Walls of Jerusalem

Walls of Jerusalem National Park covers approximately 51,800 hectares of spectacular alpine wilderness in Tasmania's Central Highlands, forming part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. The park is accessible only on foot, with no road access into its interior, and is named for the dramatic dolerite formations that surround the central basin — named by early European settlers who saw biblical parallels in the towering rock walls enclosing a glacial plain. The park contains a remarkable number of feature named after biblical locations: the Temple, Herod's Gate, the Damascus Gate, Lake Salome, and others. The landscape is characterised by glacial lakes, pencil pine forests, alpine moorlands, and dolerite monoliths rising above the plateau, creating one of Tasmania's most extraordinary and otherworldly highland environments.

The Walls of Jerusalem supports alpine fauna adapted to cold, sometimes harsh conditions. Bennett's wallaby and the common wombat are the most visible large mammals, often seen around the margins of the central basin. The spotted-tail quoll is present but rarely observed due to its secretive habits. The Tasmanian devil inhabits the park's lower forests and is more commonly detected by scats and signs than by direct sightings. Birdlife includes the endemic green rosella, yellow wattlebird, and numerous honeyeater species that feed on the wildflowers and heath. The endangered swift parrot passes through during seasonal movements. The alpine streams and lakes support the endemic Tasmanian mountain shrimp (Anaspides tasmaniae), a remarkable living fossil.

The pencil pine (Athrotaxis cupressoides) is the park's botanical icon, growing in picturesque groves around the glacial lakes and along stream banks of the central basin. These ancient Gondwanan conifers grow very slowly and some individuals may be over 1,000 years old. King billy pine (Athrotaxis selaginoides), a related species, grows in wetter areas. The moorlands and open areas are covered with pineapple grass, cushion plants, native daisies, and heaths that produce vivid wildflower displays in summer. The lower approaches to the park support tall subalpine eucalypt forest of snow gum and black peppermint. The park's vegetation reflects its classification as a global biodiversity hotspot, with numerous species endemic to Tasmania's alpine zone.

The Walls of Jerusalem park landscape is fundamentally shaped by Jurassic dolerite, which caps the Central Plateau and forms the dramatic walls and buttresses that give the park its name. This dolerite, intruded as thick horizontal sills approximately 170 million years ago, is highly resistant to erosion and has preserved the plateau surface while surrounding areas were eroded away. During the Pleistocene ice ages, glaciers accumulated on the plateau and sculpted the landscape extensively, creating the cirques, moraines, drumlins, and glacial lakes that characterise the park today. The central basin contains numerous tarns and small lakes in glacially eroded hollows. The columnar jointing of the dolerite creates the distinctive vertical cliff faces of the walls that surround the basin.

The Walls of Jerusalem is one of the coldest and most demanding walking environments in Tasmania due to its altitude above 1,000 metres and exposure to cold fronts tracking across the Central Plateau. The park experiences heavy snowfall from May through September, and snow can fall at any time of year at higher elevations. Walking is typically only attempted from November through April, though even summer months can bring blizzard conditions. Annual precipitation is high, much of it falling as snow in winter. The exposed plateau is subject to fierce winds when cold fronts pass through. Walkers venturing into the park must be experienced, well-equipped, and prepared for rapid weather deterioration. Clear days offer outstanding views across the plateau and to the Cradle Mountain area.

The Central Plateau of Tasmania was known to Palawa people as seasonal hunting country, visited for the abundant wallabies and other game that grazed the alpine grasslands during summer months when access was easier. Evidence of Aboriginal occupation of the highlands has been found at various locations on the Central Plateau. European explorers and surveyors crossed the Central Plateau from the early nineteenth century, and the distinctive biblical naming of features in the Walls area dates from the early surveys when the dramatic landscape evoked religious imagery for the European explorers. Pastoral use of the plateau for summer grazing by sheep and cattle occurred extensively from the mid-nineteenth century through the twentieth century, with stock huts providing shelter for drovers.

Walls of Jerusalem National Park was gazetted in 1981 as part of a series of protective reserves in the Central Highlands. It was incorporated into the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area in 1982, reflecting its outstanding natural values as part of the broader southwest wilderness system. The park is managed as a remote wilderness area with no road access, no huts, and no permanent facilities within its boundaries, consistent with maintaining its wilderness character. The carrying capacity of the alpine ecosystem is carefully monitored, and Parks and Wildlife Tasmania provides information about responsible minimum-impact walking practices to the increasing numbers of visitors who trek to the central basin.

The standard approach to the Walls of Jerusalem central basin is via the Trappers Hut car park off the road between Miena and Mole Creek, ascending through subalpine eucalypt forest and emerging onto the plateau above the treeline. The walk to the central basin takes approximately four to five hours return and passes through dramatic high-country terrain. Within the central basin, day walks to Solomons Jewels glacial lakes, the Temple, and other features provide spectacular alpine exploration. The pencil pine stands around Dixon's Kingdom and Lake Salome are among the most beautiful alpine woodland scenes in Australia. Experienced walkers undertake multi-day traverses connecting the Walls with Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park to the west.

Walls of Jerusalem National Park is reached via the Lakes Highway from either Deloraine or Miena, with the Trappers Hut car park providing the main access point approximately 20 kilometres from the main road. The park has no facilities within its boundaries; the car park has a toilet facility. No camping huts exist in the park, and campers must be entirely self-sufficient. Camping is permitted throughout the park but walkers must use minimum-impact techniques including fuel stoves (no fires above the treeline), human waste disposal equipment, and sealed food storage. A national parks pass is required. The walk to the central basin is approximately 16 kilometres return and requires reasonable fitness. The nearest town is Deloraine, approximately 80 kilometres from the car park.

The Walls of Jerusalem faces significant conservation pressures from climate change, which is reducing snow cover duration and threatening the ancient pencil pine stands with increased fire risk and moisture stress. A catastrophic fire in the adjacent Central Plateau Conservation Area in 2016 burned irreplaceable pencil pine forests and highlighted the extreme vulnerability of these ancient stands to fire. Visitor management in the fragile alpine environment focuses on minimising trampling of sensitive cushion plant communities and preventing the spread of invasive weeds, particularly hawkweed, which has invaded parts of the adjacent Central Plateau. Water quality in the pristine glacial lakes is monitored, and walkers are asked to camp away from lakeshores to protect aquatic ecosystems.