Tasmania's worst-kept secret? Dove Lake well-trodden, but still a winner

However, this should not be allowed to detract from its status as the jewel in our tourism crown.

No visitor to the state can complete their trip without being confronted by that iconic image of the dual-peaked mountain framed by tannin-stained water, invariably with a snow dusting or boat shed thrown in for dramatic effect.

Airports, tourist info offices, even Bellerive Oval are decorated with giant posters of the view.

Overland Track walkers start here, Mark Webber's wilderness challenge always pays a visit and even serving prime ministers have been known to bring their families.

All with good reason.

Impeccably maintained and just two hours and 5.7 kilometres in length, it is one of the state's most achievable as well as photogenic walks.

Accompanying info states: "Involves one short moderate hill."

My ageing mother's subsequent description of that hill would suggest she strayed over Cradle summit by mistake, but in truth it is not particularly demanding.

My daughter has done it at least once for each of her seven years and no visit to Cradle Mountain National Park is complete without clocking up another circuit.

Trekkers are encouraged to walk clockwise meaning the first of many highlights is Glacier Rock, picturesque if precipitous but impossible to visit without taking photographs, unless you are in the 1 per cent that comes cameraless.

At the lake's southern end are the Honeymoon Islands a tad chilly and rather exposed location for such an occasion) before passing beneath Cradle's towering spires of Little Horn, Weindorfers Tower and Smithies Peak to the delights of the Ballroom Forest.

Ancient myrtle-beech trees festooned in moss create an effect described as "reminiscent of an ancient cathedral".

Difficult to see it myself but then the mountain looks as much like a cradle as the lake does a dove.

Just because every tourist treads this path should not stop it being enjoyed by Tasmanians as well, and we're more likely to take seriously the warning that "wind, rain and snow can occur in any month".