The Snowy Mountains are one of the most unique, incredible, epic, and FUN places in NSW. The Kosciusko National Park is also the largest National Park in NSW, so you really can’t beat the adventures here. Growing up in Canberra I was spoilt that the Snowy Mountains was only a short 2 – 2.5 hour drive away. Growing up I mostly ventures to the Snowies to go snow boarding, but as I got older this matured into day hikes, multi-day hikes, waterfall chasing and even ice climbing!
Here are some of my favourite things to do in the Snowy Mountains.
Quick Summary:
- Snowboarding
- Buddong Falls
- The Main Range Track
- Porcupine Rocks
- Illawong Walk
- Rams Head North
- Cooleman Falls
- Yarrangobilly Caves
- Overnight Hike on the Main Range
- Perisher Creek Falls
- Mill Creek Falls
- Ice Climbing
Snowboarding
Of course, the first best thing to do in the Snowy Mountains is to go snowboarding!! And yes yes skiing too but we all know snowboarding is way better…
I’ve snowboarded at both Perisher and Thredbo ski resorts and I don’t particularly have a huge preference as to which, though I understand its a big deal which side you pick for some. To my understanding, and I am by NO MEANS an expert, but Perisher is best for back country skiing and for ski runs (especially up at Blue Cow) and Thredbo is better for beginners/families sticking close to the resort.
I have spent a week with family at Thredbo but for the most part I would always head up to Blue Cow at Perisher.
I am also by no means a pro nor a particularly good snowborder, but it is a lot of fun and something I have done for many years.
Buddong Falls
In January 2019 I convinced my mum to join me on a quick day’s road trip to visit some beautiful sugar pines, waterfalls and caves. This was also right up her alley, so we jumped in my parents’ cruiser and off we went!
After we visited the Sugar Pines Walk in Bago State Forest we ventured into the most northern point of the Kosciuosko National Park to visit Buddong Falls. Quite literally it is just 100m inside the national park boundary!
We can thank Google Maps for the nail-biting part of the adventure, as little did we know, the 8km road that would lead us to buddong falls was actually a 4WD fire trail. Luckily we had the 4WD! But I can say mum DID NOT love the bumps or the off-road ruggedness.
At one point along the very nerve-racking fire trail (we really didn’t know if the road was clear or drivable the whole way) we came across this clearing and saw wild brumbies!! My mum and I are both big horse lovers, and I think for both of us this was our first time seeing brumbies in the wild like this. Eventually we popped out at the Tumut 3 pipeline inlet structure and made our way back to the Snowy Mountains Hwy!
At the Buddong Falls Campground was also the first place I’ve seen a funnel web spider nest, right as I was squatting to do a wee!
The Main Range
It’s crazy to think that December of 2019 was the first time I had hiked or visited The Main Range. Luckily, we left the day before the bushfires of 2019 started.
The scenery is mountainy and delicious. The first time I hiked the Main Range we did the big loop from Charlotte’s Pass.
Porcupine Rocks
Porcupine rocks is a beaut spot for a sunrise hike, starting at Perisher Valley. It is a pretty short and easy 5.7km return walk which makes it very achievable for sunrise. The warm sun hitting the rocks is quite magical.
Illawong Walk
The Illawong Walk for some is just an entry walk to access the back country and the main range, but for less adventurous hikers, families or those with less time it is a beautiful walk through alpine terrain that leads to the Illawong Suspension Bridge. The bridge is a well worth it destination for the hike, suspending over the beautiful Snowy River.
The hike starts from Guthega and only takes a short 5km return to complete, crossing over the beautiful Snowy River with a smaller pedestrian bridge early on.
Rams Head North
Starting from Thredbo along the Kosciusko Walk is a beautiful sneaky side trip to the Rams Head Range. This spot was made popular by a few locals/adventure photographers who managed to capture the reflection of the rocks in the water. It is especially beautiful in winter!
Cooleman Falls
The Blue Waterholes Campground in the high plains area of Kosciusko National Park is the perfect base for a weekend camping with direct access to caves, walks, gorges and the beautiful Cooleman Falls. It is a popular spot for getting close and personal with wild brumbies and you can often spot them driving along the Long Plain Road.
