West Coast Range

The West Coast Range is a mountain range located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.

The range lies to the west and north of the main parts of the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park.

The range has had a significant number of mines utilising the geologically rich zone of Mount Read Volcanics. A number of adjacent ranges lie to the east: the Engineer Range, the Raglan Range, the Eldon Range, and the Sticht Range but in most cases these are on a west–east alignment, while the West Coast Range runs in a north–south direction, following the Mount Read volcanic arc.

The range has encompassed multiple land uses including the catchment area for Hydro Tasmania dams, mines, transport routes and historical sites. Of the communities that have existed actually in the range itself, Gormanston is probably the last to remain.

These are determined by a number of factors - the southerly direction of glaciation in the King River Valley and around the Tyndalls; as well as the general north -south orientation of the West Coast Range itself.

The following mountains are contained within the West Coast Range, including sub-ranges without a specifically named peak and also including subsidiary peaks.

The slopes of Mount Owen, Mount Lyell and Mount Sedgwick are covered in stumps of forest trees killed by fires and smelter fumes from the earlier part of the twentieth century. The devastation of forests close to the mining operations at Queenstown was substantial as early as the 1890s, and continued late into the twentieth century.

Some Huon Pine on the slopes of Mount Read have been found that show considerable age.