Mount Kosciuszko National Park Travel Info Southern inland New South Wales is mostly high country with alpine vegetation, and the only corner of the state where it snows (properly) during the winter.
Kosciuszko, aka Snowy Mountains, is known for some of the best skiing in Australia during the winter, and some great bushwalking during the summer, when you can see the rare corroboree frog, Mountain pygmy possum and bogong moth; and climb Australia’s highest mountain. Kosciuszko is one of the most popular national parks in Australia, attracting about three million visitors a year. Here is some information about the park, and in the end of the page is accommodation and a map.
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Snowy Mountains Geology The largest of the NSW’s national parks, the 690 000 hectares Kosciuszko National Park runs from Victorian border to the west of Namadgi National Park in Australian Capital Territory. Australia’s highest mountain, the 2228m Mount Kosciuszko, is not high compared to other continents’ records such as Asia’s Mount Everest (8848m), South America’s Aconcagua (6962) Africa’s Kilimanjaro (5895m) or Europe’s Mont Blanc (4807m). This is because Australia has been geologically inactive for a very long time and Australian mountains have therefore managed to erode more than the younger peaks on other continents. The sedimentary rocks of Australian Alpine area were deposited about 800 million years ago when the area was under the water. About 200 million years later, these sediments were intruded by granites which today stand up as large boulders where the surrounding sedimentary rocks have been eroded away. Ice ages have left further imprints such as tarns, moraines and glacier lakes on the eroded landscape of Mount Kosciuszko.
Snow Gum and other Alpine Vegetation When it comes to plants, Mount Kosciuszko National Park contains six different wilderness areas: Byadbo, Pilot, Jagungal, Bogong Peaks, Goobarragandra and Bimberi. It is interesting to see how the vegetation changes with altitude: the subalpine areas on the lower slopes are covered by wet eucalypt forests and eucalypt woodlands while higher up snow gums start to appear. At the highest altitudes where it is too cold for trees to grow, there are open plains covered by alpine vegetation on heaths and herbfields, which during the summer put on a beautiful wildflower display.
Corroboree Frog, Bogong Moth and other Alpine Animals Kosciuszko National Park is particularly known for two rare animal species: the black-and-yellow-striped Corroboree Frog (Pseudophryne corroboree) which is found in the park’s alpine sphagnum bogs, and Mountain Pygmy Possum (Burramys parvus) which only lives in the altitudes above 1500m and was thought to be extinct until it was found in 1966. Both species are endangered and endemic to the Australian Alps. Other alpine animals in the park include kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas, platypuses, wombats, possums and bogong moth (Agrotis infusa) which migrate to the alpine country during the summer to escape the heat on lower altitudes. The 200 species of birds that are found in the park include emus, kestrels, cockatoos and eagles to name a few.
Aboriginal Heritage and European History Aboriginal people have been living in the area for tens of thousands of years and they continued to live and work here after Europeans arrived. The early European settlers were mainly pastoralists, but later also miners and loggers. There are many historical huts from those times scattered around the park.
Kiandra and Yarrangobilly Caves The largest town in the area is Cooma - a colourful town with some interesting history, and the gateway to Mount Kosciuszko National Park. North-east from here is the ghost town Kiandra, the impressive Yarrangobilly Caves and the somewhat low-key (compared to the southern ones) ski resort Mount Selwyn. Yarrangobilly Caves are in a limestone belt which formed about 440 million years ago under the water and was later lifted above the sea level. There are guided tours to the caves, and outside the caves are thermal pools where you can have a dip in 27°C waters. Kiandra is an interesting ghost town which boomed in Australian shortest gold rush with 4000 people for only one year in 1859-1860, to drop to a few hundred people in 1861 and to zero in the next 100 years.
Best Ski Resorts in Australia South-east, towards Jindabyne are some of the most popular Australian ski resorts, and the beautiful Alpine Way, one of Australia’s greatest scenic drives past deep blue lakes and snow-capped mountains. There are two good lookout points: Olsen’s Lookout and Scammell’s Lookout. If you are thinking of Skiing in Australia, on the Alpine way is the popular Thredbo Ski Resort and just north of it are the Perisher Blue and Charlotte Pass. Ski Kaos runs packages from Sydney and Summit Coaches take you to the ski resorts from Canberra. V/Line Buses and Countrylink shuttle between Canberra and Cooma.
Summer Activities and Bushwalking There is some snow in the Kosciusko National Park even during the summer, but not enough for skiing, and not enough to stop you from bushwalking. Summer is the best time to hike the park’s bushwalking tracks to Australia’s highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, enjoy the Alpine vegetation, wildflower displays, snow gum trees, deep gorges, glacial lakes and crystal-clear waters of the Snowy River and the 360° views that you have over the open plains. Other activities popular during the summer are caving, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, horse riding, mountain biking and white water rafting. There are several guided bushwalking tours available such as Paddy Pallin and High’n’Wild in Jindabyne; and more can be found at the Kosciuszko National Park’s Visitors Centre.
Mount Kosciuszko Camping You can camp almost anywhere (except at Yarrangobilly Caves, resort areas and in the catchment areas of glacial lakes). Sawpit Creek is a very nice camping ground – kangaroos come right to your tent and you can get very close to them. If you don’t like to camp, you can stay at Alpine Resort Motel, Boali Lodge, Fisherman’s Lodge, Quality Horizons Resorts, Khancoban Backpackers, Winterhaus Lodge, or Khancoban Alpine Inn on the Alpine Way.
Here is a map of Mount Kosciuszko National Park, where I have tagged the places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.
NOTE: This website is written in British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all correct in the language used in Australia.
