Savage River is a mining town in the wild and rugged country of northwestern Tasmania with Tasmania's only open ore iron mine.

The town of Savage River was built between 1965-67.

Early sailors knew that there were considerable mineral deposits in the area because the rugged mountain ranges interfered with their compasses. What they didn't know was that the force interfering with their compasses was the huge deposit of magnetite at Savage River some 25 km from the coast.

The deposits of iron ore were discovered around 1870, but they could not be worked until means were devised for transporting the ore from this inaccessible region. It took almost 100 years until a solution was found in 1967. The ore is now formed into a slurry which is pumped through an 85km long pipeline to Port Latta on the northwest coast, to the west of Rocky Cape National Park, where it is processed and exported, mainly to Japan.

Further down river is the near-ghost town of Corinna which is on the Pieman River.

The Pieman River gained its name from the notorious convict Alexander 'The Pieman' Pearce who was responsible for one of the few recorded instances of cannibalism in Australia. In a bizarre footnote to the history of the region Pearce and seven other convicts attempted to cross the island to Hobart where they hoped they could catch a merchant ship and escape to some ill-defined freedom.

They lost their way and in the ensuing weeks all of the escapees disappeared except for Pearce. When he was recaptured unproven accusations of cannibalism were made against him. The following year Pearce escaped again accompanied by another convict, Thomas Cox. Once again Pearce found himself without food and, to solve the problem, he killed and ate Cox. When he was finally recaptured Pearce admitted to eating Cox and confessed to cannibalism during his first escape. He was subsequently executed in Hobart.

The Pieman River was named after Pearce's occupation - he was a pieman in Hobart.

Savage River National Park covers an area of 17,980 hectares (44,429 acres) in the north-west of the Island. It protects one of the largest contiguous areas of cool-temperate rainforest in the world, and the western section constitutes part of a large basalt plateau that still retains a wholly intact forest ecosystem.

Rich in primitive flora, undisturbed river catchments, high quality wilderness, old growth forests and geo-diversity, the park contributes to the conservation of eight plant species and six fauna species listed on State and Commonwealth threatened species lists.

Vehicle and walking track access to the park is virtually nonexistent and will not be developed in the foreseeable future.