Walk No published rule Community reported, dog friendly

Briseis Race Walking Track

Branxholm, TAS

A level bush track following a hand dug 1900s mining water race through fern gully south of Branxholm, on state forest land where no authority has published a dog rule either way.

The Guide's rating

Directions

The rules, in short

Before you go

Walkers who write about this track report bringing dogs. A north east Tasmanian walking blog includes it in a short list of dog friendly walks and describes doing it with their own dog, and a Tasmanian bushwalking page that publishes a dog friendly field for every track it covers marked this one yes, with a reader replying that it sounded like a good dog friendly walk. No land manager has published a position for the site, so this is a report of what people do here, not a permission anyone has granted.

Nothing found online or reported from the site sets a leash rule. Tasmanian law expects a dog to be under effective control in a public place, and the track is narrow with an open race trench alongside it and bush either side, so a lead is the sensible default. No walker has reported signage about dogs at the car park, so we cannot say whether any exists.

When: Any time
Cost: Free
The walk: Easy on the signposted first section, rough and indistinct beyond it

Worth knowing before you arrive

Ruby Flats Road is unsealed and is reported to deteriorate past the first kilometre, so check it before committing a low car.
The walking surface sits on the bench beside the old race and slopes towards the open trench in places.
Beyond roughly 700 metres walkers report collapsed sections and fallen trees, with the route becoming hard to follow.
Snakes are active in the warmer months in this kind of fern gully country.
This is working production forest, so look for operational or safety notices at the entrance and expect occasional forestry traffic on the access road.
No toilets, bins or drinking water at the car park, so carry dog waste out with you.
Mobile coverage in the north east valleys should not be relied on.

About Briseis Race Walking Track

The track leaves a small gravel car park on Ruby Flats Road and runs along the bench of the Great Briseis Race, the channel cut by hand in 1901 and 1902 to carry water forty eight kilometres from Ringarooma to the tin mine at Derby. Because it follows a water race the grade barely changes, and the first stretch past the interpretation boards is wide, mossy and shaded by man ferns and fishbone fern. Further along the accounts diverge, with some walkers reaching a small footbridge and others finding the bench collapsed and crossed by fallen trees, so most people turn back when the route stops being obvious. There are no toilets, bins or drinking water, and the road in is reported to deteriorate after the first kilometre.

Which dogs it suits

Small Medium Large Giant

A genuinely pleasant, almost flat bush walk with real historical interest and good shade, which is easy going for most dogs. Marked down because the useful signposted section is short, the route degrades into collapsed bench and fallen timber beyond it, there are no facilities of any kind, and the dog evidence is community only with no signage report to back it up.

What is there

Parking
Information board

Best for

easy level walking history minded walkers shaded summer outings quiet weekday walks

What members say

out of 5 from No member reviews yet Loading reviews

Welcome

Space

Amenities

Safety

Members visited with

How dog friendly was it? required

Anything more specific? optional

Welcome

Did staff and other visitors make you feel your dog belonged there?

Space

Was there room for a dog without being underfoot?

Amenities

Water, shade, somewhere to tie up, bins for bags.

Safety

Traffic, fencing, other dogs, hazards underfoot.

Which size dogs did you bring?

What should other people know? When did you visit?

Nobody has reviewed this yet

If you have been here with your dog, you know something the official page does not say. Be the first to write it down.

See it on the big map

The details

Address: Ruby Flats Road, Branxholm TAS 7261. The gravel car park is roughly 2 km south of the Tasman Highway via Donald Street, which becomes Ruby Flats Road.
Coordinates: -41.1825, 147.7412

Community reported, dog friendly

This one rests on 5 community reports. We also read 5 official pages covering this place, and none of them mentions dogs here either way. It may well be right, but nobody official has confirmed it. Check before you travel.

