Kitchen Hut and Waterfall Valley due to inclement weather and inadequate clothing. It led to stricter guidelines for bushwalker preparedness, and Chinese language information at trailheads.

The climate is generally unstable, with temperatures ranging from hot (in excess of ) in summer to below 0 °C (32 °F) in winter. Snow can fall at any time and is common during the winter, especially on the Cradle Mountain Plateau and around Mount Ossa. Rain is very common, sometimes torrential though often settling to days of drizzle. Additionally, the climate varies significantly between Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair, with Cradle Mountain subject to almost twice as much annual rainfall despite having the same number of rainy days. This informed the practice (now policy) of bushwalkers departing from the north.

The Overland Track traverses Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park, which is a significant habitat for Tasmania's endemic species. An estimated 40–55% of the parks documented alpine flora is endemic. Furthermore, 68% of the higher rainforest species recorded in alpine areas in Tasmania are present in the Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park. The park's alpine vegetation is very diverse and has largely escaped forest fires that have caused neighbouring regions to suffer. The most common fauna are Tasmanian Pademelons (native), possums and small rodents most of which are native. Also decidedly present, but not necessarily seen, are quolls, echidnas, tasmanian devils and wombats. There are also the famous Tasmanian leeches. The track traverses areas of many types of vegetation, including Myrtle Beech forest, Eucalypts forest, Button Grass plains, alpine herb fields, and shrubs and mosses.

The park has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it provides habitat for 11 of Tasmania's endemic bird species, as well as for the flame and pink robins and the striated fieldwren. The IBA is important as a representative protected area in north central Tasmania for those species.

Large segments of the track pass across buttongrass plains, a landscape that is unique to Tasmania. It's been theorised that the extent of buttongrass plains could be due to Aboriginal fire stick farming before European settlement.

Some wildlife, especially possums, currawongs and quolls have become to associate humans with food and are quite adept at stealing from tents, huts and packs. Although the vast majority of people are against feeding wildlife, during a Tasmanian study 7.4% of people eating lunch in national parks were observed to feed animals in addition to currawongs scavenging food after they left. It's recommended that bushwalkers suspend food from the roof within huts, and store food in rigid containers inside tents as eating human food has caused lumpy jaw in wildlife.

The track has many huts, enabling hikers to stay indoors every night. There is no booking system for huts, so it is mandatory for hikers to carry a tent in case there is no space available or there is an incident on the track. It is Australia's oldest endurance race and has run annually from 1980. Entrance is highly controlled due to environmental concerns. The men's race record of 7:25 is held by Andy Kromar and the women's race record of 8:13 is held by Hanny Allston.