I visited this WHS in January 2018 and spent 4 days in Tasmania exploring by rental car. Of the 8 national parks/state reserves inscribed, I visited Cradle Mountain/Lake St Clair National Park.

It is quite a drive on very good condition winding roads to get there. The only stretch on the heritage highway is littered with speed cams so make sure to respect the speed limit or you'll have an unwanted souvenir. To avoid some of the queues I paid the national park pass for my car online and printed it beforehand. Upon arrival at the Cradle Mountain NP Visitor Centre (which closes at 4pm) and huge parking lot, I registered and I was given my day tickets. A very efficient hop on hop off shuttle service is offered (which runs till 7pm).

The least popular stop is the one at Snake hill which as the name suggests is the best place to encounter some snakes from the boardwalk. It is worth stopping at the Ranger Station for some information on the park and trails. The UNESCO WHS inscription plaque can be found there but is oddly placed as part of the stone benches - so unknowingly people might be sitting on it! A little walk up the street from here is another metal sign displaying WH status and a quiet trail through small waterfalls which leads to the enchanted walk were we saw rabbits, wombats and lots of parakeets.

The last stop is at Dove Lake were there are several walks with great views of Cradle Mountain. Arriving in the morning, we opted to walk in a clockwise direction. The iconic views of Cradle Mountain can be enjoyed from all around the Dove Lake Circuit and not only from Glacier Rock, which seems to be the only spot where most tourists gather. The circuit is 6.2km long and if you keep your eyes peeled and keep as quiet as possible, you might be lucky to spot some of the abundant wildlife there is here. We were lucky to spot an echidna, wombats and a tiger snake just from the boardwalk. The northern section called the Ballroom forest was blooming with pink mountain berries and Tasmanian snow gums. For the more adventurous hikers, the trail to the summit of Cradle Mountain is 12.8km (6-8hrs return) and the trail to Cradle lake is a 5.7km circuit. We also ventured to a stretch of the cradle valley boardwalk but turned back after spotting a couple of intimidating lowland copperhead snakes.

Apparently from 1st October to 31st May it's booking season and an overland track pass is charged in addition to the park entry fee. To avoid overcrowding, short-term overnight hikers are given specific tracks and accomodation choices. However, when we visited (on a bright sunny day), the only place which was crowded at times was glacier rock. Especially towards the northern sections, there were times were we were practically alone for almost an hour and we really enjoyed the peaceful and outstanding scenery (photo).

Tasmania is one of the last temperate wilderness areas in the Southern Hemisphere with pristine habitats for plants and animals found nowhere else in the world, including many threatened species. The glacially formed landscapes are of exceptional beauty and reveal a rich and complex geology - a rich legacy of humanity's interaction with the land dating back to the Ice Age.

An important tip when visiting Cradle Mountain National Park is to plan ahead and prepare a packed lunch or stock up your fridge for dinner as there aren't many options after 4pm. The best light on a sunny day is in the late afternoon just before sunset which was around 7pm when we visited. Many Australian tourists came straight to the Dove Lake area by car just to enjoy the view. Since we wanted to see the Tasmanian devil we followed a ranger who was conducting a guided night time walk and managed to spot one lazing about in its burrow. We also saw many possums, kangaroos and an endemic Tasmanian pademelon which come out to feed at night time.

Other scenic spots worth visiting (non-WHS) if you have time in Tasmania are the orange lichen-covered granite boulders of the Bay of Fires, the Wineglass Bay Lookout at Freycinet Peninsula and Australia's oldest bridge and delicious scallop pies at Richmond. The heritage highway also offers an easy way to visit Tasmania's 5 inscribed convict sites (as well as several others). All in all Tasmania is one of Australia's top WHS and nature destinations.