Fossil Cliffs maria island, close-up of cliffs with Bishop and Clerk in the background
Fossil Cliffs, Maria Island National Park.
60 Great Short Walks

Fossil Cliffs

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Alerts for Fossil Cliffs

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Closed area: Painted Cliffs - Partial closure
Applies from 8/5/2024

​​​​​A section of the Painted Cliffs will be closed to public access, pending ​​geotechnical surveys to determine safety risks of loose overhanging rocks.

For further information, please contact the Maria Island Gateway on (03) 6123 4040.​

Last reviewed 2/5/2025 09:50 AM


1-2.5 hour walk or 1-1.5 hour ride, 4.5 km circuit
Grade 3: Some bushwalking experience recommended. Tracks may have short steep hill sections, a rough surface and many steps.
Supervise children, hazardous cliffs, unprotected track edges.
A valid parks pass is required for entry to Tasmania's national parks.
This walk leaves from the Darlington Settlement on Maria Island, accessible by passenger ferry.

About

​This stunning set of cliffs on Maria Island hold stories both ancient and modern.

An easy amble adjacent the grass airstrip leads to the dramatic cliff edge. A short steep track gives access to a rock shelf from which you can see the cliff's rock strata up close. They contain a vast number of fossils, including clams, sea fans, corals, scallop shells and sea lilies, that were deposited in the sea around 300 million years ago. This extraordinary fossil richness is one of the finest examples of its kind anywhere in the world. The resulting sedimentary rocks are so lime-rich that the cliffs were briefly mined for the manufacture of cement. On the way you pass silos near the jetty that date from that time.