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This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller <\/em>(UK).<\/p>\n \u201cKeep an eye out for wombats. They love to come out for a morning snack,\u201d says the bus driver before the door hisses shut. I\u2019ve been deposited at Ronny Creek car park, an unremarkable gravel patch that surprisingly marks the start of the Overland Track \u2014\u00a0one of Australia\u2019s premier multi-day hikes. Across the road, a boardwalk winds through wide alpine grasslands that sparkle with dew.<\/p>\n Furtive calls and whistles of waking birds fill the air, which still carries the petrichor scent of yesterday\u2019s rain as I take my first steps on the boardwalk. Three hours from Oatlands, the 623sq-mile Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park is home to glacier-carved lakes and a mossy rainforest. Its crowning glory is Cradle Mountain, a cathedral of dolerite rock whose serrated spires snare passing clouds. Criss-crossing the park is a network of hiking trails. Some culminate at the mountain\u2019s summit, which routinely sees a queue of hikers waiting to climb a vertiginous trail to the peak. Others join the 40-mile Overland Track, which disappears into the mountains.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n