Spooky Tassie places and where to find them

Closed for several months for an extensive redevelopment, Hobart’s Cascades Female Factory was re-opened to the public in early 2022, complete with a new $5 million visitor centre. Most of the institution’s buildings were demolished in the early 20th century, so the centre’s interpretation gallery will help you understand the living and working conditions of the 7000 convict women confined here from 1828 to 1856.

Find out more with the self-guided audio tour or guided tour, The Notorious Strumpets & Dangerous Girls storytelling experience of seven convict women's lives from the era, and the free activity booklet if you're visiting with kids.

Like the Cascades Female Factory, the Coal Mines Historic Site is a UNESCO World Heritage site well worth exploring. It’s free, and easy to visit on your way to or from Port Arthur, so include time in your itinerary to wander among these eerie sandstone ruins.

From 1834 to 1848, male convicts considered the ‘worst of the worst’ were imprisoned and put to work here in harsh conditions. It’s now a peaceful, strangely beautiful place nestled in bushland overlooking Little Norfolk Bay.

Train lines built for 19th century mining operations in Tasmania’s western wilderness closed when the boom went bust, but one near Zeehan has become a rail trail for walkers and mountain bikers. It passes through the 100-metre, keyhole-shaped Spray Tunnel that was carved through a hill.

Look up at the glow worms about half way along! At the tunnel’s end you’ll find the abandoned buildings and boilers of the Spray Silver Mine, which closed in 1913.

Another remnant of the west’s mining heyday is the former port town of Pillinger, which was gradually abandoned during the early decades of the 20th century. Most of its buildings and equipment were shipped out for use elsewhere, but you can still see relics like boilers and brick kilns amid the returning forest, and remnants of a jetty stretching out into Macquarie Harbour.

One of Tasmania’s 60 Great Short Walks follows the former train line to Pillinger, so you’ll encounter old railway sleepers and bridges on the ferny Kelly Basin trail. It’s 11 kilometres return, but the road leading to the trail head is 4WD-only for the final five kilometres so add an hour each way on foot if you don’t have an off-road vehicle. Or take it easy on Gordon River Cruise’s small-group boots ‘n’ boat Pillinger Explorer tour.

Opened in 1827, the Willow Court asylum complex expanded to 24 buildings across 18 hectares over the years, before closing in 2000. Some of those buildings have since become home to businesses like antique shops, New Norfolk Distillery and one of Tasmania’s best restaurants, The Agrarian Kitchen. Their cooking school and kitchen garden will be added to the mix in late 2022, but most of the former asylum is silent and empty. Safely access its abandoned spaces with Willow Court Asylum Tours, who offer both history and ghost tours as well as a paranormal investigation experience.

Just off Tasmania’s east coast, Maria Island is an amazing destination for nature and history. The whole island is a national park, with a marine reserve too, and the Darlington Probation Station is another UNESCO World Heritage site. Its well preserved buildings include some dating back to the settlement’s original purpose as a place where convicts lived and worked from 1825 to 1851. Many other structures around the island are abandoned and often ruined, however, including farm buildings, cement works, an Italian entrepreneur’s failed hotel and a tiny cemetery. Take the regular ferry and start exploring.

Information included in this blog is correct at the time of publishing. Please contact individual operators for further information.