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Main photo gallerys are below Information.
POIMENA & the Blue Tier
SMALL PHOTO & INFORMATION PAGE
POIMENA and the BLUE TIER Mountains are located in the north east corner of Tasmanian in the BLUE TIERS Forest Reserve. Poimena is a former mining town that has now disappeared and today serves just as the starting point for many interesting bush walks and trail rides. The Goblin Forest walk is easy, but the other walks and trail rides require a moderate degree of fitness. There are no facilities and no accommodation at Poimena. The nearest large town is St Helens.
The BLUE TIERS Forest Reserve is north west of St Helens and south east of Derby. This area is close to the northern part of the EAST COAST. From Poimena you are 30 minutes from St HELENS, DERBY and the St COLOMBA FALLS. You are one hour from SCOTTSDALE and St MARYS. Nearby places are described in the EAST COAST REGION and the NORTH EAST REGION pages.
View Region East Coast of Tasmania 3 in a larger map. Unfortunately, you must go to the Google Page 2 make to see all of my marked features.
FACILITIES: There are no facilities at Poimena - just a tourist board and signs to the tracks. The nearest shopping precinct is at nearby St HELENS. The nearest accommodation is near the St COLUMBA FALLS. There is much accommodation at nearby St HELENS.
SIGHTS: POIMENA is an old mining town, which is now a strange looking plain. Between 1876 and 1968 it was the scene of much tin mining. The area is now recovering from this devastation, which has created many interesting sights. At the Poimena car park is a sign showing the various walks and bike rides. These are the:
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GOBLIN FOREST track is a short easy walk that is even accessible to wheel chairs. It shows you how a section of land is now recovering from mining.
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AUSTRALIA HILL track is a moderate, 4 km walk, 2 hour return circuit walk to the top of Australia Hill. It is through an interesting, regenerating forest. There are great views of the surrounding mountains from the top.
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MOON VALLEY track is a moderate level 3.5 km, 2 hour return walk around Moon Valley to the top of Poimena Hill, which has great view of this area.
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WELLINGTON CREEK track is difficult 8 km, 3 hour return walk to a number of sites of interest. This track is also used by mountain bikes.
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Mt MICHAEL track is a difficult and slippery 3km, 3 hour climb to the top of Mt Michael, from where there are great views. The starting point for this walk is from the Sun Flats car park.
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BLUE TIERS DESCEND and THREE NOTCH tracks are for professional bush walkers only.
WARNING: The Blue Tier Plateau is subject to sudden changes of weather, so you should always have a jacket and water with you. You are also required to take away all rubbish and to stay on the marked trails, as there are mining hazards all over this area.
ROUTE: You approach Poimena on the A3 Tasman Highway from either DERBY or St HELENS. In both cases you turn north onto Lottah Road. This runs parallel to the A3 and has 2 exits, one on the way to DERBY and one on the way to St HELENS. The easier road is the one near St Helens that goes through Goulds Country.
You follow Lottah Road to the area of Lottah, where you turn north onto Poimena Road. This takes you to Poimena and the many lovely walks in the Blue Tier Mountains.
WARNING: The Lottah and Poimena roads are gravel roads, which can be rough in some seasons.
To LARGER POIMENA PHOTOS
- POIMENA
1/ Poimena is in north eastern Tasmania. It is the starting point for walks into the Blue Tier Mountains. It is north west of St Helens. The preferred approach to Poimena is through Goulds Country near St Helens. The route through Goulds Country is a lovely journey through lush meadows surrounded by forests. See also Goulds Country.
2/ The Poimena area is dominated by regrowth forest from recent logging. From several points on the approach road there are great views of the surrounding mountains and forests.
3/ This is the sign at the Poimena car park. It shows you the various walks and bike rides. Some are easy and some are hard. This gallery shows photos taken on the long Australia Hill and the short Mt Poimena tracks.
4/ The old town of Poimena is now a strange looking plain. This photo shows the start of the Moon Valley walk and the site of the old town. In this area there were once three hotels, three stores, a blacksmith, a butcher, a school and many cottages. Today nothing remains.
5/ This is the entrance to the Goblin Forest track. This is the easiest and shortest walk. It shows you how the ground, which was once disturbed by mining, is now recovering.
6/ Near the Poimena car park is the starting point for 3 walks. There is also a 4WD vehicle track to the Sun Flats car park. There are also tracks for mountain bikes.
7/ What is very interesting about Poimena is that in all directions you see evidence of former habitations and mining operations, which nature is now reclaiming. This photo is looking back from the Australia Hill circuit towards Mt Poimena on the left. The next photos show you some views on the walk up to Mt Poimena
8/ The walk to Mt Poimena is on a very well defined path with many great views.
9/ This view looks to the west at country which is now recovering from the mining done there a century ago. The strange color is the soft light of late afternoon.
10/ This view looks towards the summit of Mt Poimena.
11/ The summit is marked by a large boulder field.
12/ From Mt Poimena summit you can see in the east the distant Tasman Sea.
13/ A strange white fungus dominates many parts of the tracks. This photo shows fungus on the Australia Hill track as it ascends Australia Hill.
14/ Other areas of the Australia Hill circuit are dominated by a thick layer of green moss.
15/ There is a large rocky area on the summit of Australia Hill. Rocky areas are common on the summits of Tasmanian mountains. This area had many great views of the surrounding forests and distant mountains.
16/ This view looks to the west. The mountain in the centre is Mt Saddleback.
17/ This is another view to the west to show how the trees have changed.
18/ From the summit of Australia Hill looking towards the east, you can see all the way to the distant Tasman Sea and the town of St Helens.
19/ This is another view from the summit of Australia Hill looking towards the south east coast.
20/ This view looks at the mountains of the north west.
21/ This is a bull wheel. It is about a metre and a half in diameter. It was once part of a haulage cable that took the ore skips down the mountain. The path of the old cable is now obscured by trees.
22/ This pond is the result of forment mining operations.
23/ We were surprised by this two metre long black snake slithering rapidly away. It reminded me that walkers should always be wary of snakes.
