Strathgordon was established in 1969 as a company town by the Hydro Electric Commission as a base for its construction workers needed when they dammed Lake Pedder and Lake Gordon as part of their massive hydro electric dam projects.

Lake Gordon was created from the Gordon River by constructing a 140 m high dam across the river above its intersection with the Serpentine River.

Water from the lakes is used in the underground Hydroelectric Gordon Power Station, located near the Gordon Dam.

Presently, the village of Strathgordon is a tiny settlement, now only a reminder of the flourishing town that was occupied in the 1970s by construction workers.

Today, the region of Lake Pedder and Lake Gordon has been redeveloped by Hydro Tasmania as a suitable place for trout fishing (a current fishing licence is essential), picnics, barbecues, camping and bush walking.

To get to this untouched area of the Derwent Valley, take the sealed road 150 km west from Mt Field National Park to reach the hydro storages of Lakes Gordon and Pedder, the Southwest wilderness region that you will travel through is ringed with rugged mountain ranges and untouched forests. Both lakes are excellent wild trout fisheries and have good boat launching facilities.

Weather forecasts are important in this area as the lake conditions change fast. Strathgordon provides refreshments, accommodation, local information and petrol for visitors and the Tourist Centre is situated at the mighty Gordon Dam, the site of Australia’s longest vertical abseil.

To the south of the town lies the vast South West National Park, one of the few areas of genuine untouched wilderness left in Australia. It is a comment on the wildness of this area that the Lithuanian born photographer, Olegas Truchanas (whose photographs of the area have become famous - they were used extensively in the 1983 election campaign), was the first European to navigate the Serpentine and Gordon Rivers.

He made the trip as recently as 1958.