Mole Creek Karst National Park - Launceston 3.2

Mole Creek Karst is a national park situated in the North of Tasmania, Australia, 168 km northwest of Hobart.It is located on the slopes of the Great Western Tiers to the east of the town of Mole Creek. It is the only national park in Tasmania created specifically to protect karst landforms. It is part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site.The National park comprises twelve separate blocks of land, some of which are completely surrounded by cleared, private land, and many of which whose karst features and cave entrances are located outside the bounds of the park.The Mole Creek Karst National Park is characterised by its numerous and spectacular cave networks, which attract many tourists each year. Two of these particular caves; King Solomons cave, which features an extensive network of sediment and bone deposit, as well as shawls, and speleothems which make up stalactites and stalagmites., as well as the Marakoopa cave; which is popular for its fantastic glow worm display, and features two underground streams, large caverns, rim pools, reflections and shawl and flowstone features, have been developed as very successful show caves and are the main attraction of the guided cave tours. Many of the caves within the National Park remain underdeveloped and are not promoted, although they are visited by the occasional recreational caver. Many other caves are located on private land, and therefore pose an issue in regards to management and conservation.The national park was declared in 1996 to provide protection for an extensive system of over 300 known caves and sinkholes, including Marakoopa and King Solomons Cave.