The list of Abels was conceived in 1994 by a group of local Tasmanian bushwalkers in a book titled The Abels: A Comprehensive Guide to Tasmania's Mountains over 1100m High: Volume One, edited by Bill Wilkinson.
There are fabulous day walks at both Cradle Valley in the north and Cynthia Bay (Lake St Clair) in the south, but it is the outstanding 80.5km Overland Track between the two that has turned this park into a bushwalkers' Mecca.