The Franklin River , the other of the wild rivers for which the park is named, is one of the world's great wilderness rivers and is in the heart of Tasmania's uninhabited south-west. Rafting tours conducted on a regular basis, most commencing in Queenstown.

The Lyell Highway passes through the national park, and there are several walks accessible from the roadside. The Franklin River Picnic Area is located where the highway crosses the river, and there is an interpretative rainforest walk (easy, 20 min) to the river. Nelson Falls is a 20 min walk, and has a viewing platform at the base of the falls.

Donaghy's Hill is a moderately easy 40 min (return) walk to a lookout, where the Franklin and Collingwood Rivers can be viewed along with mountains in the vicinity such as Frenchman's Cap and the King William Range.

Significantly more challenging is the walk to Frenchmans Cap itself. Passing through testing wilderness (below), this provides great alpine scenery but is only for very experienced bushwalkers and takes approximately four days.