Painted Cliffs Walk
- September 17, 2026
An easy, low-tide coastal walk on Maria Island to a set of honeycomb-patterned sandstone cliffs, one of Tasmania's 60 Great…
Few short walks in Tasmania pack as much history into a single kilometre as the Darlington Historic Town Walk on Maria Island. Darlington is the island’s main visitor settlement and forms part of the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Property, a collection of eleven significant convict sites around Australia recognised for their outstanding historical importance. The self-guided walk explores an extraordinary collection of buildings and ruins dating from different chapters of Maria Island’s history – from its nineteenth-century convict settlements to entrepreneur Diego Bernacchi’s ambitious commercial ventures and the island’s later cement industry. Among the highlights is the imposing Commissariat Store, built in 1825 and the oldest surviving building on Maria Island, along with the Penitentiary, historic cottages, the Coffee Palace and remains associated with the island’s industrial era. Add the wombats, wallabies and Cape Barren geese wandering around the surrounding grasslands and Darlington becomes one of Tasmania’s most unusual historic walks.
Location: Darlington, Maria Island National Park, East Coast Tasmania
Distance: Approximately 1 km
Time: Approximately 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on how long you spend exploring the buildings and displays
Difficulty: Easy – Grade 2
Track Type: Self-guided loop through the historic Darlington settlement
Track Surface: Compacted paths and grass with steps, uneven surfaces and heritage flooring inside some buildings
Best Time: Any time of year; allow plenty of time between your ferry arrival and departure
The Darlington Historic Town Walk begins almost as soon as you step ashore from the ferry at Darlington. Unlike many historic sites where the buildings are enclosed within a formal museum precinct, Darlington’s history is spread naturally through the landscape. Historic buildings, ruins and archaeological remains sit among open grasslands where wombats and Cape Barren geese regularly graze. Follow the paths through the settlement and take time to explore the surviving buildings and interpretive displays. The route can be completed relatively quickly, but it’s much more rewarding if you allow an hour or two to look inside the buildings and understand the different periods of Maria Island’s history. Because several of the island’s major bushwalks also begin from Darlington, the historic walk is easy to combine with another walk during a day visit.
Maria Island was used as a British penal settlement during two separate periods in the nineteenth century. The first convict station was established at Darlington in 1825. Its isolation from the Tasmanian mainland made Maria Island an obvious location for holding prisoners, while convicts were employed in industries and construction around the settlement. The first settlement closed in 1832, but Maria Island was again used for convict purposes from 1842 to 1850. Many of the surviving buildings, archaeological features and ruins around Darlington provide evidence of these periods. Walking between them provides a much clearer sense of the settlement’s scale than simply viewing the buildings individually.
Darlington is internationally significant as one of the eleven places forming the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Property. Together, these sites preserve evidence of the large-scale transportation of convicts to Australia and the use of forced labour in the development of European colonies. Darlington is particularly atmospheric because the historic settlement remains surrounded by Maria Island’s natural landscape. There are no modern suburbs or busy roads surrounding the site. Instead, historic buildings sit among grasslands beneath the mountains, with the waters of Mercury Passage immediately offshore.
One of Darlington’s most important surviving structures is the Commissariat Store. Built in 1825, it is the oldest surviving building on Maria Island and dates from the establishment of the island’s first convict station. The substantial stone building was used for storing and distributing provisions required by the settlement. Its location close to the waterfront made it convenient for goods arriving by sea. Today it remains one of the defining buildings of Darlington and provides an immediate connection with the earliest years of European settlement on Maria Island.
The Penitentiary is another of Darlington’s major historic buildings. The complex originally served the convict settlement and has survived through the many different phases of Maria Island’s subsequent history. Today parts of the Penitentiary are used as basic visitor accommodation, creating the unusual opportunity to stay overnight within the historic settlement itself. Even if you’re visiting only for the day, the Penitentiary is an essential stop on the historic walk.
The Coffee Palace belongs to a very different chapter of Maria Island’s story. After the convict era, entrepreneur Diego Bernacchi attempted to reinvent Maria Island as a thriving commercial and tourist destination. The Coffee Palace was associated with this ambitious period and today helps tell the story of the island after transportation ended. Its displays provide useful context for understanding how Darlington changed from a penal settlement into a community shaped by agriculture, industry and tourism.
One of the most colourful figures in Maria Island’s history was Italian-born entrepreneur Diego Bernacchi. From the late nineteenth century, Bernacchi pursued ambitious plans to transform the island through agriculture, wine production, industry and tourism. Darlington became the centre of these enterprises, and the former convict settlement was adapted to serve very different purposes. The result is one of the most interesting features of the historic precinct – buildings weren’t simply abandoned when the convict era ended. Many were reused, modified and incorporated into later phases of island life.
Maria Island entered another major industrial period during the early twentieth century with the establishment of the National Portland Cement Company. The cement operation dramatically changed the landscape around Darlington. Industrial buildings, machinery, quarrying operations and transport infrastructure were established, while workers and their families lived on the island. Although the enterprise eventually failed, substantial traces remain around northern Maria Island. Some of these industrial remains can be explored on other nearby walks, particularly the Fossil Cliffs Circuit and Reservoir Circuit.
One of the things that makes Darlington particularly enjoyable to explore is the absence of normal visitor vehicle traffic. Maria Island has no public visitor cars, so the settlement feels remarkably peaceful. Instead of traffic moving between the historic buildings, you’ll often encounter walkers, cyclists, wombats, wallabies and Cape Barren geese. This quiet setting makes it much easier to imagine Darlington as an isolated island settlement rather than simply another historic attraction.
