Tasmania: Elephant and St Marys Passes - Passing Delights
It's 17km up to St Marys from the A3 on Tasmania's mid-east coast, and it's 10km back down to the same road. That will give you some idea of the respective gradients of Elephant and St Marys passes, but take my word for it - they're both fun.
Elephant, the southern pass, is relatively gentle with larger radius corners. That makes it a pretty quick run. There is also less traffic. The road, which has been in good condition every time I've sampled it, runs through forest for most of the way and does get a bit damp and slippery at times. Tasmania's east coast does not get as much rain as the west but that doesn't mean that it doesn't get much rain!
St Marys is considerably steeper, with quite tight corners which hug an almost cliff-like hillside pretty much all the way down. It has a steel guardrail on the downhill side, which is something that always makes me extra careful. A very wise fellow motorcyclist once told me that the rail always wins and the rider always loses in an encounter between the two, and I haven't forgotten that even though I have not sampled the experience myself. This road is slower than Elephant, but the main thing likely to slow you down, as I've already mentioned, is traffic. Avoid school bus times!
Both of these roads are arms of the A4, which runs away the other way to Fingal and eventually the Midland Highway near Conara. For most of its length it's called the Esk Highway.
You can, of course, ride the passes going either way. Coming south along the coast, all you have to do is take the turnoff to St Marys on the A4 just before Falmouth. On your way north, turn left at Chain of Lagoons, north of Seymour.
You could also treat this little network of roads as a loop, of about 50 km, and just keep going around and around. Or you can create a bigger loop by taking the Esk Highway west from St Marys down to the Midland Highway (some excellent fast riding along there) before turning south to Campbell Town. This is worth a stop, with lots of historic buildings and (how did you guess) a very impressive pub. From here you turn west again past the wonderfully named Lake Leake to rejoin the Tasman Highway. Then you can ride north along the coast, perhaps stopping in Bicheno for some fresh crayfish and a quick hello to Bertrand 'The Frog' Cadart, the Australian importer of the famous French Fournales shock absorbers at his tourist shop 'Le Frog's Corner'.
That ride covers a total of about 220km, St Marys to St Marys, and takes in some superb countryside. The fact that there is a pancake house on Elephant Pass, which welcomes motorcycles and has a chef who rides a Ducati, is just the icing on the (pan)cake!
Know Before you Go:
Petrol is available at St Marys, so you won't have any fuel problems unless you come through late at night. But that's a problem almost everywhere in Tasmania.
Treat both roads with respect in the rain, and if it's stormy consider sticking to the A3 along the coast and leaving the passes for another (drier) day.
Trucks are not a major problem except as moving chicanes, because the road is so slow for them on St Marys Pass. There is quite a bit of wildlife, as usual active from dusk through to early morning, mainly on Elephant Pass.
More Information:
Tasmania's main tourist information site can be found at: www.discovertasmania.com.au
For info on Tasmania's many national parks and historic attractions visit: www.parks.tas.gov.au
Protect your Bike. Call Shannons Insurance on 13 46 46 to get a quote today.
