Beyond the waterfront restaurants and the well-known icons, some of Tasmania’s best moments happen down a gravel side road or at the end of a short forest track. Within about two hours of Hobart you’ll find a rainforest waterfall, a convict-era tower with views for miles, heritage gardens home to wild platypus, a sheep’s milk cheesery overlooking the channel, and a beach most visitors never hear about.
These are the kind of spots our guides love to slip into a private tour when there’s time to spare, or that make a perfect half-day escape if you’re exploring Hobart’s surrounds independently.
We get asked all the time what’s worth the detour — here are five of our favourite hidden gems, all an easy drive from the city.
1. Snug Falls
A rainforest waterfall walk, 40 minutes south of Hobart
Just past the small coastal town of Snug, a well-signposted track descends through dry sclerophyll forest and a fern-lined gully to a 25-metre waterfall tucked into a narrow, gorge-like amphitheatre. The walk down is easy going, about 25–30 minutes one way, though the climb back up is almost entirely uphill, so pace yourself and bring water.
The falls run year-round thanks to several tributaries feeding the Snug River, and are at their most dramatic after rain. It’s a dog-friendly track and a favourite for a quiet picnic away from the crowds — most visitors have the falls entirely to themselves.
2. Shot Tower, Taroona
A 58-metre convict-era sandstone tower with 360-degree views
Fifteen minutes south of the city on the Channel Highway, this cylindrical sandstone tower has stood over Taroona since 1870. Built by Scottish settler Joseph Moir to manufacture lead shot using the “long drop and water” method, it was the tallest building in Australia for four years and the tallest structure in Tasmania for a century.
Climb the 259 wooden steps — deliberately built with a gentle incline for the workers who once made the trip daily — and you’re rewarded with sweeping views across Storm Bay, the Derwent estuary and South Arm. It’s one of only three surviving shot towers in Australia and a genuinely unusual piece of Tasmanian industrial history.
3. Salmon Ponds Heritage Hatchery & Gardens
The oldest trout hatchery in the Southern Hemisphere
Forty-five minutes north-west of Hobart in the Derwent Valley, the Salmon Ponds have been raising trout since 1861 — the original source stock for trout fisheries right across Australia and New Zealand. The grounds are laid out as a nineteenth-century English-style public garden, with century-old exotic trees, a Museum of Trout Fishing, and ponds you can feed for a couple of dollars.
It’s an easy, relaxed stop: wander the Plenty River walk, keep an eye out for wild platypus, and finish with pancakes at the on-site café. A gentle, family-friendly detour on the way to (or back from) Mount Field.
4. Grandvewe Cheeses & Hartshorn Distillery
Sheep’s milk cheese, whey spirits and channel views
Forty minutes south in Birchs Bay, Grandvewe is Australia’s only certified organic sheep dairy, producing hand-crafted cheeses, gelato and yoghurt from its own flock. Sit on the deck overlooking the D’Entrecasteaux Channel and Bruny Island while a Tasting House host guides you through the cheeses and Hartshorn Distillery’s sheep-whey spirits.
It’s a proper farmgate experience rather than a polished cellar door — expect real conversation about the sheep, the seasons and the production process, along with some of the more unusual flavours you’ll find in Tasmania. A lovely stop on the way to or from Bruny Island.
5. Randalls Bay & Mickeys Beach
A quiet swimming beach with a walk to a hidden cove
An hour south in the Huon Valley, Randalls Bay is a long, sheltered stretch of sand facing the Huon River, protected by Garden and Bruny Islands and calm enough for kids to swim and kayak. From the western end, the Mickeys Beach walking track (about an hour return) leads through coastal bush to a small, secluded cove that’s easy to have entirely to yourself.
For a longer stop, the Echo Sugarloaf walking track also starts here, climbing to 360-degree views over the Huon River, D’Entrecasteaux Channel and Southwest National Park. Cygnet, with its cafés and produce, is a 10–15 minute drive away for supplies or lunch.
Ask your guide about building any of these into your private tour — with flexible, bespoke itineraries, we’re always happy to swap in a stop or two along the way.