You don’t need to venture far from the settlement to encounter Maria Island’s famous wildlife. The open grasslands around Darlington are particularly popular with wombats, which can often be seen grazing remarkably close to the historic buildings.
Visitors may also encounter:
Tasmanian devils also live on Maria Island, although they are much less commonly encountered during daytime visits. Never feed or touch wildlife, even when animals appear accustomed to people.
The Darlington Historic Town Walk is mostly easy, but this is a genuine historic site rather than a completely modern, level tourist precinct.
Expect:
Sturdy, comfortable footwear is recommended even though the overall walk is short.
The Darlington Historic Town Walk is rated Easy – Grade 2. The approximately 1-kilometre distance and gentle terrain make it suitable for most visitors. The main challenges are uneven floors, steps and surfaces associated with the historic buildings. Visitors with limited mobility may not be able to access every part of every heritage structure, but much of the historic landscape can still be appreciated from the surrounding paths.
Don’t rush through Darlington on the way to another walk. Many visitors arrive on Maria Island focused on Painted Cliffs, Bishop and Clerk or cycling around the island, but the historic settlement deserves time in its own right. Allow at least an hour if you want to explore the buildings and displays rather than simply walking past them.
Yes. Darlington is an excellent family walk. The short distance makes it manageable for younger children, while the historic buildings provide plenty of places to explore. For many children, however, the wildlife may be even more interesting than the history. Wombats and Cape Barren geese are regularly seen grazing around the settlement, making Darlington feel very different from a conventional historic museum. Children should be supervised around ruins, uneven floors and wildlife.
No. Dogs and other domestic pets are not permitted within Maria Island National Park. Maria Island is an important wildlife sanctuary supporting abundant native animals and several threatened species.
Maria Island is reached by passenger ferry from Triabunna on Tasmania’s East Coast. The ferry crosses Mercury Passage and arrives directly at Darlington. There are no public visitor cars on Maria Island, so the historic settlement and surrounding attractions are explored on foot or bicycle. Ferry bookings should be organised before travelling, particularly during busy holiday periods.
A valid Tasmania Parks Pass is required to visit Maria Island National Park.
This is probably the easiest trailhead to find on Maria Island – Darlington is where the ferry arrives. From the jetty, walk into the settlement and follow the historic-site paths and interpretive information around the precinct. Because the walk begins beside the ferry arrival point, it’s an excellent first activity after arriving or a final short walk before catching the ferry back to Triabunna.
Darlington contains the main visitor facilities on Maria Island.
Depending on current operations, facilities include:
Maria Island doesn’t have the normal range of shops and cafés found in a mainland town, so visitors should bring the food and supplies they’ll need.
Darlington is the starting point for many of Maria Island’s best walks, ranging from easy coastal tracks to demanding mountain climbs.
The Painted Cliffs Walk follows the coast south of Darlington towards Hopground Beach and Maria Island’s beautifully patterned sandstone cliffs. It’s one of the island’s most photographed natural attractions and an excellent addition to the historic township.
The Reservoir Circuit heads inland through woodland and tall eucalypt forest to Maria Island’s historic reservoir. The approximately 4 km Grade 3 circuit is also an excellent walk for birdwatchers, with the surrounding white gum woodland providing important habitat for the endangered forty-spotted pardalote.
The Fossil Cliffs Circuit explores the coastline north of Darlington. The route combines spectacular coastal scenery with extraordinary fossil-rich limestone and substantial remnants of Maria Island’s former cement industry.
The Bishop and Clerk Hike is one of Maria Island’s most rewarding mountain walks. The challenging Grade 4 route climbs from Darlington to the distinctive dolerite columns approximately 620 metres above the sea, with spectacular views across the Tasman Sea and towards Freycinet.
The Mount Maria Walk climbs to the island’s highest point at approximately 711 metres. It’s another substantial mountain walk and is best attempted by fit, experienced walkers in favourable weather.
For visitors making a day trip to Maria Island, one of the easiest combinations is the Darlington Historic Town Walk and Painted Cliffs. Explore the settlement after arriving on the ferry, then continue south towards the Painted Cliffs and Hopground Beach. If you still have time, return to Darlington and explore part of the Fossil Cliffs route before catching your ferry. Walkers wanting a more demanding day can instead use Darlington as the starting point for Bishop and Clerk, saving the historic buildings for the end of the walk.
The Darlington Historic Town Walk is far more than a collection of old buildings. Within a remarkably small area, the settlement preserves evidence of Maria Island’s transformation from an isolated convict station to an ambitious private enterprise and later an industrial community. The World Heritage-listed convict landscape provides the historical foundation, while the buildings associated with Diego Bernacchi and the later cement industry reveal how the island continued to evolve long after transportation ended. Perhaps most memorable of all is the setting. Historic stone buildings stand beside open grasslands where wombats graze, mountains rise immediately behind the settlement and Mercury Passage stretches towards the Tasmanian mainland.
For anyone visiting Maria Island, Darlington isn’t simply the place where the ferry arrives – it’s one of the island’s essential walks and one of Tasmania’s most atmospheric historic places.
An easy, low-tide coastal walk on Maria Island to a set of honeycomb-patterned sandstone cliffs, one of Tasmania's 60 Great…
An easy, sheltered walk through woodland and tall eucalypt forest to a convict-built reservoir, one of the best spots on…
A challenging climb to one of Tasmania's best day-walk views, atop dramatic dolerite columns overlooking Maria Island and the Freycinet…
A great short walk on Maria Island suitable for all ages and standards and that can also be undertaken by…
