{"id":648547,"date":"2026-05-04T07:27:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T07:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/648547\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T07:27:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T07:27:21","slug":"traffic-chaos-at-mt-field-national-park-with-visitors-lining-up-to-see-the-turning-of-the-fagus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/648547\/","title":{"rendered":"Traffic chaos at Mt Field National Park with visitors lining up to see the turning of the fagus"},"content":{"rendered":"

The annual turning of the fagus attracts thousands of nature lovers to Tasmania’s national parks, but the weekend’s warm weather may have made the experience slightly too irresistible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The popular event turned Mount Field National Park in the state’s south into a congested car park with hundreds of people trying to get in and out to snap a photo and witness the fagus, Australia’s only native winter deciduous species.<\/p>\n

“The car park filled up and there was no place where people could turn around,” visitor Zoe Kean told 936 ABC Hobart.<\/p>\n

“You just needed to exercise a bit of patience.”<\/p>\n

\"Car<\/p>\n

The car park was full at Mt Field National Park. (Supplied: Zoe Kean)<\/p>\n

Ms Kean went to Mount Field over the weekend and described it as a traffic jam.<\/p>\n

“Tasmanians love the fagus and this was the weekend everyone was saying ‘hey it’s turning, and hey it’s turning fast’ and it was a glorious day,” she said.\"Cars<\/p>\n

Drivers have to negotiate parked cars on the side of the road. (Supplied: Zoe Kean)<\/p>\n

“Sure there were some points where tensions were high \u2026 it’s quite a narrow road, quite twisty and turny, so it’s pretty hard to navigate.”<\/p>\n

In mid-autumn the fagus produces a riot of colour at Lake Fenton and Tarn Shelf at Mount Field National Park and Cradle Mountain’s Dove Lake and Crater Lake.<\/p>\n

\"Yellow<\/p>\n

The turning of the fagus is a popular annual event for nature lovers. (Supplied: Ron Rainbow)<\/p>\n

Tasmania’s Parks and Widlife Service (PWS) says the colours reach a peak around Anzac Day (April 25) and typically will continue to stay vibrant for around a month.<\/p>\n

“The crinkle-cut leaves turn from brilliant gold to rust red and orange creating a majestic tapestry in the alpine landscape,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\"Yellow<\/p>\n

Fagus leaves turn orange and red around Anzac Day. (Supplied: Ron Rainbow)<\/p>\n

“Fagus only occurs in areas that have remained long unburnt.”<\/p>\n

It can also be observed at Lake St Clair, Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park and Southwest National Park.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The turning of the fagus is an autumn highlight for hikers. (Supplied: Ian Terry)<\/p>\n

Cars seen sliding off road, says mayor<\/p>\n

The Derwent Valley mayor, Michelle Dracoulis, said the park needed more investment.<\/p>\n

“Sliding off the roads is something I’ve seen, I’ve experienced, I was on a tour up the hill and had cars coming off the side of the road next to us, it’s pretty frightening,” she said.Loading…<\/p>\n

“And of course there’s no dedicated parking where the fagus are.<\/p>\n

“So it’s a little bit dangerous.<\/p>\n

“Everyone gets excited and heads out there, but unless you’ve got a vehicle that can handle it, and are used to those sorts of roads, it’s really not fit for the level of visitation.”<\/p>\n

\"Yellow<\/p>\n

Fagus \u2014 officially known as Nothofagus gunnii \u2014 is Tasmania’s only native winter deciduous tree. (Supplied: Ron Rainbow)<\/p>\n

Rachel Power, the owner of the Waterfalls Cafe & Mt Field Retreats, agreed the infrastructure was not keeping up with demand.<\/p>\n

She said the visitor centre only having four female toilets “just doesn’t cut the mustard.”<\/p>\n

“When you get a number of buses that rock up and there’s 50 people per bus and suddenly you need to go to the toilet, that infrastructure pressure is really starting to be felt,” Ms Power said.<\/p>\n

“It’s being felt year round.”<\/p>\n

In response to questions about what strategies were in place to deal with the high visitation numbers, a PWS spokesperson said:<\/p>\n

“Appropriate staffing and signage is in place at specific places, including at Lake Dobson Road at Mount Field, which provides advice and guidance on parking to enable the safe movement of vehicles through the site.<\/p>\n

“Members of the public are encouraged to follow signage, the road rules, and safe driver behaviours when visiting our parks.<\/p>\n

“At peak times in some areas, additional staffing may be present to provide information and guidance to members of the public.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The annual turning of the fagus attracts thousands of nature lovers to Tasmania’s national parks, but the weekend’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,100945,843,214840,313841,7987,10801,44,313842,3815,2801,313843],"class_list":["post-648547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-car-park","tag-cars","tag-crowded","tag-fagus","tag-full","tag-mount-field","tag-news","tag-parked-in","tag-parking","tag-tasmania","tag-turning-of-the-fagus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}