Distance: 3.8km
A pleasant family walk that takes approximately 1 hour return.
Cross the bridge over Faggs Creek and walk along the edge of Geilston Creek Road until you reach a map board sign. A well-graded gravel track follows the water before an intersection is reached with the takara limuna / Sheoak Walk. Continue to the right, gently climbing through the open grasslands dotted with occasional eucalypts until the track starts descending towards Shag Bay. Ignore the trails under the transmission lines heading up the hill.
If you are walking with your dog you will need to turn around at this point as the last part of the walk is located in the East Risdon Nature Reserve, managed by Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service, and dogs are not permitted. Please obey signs.
The track contours along the southern side of Shag Bay. A side track down a flight of stone steps takes you to a rusty old boiler is all that remains of an early 20th century fertiliser plant. In 1915 George Russell and his son were killed when the boiler exploded.
Return back up the steps to the main track and continue through a rare Eucalyptus Risdonii forest until the track comes out at a small, ephemeral rivulet at the head of the bay. From the secluded bay there are views to the western shore and kunanyi / Mt Wellington.
The Royal Navy ship HMS Nelson was broken up in Shag Bay in the 1920s but no evidence remains.
The area is rich in Aboriginal middens as it was one of the shortest crossing distances over the Derwent River.
