STYX VALLEY
Some of the remaining giant trees of the Styx Valley were saved from logging by years of dedicated campaigning by the Wilderness Society & Greenpeace. In 2013, part of the Styx Valley was incorporated into the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area thanks to the Tasmanian Forestry Agreement, which is sometimes called the Forest Peace Deal. Successive Tasmanian governments have worked hard to dismantle this agreement.
Home to some of the most impressive trees on the planet, the Styx Valley is an easily accessible and reasonably well set up location to explore Tasmania’s Giant Trees. But visitors should note that while there are dozens of giant trees in the valley, there is only one recognised walking track at Styx Big Tree Reserve. Many other locations like the Andromeda Stand once had tourist infrastructure, but now it has all but rotted away from neglect. Other locations like the Tolkien Grove feature community-built walking tracks to visit trees.
Your Responsibilities, Don’t mess it up.
Be respectful to the forest and the trees, you are responsible for helping to protect them. these trees are hundreds of years old and many are in the later stages of their lives. Every person has an impact, minimise it.
All information is provided in good faith “as is” without guarantee of accuracy. The Tree Projects accepts no responsibility for how individuals choose to interpret this public and freely available information. Navigating off-track in the Tasmanian wilderness is treacherous and exposure to wild weather and the elements should be expected if you choose to look for trees.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
STYX BIG TREE RESERVE, STYX VALLEY, TASMANIA.
The Big Tree Reserve is in the heart of the Styx Valley, accessible directly from the main Styx Rd. It features a fully developed gravel and boardwalk track with viewing platforms and seating. The only toilet facilities in the Styx are also located here. The Reserve’s most impressive swamp gums are named like rival siblings: the 86-metre ‘Big Tree’, christened years ago when it was thought to be the tallest here, but since overshadowed by the nearby 87-metre ‘Bigger Tree’.
This area was set up when areas of the Styx Valley were added to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area in 2013. It is a very easy walk in comparison to almost every other giant tree track in the valley.
TOLKIEN GROVE, STYX VALLEY, TASMANIA.
This site is home to one of the most successful protest actions which saved the Styx Valley from being logged and saw its rivers and ancient forests added to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area in 2013. The Global Rescue Station, a collaboration between Greenpeace and the Wilderness Society, was a series of platforms perched in a magnificent swamp gum where activists from around Australia and the planet lived aloft, sending interviews, photographs and video footage to the world. The tree was named Gandalf’s Staff, and it is the star of this walk that makes its way through a wonderland of ancient trees and luscious ferns suggestive of Tolkein’s Middle Earth. This tree has also been the subject of a ultra-high resolution photography expedition as one of the first flagship Tree Projects.
OUTER STYX VALLEY
Dozens of giants are to be found well away from these main two sites. Most notably there are:, The Two Towers is a rare example of a mature regnans with two massive main trunks, Gothmog, an incredibly complex stringybark, the ultra-tall fFirebird Wonder and the absolutely massive Damocles at 92.9 meters high.