The stunning Frenchmans Cap looms over the Franklin-Gordon Rivers National Park at 1446 metres. The 46 kilometre out-and-back trail is often hiked over 3 or 4 days. But, if you're up for the challenge, it makes for an exciting single day adventure and test of endurance.
Overview:
Location — Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, Tasmania.
Best season — The trail is open year round with November to March providing the best weather and long, daylight savings days. We hit the trail on January 2nd. A limit of 18 people are allowed to begin the trail on any one day. However if like us, you are doing it in a day, you do not need to register.
Length — 46km kilometres out-and-back.
Average time — 3-4 days to hike. It took us 11 hours and 52 minutes to run, breaks inclusive.
Cost — Registration is compulsory and you can do that here for free. (Though not needed for a day run). You will need a National Parks Pass - $46.60 AUD for a 24 hour single pass or $93.15 for vehicle for two months. You will also need a car to get there.
Start/end location — Frenchman's Cap trailhead
Facilities — State of the art huts, tent platforms, drop toilets, gas stoves only, lots of duck walks along the trail, water tanks at Lake Vera (15km mark) and Lake Tahune (21km mark). No fires permitted in National Parks.
Difficulty — Grade 4, challenging. Bushwalking experience recommended. Tracks are long and rough with very steep inclines and rock scrambling going up to Frenchmans summit.
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Helpful insights:
The night before – We camped overnight at the Donaghys Hill trailhead about 5 kilometres down the road. This saved us the 3.5-4 hour drive from home to the start, and meant we could make the most of the early daylight.
Fitness – My general fitness approach is stay "ready for anything". Luke and I hadn't done any runs longer than 6kms for a few months before this trail, but we both have a very strong foundation of fitness and strength, especially in our legs, as we prioritise knee health training routines. I also am a competent rock climber so have no problems with simple scrambling like on frenchies.
The trail — The trail is very well maintained and easy to follow. If there has been recent rain the track will be wet/muddy so your feet will be wet from the beginnning; take this into consideration, and bring spare socks in case of rub. The first/last 15kms is where most of the 'running' will be done. The rest of it - from Lake Vera return - is steep and mostly unrunable, so it becomes more like a fast walk.
Water – There are water tanks at Lake Vera (15km in) and Lake Tahune (21km in), as well as lakes and streams along the trail. I started with 1.5 litres and Luke 800mls. We filled up at every passing of a water tank (refilling 4 times) without the need for filtration.
Weather – You can get all seasons (snow, rain, wind, sun) year round, so be prepared for everything. As locals, we purposefully chose a day which was going to be slightly overcast. It can get super hot in full sun and make the day even more brutal.
Gear – I have made full gear list below.
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Stats and breakdowns:
Total distance: 46km
Total time: 11 hours and 52 minutes (inclusive of breaks)
Elevation gain: 2316m
(I tracked on Strava and Luke tracked on his sunto watch. There were differences for all of the stats so I've taken the average)
Start date:Â January 2nd 2025
Start time: 6:15am
Part 1: 15km - Car park to Lake Vera Hut
Part 2: 6km - Lake Vera Hut to Lake Tahune Hut
Part 3: 4km - Lake Tahune Hut to Frenchmans cap summit return
Part 4: 6km - Lake Tahune Hut to Lake Vera Hut
Part 5: 15km - Lake Vera Hut - Car park
End time: 6:07pm
Drive back to Port Arthur: 4 hours
Insights:
Our goal was to get in under the 12 hours. This wasn't based on anything in particular, just what we thought we could manage. It was the last 3km that broke me and my 1 km split time dropped to 15-20 minutes on terrain that should've been 10 minute kilometres. It was the knees that started giving up after some serious downhill.
We didn't stop for long the entire day. At each hut, we refilled our water, ate a few snacks, popped some Panadol and kept going. I would say the max amount of time we would've spent still would have been 30 minutes total all day.
We fast walked the inclines and ran the flats and declines that weren't dangerous.
I slipped over once, Luke hit the deck three times, nothing serious but it can always mean a nasty end to the day. It's the slippery roots that you have to watch!
If you are yawning, it's likely your blood sugar is dropping so it's time to eat! The aim for me on days like this is not to yawn. Snacking small and often is the key.
Gear:
Garmin Mini - never adventure without it.
Shoes - I wore new balance runners and Luke wore Scarpa trail runners.
Clothes - I wore short shorts with a hooded quick dry top. The temperature was perfect for it, though my thighs did get cut up a bit in the first 15km of button grass. I would wear long shorts to stop this, and to avoid the chafe that hit on the last 10km.
Head torch - If you lose light you'll need it.
Wind breaker - We took a super light weight cedarberg one each, but didn't need it.
Food:
This is the amount of food I took for me alone. I was very happy with everything I took, and felt well fuelled, although the jerky was hard to get down towards the end of the day. We each had snacks ready to grab at on trail and were eating something every 30 minutes. Lukes watched marked the kilometres so we would make a point of sipping water every time it beeped.
*Before we started - 60 grams oats with honey and a coffee*
2 x Before you speak coffee (which I drank out of lukes little vest bottles when we hit a water tank)
6 x Lindt balls
5 x Pikelets with jam and butter
2 x homemade Anzac biscuits
1/2 packet x Dried mango
1/4 packet x M & Ms
1/2 packet x Snakes
Beef jerky - 200 grams
2 x Hydralyte tablets - started with one in my camel back
6 x Salt tablets - spread across the day
Water - Drank 500ml before starting. Refilled 1.5 litres at every tank. I drank around 6-7 litres across the day.
Other essentials:
Small sunscreen
Hat and sunglasses
Panadol - I took two when we first hit Lake Tahune and two more at Lake vera on the way out.
Toliet paper
Spare socks - I didn't need them, but could've easily changed into them for the last 15km out for a more comfortable experience.
Spf Blistex lip balm
Vaseline
Tape for blisters/chafe - Luke had to tape up his nipples after the first 15km.
Next time I would take one trekking pole. We ummed and ahhed about taking one, and ended up deciding not to. I would've loved to have had one, even if just for the last 3km when my legs stopped obeying orders.
This was a mammoth undertaking, but one of the best days I've ever had out on the trails. I highly recommend doing this trail as an overnighter first so you know what you are in for, and then training for the one day out and back adventure! If you have questions about Frenchmans, reach out to me at anytime.
See you out there!
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