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Cape Pillar

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Cape Pillar
Cape Pillar sea cliffs from the ocean, 2022
Cape Pillar sea cliffs from the ocean, 2022
Cape Pillar is located in Tasmania
Cape Pillar
Cape Pillar
Coordinates: 43°11′13″S 147°57′05″E / 43.1870°S 147.9515°E / -43.1870; 147.9515
CountryAustralia
StateTasmania
RegionSouth-east
LGA
Location
Government
 • State electorate
 • Federal division
Population
 • Total4 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode
7182
Localities around Cape Pillar
Fortescue Fortescue Fortescue
Port Arthur Cape Pillar Tasman Sea
Tasman Sea Tasman Sea Tasman Sea

Cape Pillar is a cape on the southern end of the Tasman National Park in south eastern Tasmania that overlooks Tasman Island. Its 300m high sea cliffs are the tallest in the Southern Hemisphere. It has become more popular with bushwalkers since the opening of the Three Capes Track.

Geology

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Cape Pillar cliffs, 2022

The cliffs of Cape Pillar are made of Jurassic dolerite, which came from an magma intrusion ~175Mya, which occurred across Tasmania.[2] As they've cooled they formed into hexagonal pillars in an example of columnar jointing.

The 300m tall cliffs are the highest in the southern hemisphere.[3]

History

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Naming

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The is no recorded Aboriginal name for Cape Pillar, however the Tasman Peninsula was called Tukana/Turrakana.[4][5]

Tasmania as charted by Tasman in 1642

The first European to map the Cape was Abel Tasman, who surveyed southern Tasmania in 1642 expedition. The cape in its approximate location was labelled Zuyd Caep on his charts.[6][7]

During John Henry Cox's 1789 voyage past south eastern Tasmania it was charted as Cape Pillar.[8]

It has been captured in illustrations as early as 1824[9] and later.[10][11]

It is a reference point on the coast for mapping by Australian navy hydrographic service.[12]

Ecology

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The Allocasuarina crassa (Allocasuarina crassa) is endemic to the 20 km2 area surrounding Cape Pillar and on the nearby Tasman Island.[13] It is sensitive to high frequency fire (but like many Australian plants requires fire to germinate),[14] and the root rot.[13]

Whales have been sighted in the area.[15]

Cape Pillar seen from Cape Hauy track

Visitation

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It is accessible from land via the Three Capes Track, a popular bushwalk.[16]

The nearest road is Fortescue Bay Road (Route C344) which passes to the north of the National Park.[17][18]

Locality

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Cape Pillar is also the name of a rural locality in the Tasman Council, entirely located within the Tasman National Park, encompassing the cape. It had a 2016 population of four.[17][1]

Notes

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  1. 1 2 "2016 Census Quick Stats Cape Pillar (Tas.)". quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  2. ↑ Connellan, Ian; MacCallum, Gail (21 July 2016). "Walking the Southern Cape, Tasmania". Australian Geographic. Retrieved 10 July 2026.
  3. ↑ Groundwater, Ben (1 March 2021). "Cape Pillar, Three Capes Track, Tasmania: See 'the scariest cliff in the known universe'". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "Tukana - Tasman Peninsula". Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  5. ↑ "Place Name Assignments List No. 561 (22089)" (PDF). Tasmanian Government Gazette. 2 June 2021. p. 489. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "1. Boreels Eylanden, 2. Storm bay, 3. Zuyd Caep, 4. Tasmans Eyland [cartographic material] / F. Ottens fec. direxit". National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ Burney, James (1803). A chronological history of the discoveries in the South Sea or Pacific Ocean ; illustrated with charts. Vol. 3. London : Printed by Luke Hansard. p. n95.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  8. ↑ Mortimer, George (25 March 1791). Observations and remarks made during a voyage to islands of Teneriffe, Amsterdam, Maria's Islands near Van Diemen's land; Otaheite, Sandwich Islands; Owhyhee, the Fox Islands on the North West Coast of America, Tinian, and from thence to Canton, in the brig Mercury commanded by John Henry Cox, Esq. [microform]. PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR: AND SOLD By T, CADELL, IN THE STRAND; J. ROBSON, NEW BON AND J. SEWELL, CORNHILL. pp. n36. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  9. ↑ LYCETT, Joseph (1824), Cape Pillar, near the entrance of the River Derwent, Van Diemen's Land, retrieved 1 June 2015
  10. ↑ Fergusson & Mitchell (Firm) (1851), Off Cape Pillar, LINC Tasmania, retrieved 1 June 2015
  11. ↑ Cape Pillar, LINC Tasmania, 1851, retrieved 1 June 2015
  12. ↑ Australia. Royal Australian Navy. Hydrographic Service; Army Topographic Support Establishment (Australia) (1998), Australia – Tasmania, South East Cape to Cape Pillar, Hydrographic Service, R.A.N, retrieved 1 June 2015
  13. 1 2 "Allocasuarina crassa". Tasmanian Government Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  14. ↑ "Patterns of smoke germination in south-eastern Australian plants" (PDF). Australian Flora Foundation. Retrieved 10 July 2026.
  15. ↑ "WHALES OFF CAPE PILLAR". The Mercury. Hobart, Tasmania. 18 November 1892. p. 2. Retrieved 1 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ↑ "Tasman Cape Pillar". Tasmania Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 10 July 2026.
  17. 1 2 "Placenames Tasmania – Cape Pillar". Placenames Tasmania. Select “Search”, enter "38058K", click “Search”, select row, map is displayed, click “Details”. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  18. ↑ "Tasmanian Road Route Codes" (PDF). Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water & Environment. May 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
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