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| Stinking Bay - not living up to its name on this occasion |
Anyone familiar with the new Three Capes Track will know that Denmans Cove is where the boat drops you for the start of the walk. It is not so well known that an existing track to Denmans Cove starts from a car park at Oakwood.
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| Simmonds Creek |
To reach the car park drive 350 metres along McManus Road which runs along the water in front of Port Arthur Lavender at the head of Long Bay. Continue along Andersons Road for a further 1.2km to the car park where a gated road continues on to a recently established atlantic salmon farm.
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| Denmans Creek |
The walk (jog in this case) starts by following the old road 750m up a gentle rise, passing a small dam along the way. A sign then indicates the start of the single trail which descends 600m (distance, not altitude!) through wet stringy bark and blue gum forest to the shore. The trail swings NE for 650m to arrive at Stinking Bay beach.
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| Sculpture/Sign marking the official start of the Three Capes Track at Denmans Cove. This is one of many sculptures built to accompany the Three Capes Experience. Each one links with an interpretive story in the guide book. I personally like the old signs (below). |
In contrast with its name, Stinking Bay was looking particularly idyllic last week with sun glistening on the crystal clear aqua waters and white sand. Pied oystercatchers patrolled back and forth while the broody lagoon of Gathercoles Creek and the surrounding tall eucalypt forests completed the picture. On several of my coastal runs nearby I've come across dead seals or whales so it's not hard to imagine how the uncomplimentary name was originally conceived.
Beyond Stinking Bay the trail heads into the coastal scrub, emerging to cross Simmonds Creek. 4.5km from the car park Denmans Cove is reached. A side track leads down to the beach. Denmans Creek must be crossed where it's tannin stained lagoon runs out to the sea. Alternatively the track continues to a crossing between narrow grassy flats where the creek emerges from the forest.
On the other side of the beach an impressive sculpture marks the official start of the Three Capes Track. For my purposes, a 500m sprint along the compacted gravel 'superhighway' brought me to a 5km turn-around so my total run distance would be 10km. The immaculately constructed track makes for a stark contrast with the scratchy and, in places, hard-to-find trail from the car park. My time of 1hr 50min for the 10km indicates just how scratchy the Denmans Cove track has become.
The first section of this run was through a reserve within Permanent Timber Production Zone*. The trail from Stinking Bay to Denmans Cove including the start of the Three Capes Track is entirely contained within Future Potential Production Forest*. My turn-around point was just inside the Tasman National Park.
* Tasmania no longer has State Forest. A few years ago it was divided into Permanent Timber Production Zone (PTPZ) and Future Reserves. After a change of government the Future Reserves with their old growth and high conservation forests were renamed Future Potential Production Forest (FPPF). Ironically the PTPZ also contains old growth and high conservation forests - over 50% of PTPZ is unavailable for timber production for various reasons.
