Frenchmans Cap

Frenchmans Cap, 1960 (AOT, PH30/1/2110)

Frenchmans Cap (1446 metres) is one of Tasmania's most distinctive peaks. This elegant, white quartzite dome, ice-sheared on its south-eastern side to reveal Tasmania's highest cliffs, attracts increasing numbers of bushwalkers, rock climbers and photographers. Almost encircled by the Franklin River in a rugged region of rainforests, sparkling lakes and towering rock spires, Frenchmans Cap is enclosed within Wild Rivers National Park. The liberty cap worn during the French Revolution is thought to have suggested its name.

Frenchmans Cap was well known to Aborigines, and its rich European history includes visits to the region by convicts, explorers, prospectors and piners. Frenchmans Cap was a familiar landmark long before its first recorded ascent by James Sprent's trigonometrical survey party in 1853.

Further reading: J Chapman, South west Tasmania, Melbourne, 1998.

Simon Kleinig