Tasmania’s Lake St. Clair is Australia’s Deepest

North America’s Lake St. Clair is famously shaped like a heart. But Australia’s Lake St. Clair, more famous for its depth, is shaped like a boomerang.

Lake St. Clair as seen from space. (Credit: NASA)

It sits in the heart of Tasmania, a wilderness area subjected to intense glaciation in the past, leaving large areas of flatland and steep gorges. The process also deepened the valley that would fill to become Lake St. Clair, and sealed it with glacial debris.

Lake St. Clair. (Credit: Jörn Brauns via Wikimedia Commons)

Today, Lake St. Clair is nearly 700 feet deep, making it Australia’s deepest lake. This distinction is complemented by the natural beauty of the land surrounding it, which holds Cradle Mountain, large swaths of temperate rainforest and the nearby Australian coast.

Lake St. Clair is an alpine lake, sitting 2,417 feet above sea level. This altitude fosters a cool and fresh climate that is subject to unpredictable changes.