Ulverstone

Ulverstone is a town on the north coast of Tasmania, Australia, at the mouth of the River Leven on Bass Strait. It is the main town of the Central Coast municipality, which also includes Penguin and Forth.

The district was known as the Leven and valued for its timber when Andrew and Louisa Risby, settlers from Gloucestershire in England, began clearing a farm there in 1848. The name Ulverstone first appeared in 1854, when Hugh Ross McKay opened the Ulverstone store, and the town was proclaimed a few years later. The Leven post office took the name Ulverstone in the 1880s, and the town grew as a port for timber and farm produce shipped across Bass Strait.

The red volcanic soils of the Central Coast grow potatoes, onions, peas and other vegetables, and Simplot processes vegetables from the farms of the area at its plant in Ulverstone. Dairy cattle graze the green hills inland, and the beaches and river attract holiday visitors from the rest of Tasmania in summer.

The River Leven winds through the town past parks and a foreshore walk to the beaches of Bass Strait. Leven Canyon, south of the town, is a deep limestone gorge with lookouts over the river. Gunns Plains Caves, in the valley inland, have limestone formations and a stream where freshwater crayfish and eels live. The Dial Range, west of the town, has bushwalking tracks with views over the coast, and Penguin, a short drive west, is known for its giant penguin statue on the foreshore.