5 sources

Community Bush Treks Lutruwita/Tasmania post on the Brisies Race Walking Track Confirms: Names and locates the track at Branxholm, gives a one hour return walk time and describes the forest, and records DOG FRIENDLY: Yes in its standard fields, with a commenter replying that it sounds like a great little dog friendly walk. This is a walker's own assessment, not a rule from any authority.
Community Four Dog-Friendly Walks in North East Tasmania, Dodgy Knees Confirms: A walking blog that lists the Briseis Race Walking Track among four walks it recommends for dogs in the north east and describes doing the walk with the writers' own dog. It states no official policy and cites no authority.
Community Walking along the Briseis Water Race, Cowirrie Commentary Confirms: Independent track notes giving the car park on Ruby Flats Road via Donald Street, the track sign, the interpretation boards including one about 700 metres in, the width of the bench and the point where it collapses. It states that the visitor site is managed by the state forestry agency. It says nothing at all about dogs.
Community Great Brisies Race, AllTrails Confirms: Public user contributed trail listing showing an out and back route near Branxholm of roughly 3.5 km with reviews from walkers, which supports that the track exists and is walked regularly. The page returned a 403 to direct fetching during this check, so it is cited only for route existence and rough length as shown in search listings, not for any dog tag.
Community OpenStreetMap, Great Briseis Race information board and car park Confirms: Survey sourced mapping of the Great Briseis Race information board at -41.18253, 147.74117, a gravel parking area immediately beside it, and a footway tagged Breseis Race Track running south from it. This is how the pin was placed.

Also checked, and silent on dogs

Tracks and Trails, Dorset Council Nothing about dogs. Read in full as a silence check. It lists fourteen tracks and trails in the municipality, does not include the Briseis Race Walking Track at all, and does not mention dogs, pets or leads anywhere on the page.
Dog Management, Dorset Council Nothing about this track. The page would not open directly during this check. Its declared area list, as reproduced in search results, covers Adams Beach and the foreshore walking track at Bridport, a Legerwood reserve, a Scottsdale reserve and council cemeteries, and does not mention the Briseis Race track, Ruby Flats Road or state forest.
Visiting land we manage, Sustainable Timber Tasmania Nothing about dogs. This is the land manager's own visitor rules page for Permanent Timber Production Zone Land. It covers planning, campfires, vehicles, gates, horse riding, waste and safety, and does not mention dogs or pets once.
Dogs in parks, Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania Does not cover this site. It states that dogs are generally not allowed in Tasmania's national parks and reserves and lists the named reserve exceptions. This track is not on reserved land, so the prohibition does not reach it and the page supplies no rule for it. Cited to show the ban was checked, not to support a permission.
LIST Land Tenure layer, Land Tasmania Land tenure only, not a dog rule. Queried at the car park, at the middle of the track and further south, it returns Permanent Timber Production Zone Land under the Forest Management Act at all three points, which establishes that the walk is on state forest rather than in a national park or a Parks and Wildlife reserve.

What we could not confirm

Nobody official has said anything about dogs here, either way. The Dorset Council tracks and trails page was read in full: it lists fourteen tracks in the municipality, does not include this track at all, and mentions dogs nowhere. The council's dog management declarations name Adams Beach and the Bridport foreshore track, a Legerwood reserve, a Scottsdale reserve and council cemeteries, none of them this track or Ruby Flats Road. The land is Permanent Timber Production Zone Land, so the manager is Sustainable Timber Tasmania, and its own visiting land we manage page sets out rules for fires, vehicles, gates, horse riding and waste without mentioning dogs or pets once. The Parks and Wildlife dogs in parks page does not reach the site because it is not reserved land. What I could not confirm is whether there is a sign at the car park that addresses dogs, since no walk write up mentions one; whether the AllTrails listing carries a dog tag, because that page refused direct fetching; and whether forestry operations or any baiting notices ever apply to this section of forest.

Last checked 20 September 2026. Rules change, and seasonal beach rules change twice a year, so check with the land manager or the venue before you travel.

Know better?

Rules change and pages go stale. If you have been, tell us and the next person benefits.

Corrections need an account, so we can come back to you if the detail is unclear.

Thank you, that is with us.

We check corrections against the source before changing anything, so it may take a few days.

Briseis Race Walking Track

Before you go

Worth knowing before you arrive

About Briseis Race Walking Track

Which dogs it suits

What is there

Best for

What members say

Nobody has reviewed this yet

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