Trial Harbour is a rural locality in the local government area (LGA) of West Coast in the North-west and west LGA region of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. The locality is about south-west of the town of

Zeehan Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan, and neighbouring mining towns of Dundas, Rosebery and Queenstown. History The greate ...

. The 2016 census has a population of 24 for the state suburb of Trial Harbour. It is a small anchorage on the

West Coast, Tasmania The West Coast of Tasmania is mainly isolated rough country, associated with wilderness, mining and tourism. It served as the location of an early convict settlement in the early history of Van Diemen's Land, and contrasts sharply with the mor ...

and historical locality, located in the northern part of Ocean Beach, Tasmania. It was an exposed and particularly vulnerable anchorage which was susceptible to the prevailing local weather of the

Roaring Forties The Roaring Forties are strong westerly winds found in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40°S and 50°S. The strong west-to-east air currents are caused by the combination of air being displaced from the Equator ...

, seventeen miles north of Macquarie Heads (the entrance to Macquarie Harbour).

History

The locality was named Remine until 1987, when it was renamed. Trial Harbour was gazetted as a locality in 1987.

Indigenous usage

Carvings and

midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofac ...

s were identified in the 1930s and 1990s.

European usage

It was named after the cutter ''Trial'', which first anchored there in 1881, and it was established by four Baltic sailors, Gustav Weber, and the three Karlson brothers, Karl, Peter and Steve, otherwise known as the Russian Finns. The harbour was utilised for a short while during the establishment of the early mining communities of

, and Queenstown, prior to the establishment of the settlements and facilities at Strahan and Regatta Point. It came under the control of the Hobart Marine Board. It had two hotels and other facilities in its early days and currently it is the location of holiday homes. It has been also a location on the west coast where whales have been sighted close to shore. Further north along the coast – a similarly dangerous and exposed location was Granville Harbour.

Geography

The waters of the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...

form the western boundary, and the Little Henty River forms most of the southern.

Road infrastructure

Route C248 (Trial Harbour Road) enters from east and runs through to the west, where it ends.

Notes

References

* {{cite book, author-link = Charles Whitham, last=Whitham, first= Charles, title=Western Tasmania – A land of riches and beauty, edition=Reprint 2003, publisher=Municipality of Queenstown, location=Queenstown, year = 2003 History of Tasmania Coastline of Tasmania Localities of West Coast Council Towns in Tasmania