Cataract Gorge is the most dramatic natural feature in any Australian city. The South Esk River carved near-vertical sandstone cliffs in the course of the gorge, which lies just a ten-minute walk from Launceston's city centre. Walking tracks follow both the north and south rims, with the easier south track following the rim past a café and restaurant to the First Basin — a wide natural pool with a public swimming area and a colony of peacocks strutting around the lawns.
The chairlift across the gorge is one of the longest single-span chairlifts in the world and worth riding even if you are not normally given to such things: the view from the midpoint, with the gorge walls dropping away on both sides and the Tamar winding out to the north, is genuinely spectacular. Come in the late afternoon for the best light on the sandstone. The gorge is illuminated at night; the walk by lamplight is a different experience from the daytime crowd.