Campsites at Square Lake

[tasmaniac]

I was wondering about the availability and quality of campsites around Square Lake and how sheltered they are? Can anyone help me?

[stu]

Hi tasmaniac,
I think camping is a little frowned upon at Square Lake these days, there are no tent platforms here.
There are platforms / mats at Lake Cygnus before Square Lake (travelling from west to east) & platforms at Lake Oberon.
Having said this, I have camped at Square Lake which was o.k, but not great (a little damp & lumpy).
We camped down low beside the southern side of the lake where there is room for 2-3 tents.
The best / most scenic spot is on the terrace about 40m above the western end of the lake, can be a little damp tho.
Outlook from your tent here would be fantastic, or a great lunch / snack stop in it's own right.
There is a pad which goes to this shelf camp leading from the main track just before you get right down to lake level, just back-track if you miss it & you'll locate it eventually.
Again, I must emphasise the delicate nature of this region & unless it was an emergency you really should push on to Lake Oberon camp.

Cheers.
Stu.

[DaveNoble]

Square Lake is a nice place to camp - and despite the fact that there are no platforms -I have seen no evidence that camping is "frowned on" there. It is one of the "standard" places to camp in the range - eg mentioned as such in guidebooks. Some other standard camping places like Lake Fortuna - camping is no longer permitted - and this has been clearly pointed out in signs and guides.

Square Lake is also the closest of the "standard" campsites to the ridge going out to Mt Sirius - a great place to be at sunrise. It is much quicker to climb up to this ridge at dawn from Square Lake than from Lake Oberon.

There are some obvious exposed campsites slightly east of the outlet stream. These are often boggy. There are some more sheltered sites (although they can be boggy) - further to the east, close to the track on the way up to the ridge. There is (or used to be?) one very sheltered campsite - cut out in the scrub near the lake outlet stream - very close to the lake, hidden between boulders. The other good, sheltered and not boggy campsites are on the high terrace, west of the lake mentioned in the other reply.

I once spent 6 days camped, stormbound at Square Lake - rain, hail, strong winds etc - and thought it was a reasonable place in the conditions.

Another factor to consider. Unlike many of the other lake campsites - it is easy to find places to crap - well away from the track and out of the lake catchment.

Dave

[tasmaniac]

Thanks for your help guys.

[Penguin]

I have also camped at Square Lake. Great camp site. The ground seems to be holding up to the limited use.

Parks is not overly happy about people camping there. Were we helicoptered out from the ridge between square lake and lake oberon by Parks. There were bush fires. The very nice Parks guy told us that even though there was no regulation about camping at square lake, they felt due to damage, people should not do so. He did become a bit more animated when we talked about going down moraine E. That is definitely frowned upon.

P

[Nuts]

Perhaps they need a list of what is (officially) 'frowned upon', I hear the expression more and more, and know of several cases where it has just been 'so and so's' opinion and makes little sense (in perspective). So long as you poo in the right place campsites need have minimal impact. Square Lake is a great spot...

[stu]

I hope you don't put me in the "so & so" category Nuts, I have also had feedback from Parks on camping here, so was only forwarding info that I had received from others, the others being the regulators of this area, but I most wholeheartedly agree with their stance on this.

Yes, I agree with you & Dave, camping here should not cause detriment if done correctly & the effects are not toooo bad thus far; but you'd both have to agree surely that this range is pure magic & any from of protection, coming from my opinion or that of 'others' is only in the best interests of the future of this delicate area.

The amount of traffic now going through the range increases all the time, & although it will probably never be as busy as say the Overland Track you can bet your bottom dollar that the numbers will continue to rapidly increase over the years; how do you think the areas around Square Lake would hold up to continued & intense use without the additions of matting or platforms?

I know you have been going into this range for a long time Dave, surely you have seen massive changes to the area & increased impact from ever intensifying traffic? Surely the protection of these areas is in everyones, particularly future generations, best interests?

Sorry to harp on, I just love the area & want to see it looked after; passion not preaching

Stu.

[Nuts]

Sorry, no not at all. And I agree about the need for protection, especially in such sensitive areas. I was more thinking of the term that I am hearing more and more- is it now parks policy to frown upon those issues that they don't have the funding to fix, or just left up to any one of their employee's to decide. I think things need to be black n white and come from a central source is all. I see regulation as a last resort though it is much better than wandering around nervous that someone may be 'frowning upon' you. Obviously they are up against it trying to stop guide book authors and other sources sending the masses in there but it seems like a loosing policy to expect to regulate with a 'frown'. I was recently advised that it was 'frowned upon' for ladies to use toilet paper if not absolutely necessary..... a noble stance, and possibly a good idea but c'mon... who's going to regulate that with a frown? Spend the $'s, build the toilets, get ahead of things, be proactive...

[stu]

No offence Nuts, just having a dig
Yeah, I agree with you tho; full regulation would be better than procrastination, at least everyone would know where they stand.
I think a little more pro-action from Parks would go a long way; many sensitive areas are getting a little trashed - Rhona again being an obvious example.
Not sure what sort of input / control Parks has over guide book authors? Hopefully they are in the loop somewhere?
I know the second edition of The Abels is in the pipeline (?).
It will be interesting to see how they deal with access to many of the more remote peaks to be featured in this edition?

Cheers

Stu

[DaveNoble]

I know you have been going into this range for a long time Dave, surely you have seen massive changes to the area & increased impact from ever intensifying traffic? Surely the protection of these areas is in everyones, particularly future generations, best interests?

I have not looked at current visitation figures so cannot say that the traffic is increasing. I know current National Park policy is not to promote the range as a destination and with the demise of the Scotts Peak bus service visitation may decrease. I can remember one recent trip - looking at the remote area logbook on Moraine K and seeing that by late January of that year - we were the 3rd party of that summer season doing a full traverse of the Western Arthurs and I think 7 parties had completed partial traverses (A - K). On that trip - there were lots of people in the Lake Cygnus - Oberon area - mostly doing short trips.

I first visited the range in 1975 and impacts then were very obvious in certain places - mainly the campsites - all the campsites had rows of stones that were used to tie down to the bottom of tents to hold them down. And at High Moor and Prom Lake - there were huge piles of rubbish - mainly rusting air drop tins (high level air drops had recently been banned). Nowadays - on some parts of the range - the impact of people is very apparent - eg the descent off Mt Capricorn - which now has a huge gouged out steps.

Dave

[stu]

Thanks Dave, I appreciate your input & Insight. (Also thanks for your input on the Achilles / Perrins Bluff topic, much appreciated ).

I didn't really think of the range being in worse shape in the earlier days, thankfully no fires or food drops anymore & 'leave no trace' ethics (by most at least).

We did the full traverse in early November 2007 & were the first part through since July, I agree it can be a quiet place (thankfully on this occasion as we saw no one else the whole time ). As a side note tho, when we got to High Moor we discovered the last party (ie. 4 months prior) had left the lid off the loo pod there; clear water was overflowing it, in other words it had been completely flushed out & down the hill side by this time, not so good here where your only water source is from the little trickle down near the platforms; no gastro for anyone thankfully. On my return I informed Parks who were generally disinterested & transferred me 3 times before someone, again disinterestedly, took some details. Unfortunately not very high on their agenda, tho I guess 'frowning' is?

After our traverse I know of quite a few other parties who did the full traverse that summer.

This last weekend, failing on an attempt at Shaula in a day, we counted 10+ cars at Scotts Peak (warranted a long weekend here in Tas) & noted quite a few of these parties just going to Oberon, as you have mentioned, a very popular short walk, hence the higher impact to the first part of the range.

Stuart.