Search launched for hiker missing in wilderness in Tasmania’s far west
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Man in his 50s was reported missing on Thursday night when he failed to return after attempting a walk from Cockle Creek, on the South Coast Track. Police have located an interstate hiker who went missing while attempting a solo walk in Tasmania’s far south-west.
The man, in his 50s, was reported missing on Thursday night when he failed to return after he was last seen attempting a walk from Cockle Creek on the South Coast Track. Police said he was found “safe and well”. He was located by a rescue helicopter and airlifted out of the area around 9am on Friday.
Cockle Creek marks the beginning of several walks in the area, including Fishers Cape, South Cape Bay – the southernmost point in Australia – and the seven-day South Coast trek. It is also the southernmost point in Australia that can be reached by car.
It follows the successful rescue of two interstate hikers attempting to hike the Hazards mountain range in the Freycinet national park on Thursday. Police said the two walkers, in their 20s, were rescued after police were alerted around 5pm Thursday that they were “a “precarious position in steep terrain and were unable to progress”.
A rescue helicopter dropped search and rescue teams into the area, where they looked for the two hikers on foot. The hikers were rescued in the early hours of Friday morning. Both were uninjured. It has been a challenging period for search and rescue teams in Tasmania, after three hikers died in separate incidents in the last week of 2024.
