Warners Track is in State Forest and runs within close proximity to Burnies Creek, ascending from Jackeys Marsh to Adams Peak near Pine Lake in the Central Plateau Conservation Area of the Great Western Tiers. The Track came into being in the mid 1890s when it was used as the main highway and principal stock route from Deloraine, through Jackeys Marsh, to the Midlands and on to Hobart and Queenstown. It accessed the Central Plateau for the summer grazing of sheep and cattle, as well as giving tourist access to Pine Lake for recreational purposes, including skating during the winter months.

With input and funding from the Deloraine and District Improvement Association (the same organisation which built the three central plateau huts—Lady Lake, Ironstone and Sandy Beach Huts), local menfolk and farmers from the Jackeys Marsh and Meander area toiled during numerous, labour-intensive working bees to build the track, which was wide enough to move mobs of cattle and sheep, with bridges strong enough to carry horse and bullock-drawn drays.

In the late 1800s, William Boxhall moved stock from Cheshunt, where he worked, via Warners Track, to the plateau for summer grazing.  During the early 1900s, his son, Joe Boxhall, carted supplies up the track and also cut winter wood for the shepherds at Cider Park, a property near the Great Lake. Throughout the 1950s, graziers such as Les Ritter, Norm Whiteley and Charlie Boxhall also frequented the track in their quest to find summer grazing for their stock. During the 1950s and 1960s, Reg Dixon moved cattle up Warners Track en route to the Walls of Jerusalem. He later forged his own track, Dixon’s Track, to the plateau from the Huntsman. Likewise, the Johnston brothers, Neil and Graham, used the track to drive sheep to the plateau during the 1960s, until they also made their own track, Johnstons Track, in 1970.

A feature of the road was the superbly built dry-stone retaining walls, much of which are still intact today, some 120 years after its construction. Originally, two solid bridges, fashioned from locally sourced pencil pine logs, crossed Burnies Creek towards the top of the track. These bridges had fallen into considerable decay with the passing of time, until they were finally washed away in a huge flood in 1997.

The prime objective of MHPS is to preserve, protect and maintain huts of the high country and track maintenance is not normally part of the agenda. However, the Society felt strongly that Warners Track was such a significant and integral part of the cultural history of the Central Plateau that the bridge reconstruction would ensure the preservation of this link with past history.

In August 2007 the site was assessed by a MHPS representative and senior Parks staff via helicopter inspection, followed later that same month by a field trip with MHPS members and local Meander residents. Detailed reports and proposals for the reconstruction of two bridges were submitted and an onsite meeting with Parks and engineering consultants took place in December 2007. PWS arranged for engineer’s drawings and for materials to be supplied, while MHPS agreed to supply all labour and the hand-split bridge decking.

The first working bee took place on 29th February 2008. A total of 15 working bees, including splitting and preparing the bridge decking, saw a total of 528 voluntary man hours from members of the MHPS. Parks assisted on several occasions with labour and also supplied building materials, most tools and air lifts, including the helicopter transport of three 12 metre steel spans to the site.

The project took just over two and a half years from inception to completion, culminating in an official opening on 13th March 2010. More than 130 supporters and community members walked in and gathered at the main bridge for lunch and inspection of the site and to witness Graham ‘Gray’ Johnston, long term Meander resident and grazier of the high country, perform the ribbon-cutting ceremony.