Virtual Tamar Wetlands Walk for Treadmills
The Tamar Island Wetlands Walk follows a flat boardwalk through the Tamar Island Wetlands on the outskirts of Launceston, Tasmania. The 60-hectare reserve sits beside kanamaluka/River Tamar and is made up of tidal lagoons, mudflats, waterways and small islands. This 57-minute walking video stays mostly on the boardwalk, passing through the open wetland landscape.
The track is very easy underfoot, with smooth boardwalk, wooden bridges and a few short sections of compacted walking surface. There are no steps or steep climbs, and almost no change in elevation. Native grasses and rushes grow along the edges, with paperbark vegetation appearing around some of the wetter sections. Unlike many Tasmanian walks, the scenery remains quite open rather than becoming enclosed by forest.
As the boardwalk heads towards Tamar Island, the views change between open lagoons, waterways and patches of wetland vegetation. There's also a short side track to a bird hide overlooking the wetlands. More than 60 species of birds have been recorded here, including black swans, ducks, egrets, cormorants and swamp harriers, so there's plenty to look out for along the way.
The video is set at around 5 km/h with a 0% treadmill incline, which is a close match for the flat nature of the real walk. The smooth boardwalk allows for a comfortable, continuous pace, making this a particularly straightforward treadmill session. The changing wetland scenery provides most of the visual interest rather than any changes in terrain.
The full return walk from the visitor centre to Tamar Island is around 4 kilometres. This virtual walk covers a shorter continuous section of the wetlands, with the scenery gradually changing as the boardwalk crosses bridges and passes between lagoons, grasses and paperbark stands.
At 57 minutes, this is an easy-going virtual walk with almost no elevation to worry about. The flat boardwalk, open water and native wetland vegetation give it a very different feel from a typical forest or mountain trail, while the steady 5 km/h pace makes it easy to follow indoors.
Trail Information
Location: Tamar Island Wetlands, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Trail: Tamar Island Wetlands Walk
Walk Duration: 57 Minutes
Terrain: Flat Wetland Boardwalk
Suggested Treadmill Incline: 0%
Walking Pace: Easy to Moderate