Cooleman Falls sits within the Clarke Gorge and accessed via the Clarke Gorge walking track. There are many water crossings along the way so expect to have wet feet! I think about 7 in total! The caves and gorge give the waterfall a beautiful dramatic rocky backdrop.
Yarrangobilly Caves
The Yarrangobilly Caves are located in the high plains area of northern Kosciusko National Park and are a popular touristy destination running commercial caves tours and the location of a most popular thermal pool!
I first visited these caves on a day trip with my mum back in early 2019 after our trip to Buggong Falls, and again on a solo trip 2 years later in 2021.
My favourite spot to visit at Yarrangobilly Caves is the South Glory Hole cave, it is the largest and one of the most epic caves I have ever visited!
A bit of a cheeky name for a cave if you ask me… but my favourite part is the top opening of the cave looks like an outline of Australia to me!
Fun fact: This last photo was taken by a 9 year old boy who was exploring with his mum, he did a pretty good job!
Overnight Hike on the Main Range
After hiking the Main Range in a day, I was super keen to do the longer version with an overnight camp along the way from Guthega to Thredbo! The total distance would be 27km, which would be my second ever and longest overnight hike!
Along the way we came across a mini ice/snow cave. This was my first time ever seeing something like this so of course I climbed inside! It was EPIC. The snow cave was formed by the rising water temperatures of the creek melting the snow away from the water level, however still cold enough on top to not completely melt away.
The Kosciusko National Park has some tight restrictions on wild camping, you can’t camp within a certain distance of natural water sources, and you are required to carry out your poo and wee to prevent pollution and to protect the delicate alpine environment from bacteria, parasites and viruses.
So, this was my first time doing this!! You can buy some great toileting and gel packs from adventure shops in Jindabyne, I also bought a shewee for this trip and I’ll admit, it kinda actually works! One bizarre perk to weeing inside a gel bad is as soon as your wee is absorbed by the gel it turns into a pretty neat heat back in the cold… or I am just super weird!
Watching the sun setting over the snowy mountains was a very welcome and calming site.
To the top of Australia we go!
Perisher Creek Falls
I am not actually sure if these falls have an official name, so for the sake of it i’ll name them Perisher Creek Falls after the creek they are located on. We spotted these falls from the car as we were driving back from Guthega.
The falls are pretty beaut! We followed a little foot track straight down to the falls from the car, and there was plenty of space to pull over on the side of the road. I would love to go back one year when it is covered in snow!
Mill Creek Falls
Mill Creek Falls are located on the southern side of Talbingo, a few kms inside the Kosciusko National Park boundary. I think I first spotted these falls from the Snowy Mountains Hwy and my curiosity got the better of me.
I ended up finding a faint walking track with ribbons (I am not a fan of the use of ribbons to mark trails) that led all the way up to the falls. The track was VERY overgrown, so even though there was a faint track it felt like a bush bash slog most of the way and only a few kms seemed to take me 4 hours. BUT, as always, the pristine weather and the views back to the town of Talbingo and the Tumut River made it worth it.
I always find is fascinating to find a decent waterfall in what feels like very dry rocky Australian bush. It makes the water and the sounds of the waterfall even more refreshing!
I always get this little excited boost of energy when I can see a waterfall from a distance, like a little scurrying mouse eager to snap up their cheese!
She’s a little beauty, and its always a bonus to get a rainbow at the base of a waterfall! It feels like a thank you from nature for visiting and appreciating.
Ice Climbing
For a few years I had wanted to do a mountaineering course to learn ice climbing at the Snowy Mountains. I had booked two trips in 2021 and 2022 to go ice climbing with Allie Pepper, who is the most successful Australian female mountaineer but unfortunately both trips ended up being cancelled one due to covid and another due to bad weather, which sucked!
After this Allie Pepper stopped running her mountaineering courses as she embarked on a project to climb the world’s 14 highest peaks with no oxygen, so in 2023 I booked another course with Andrew Lock, who was the first Australian to climb all of the world’s 14 highest peaks, so that was pretty bloody epic!
All the gear and no idea! This was my first time ever camping in snow, so I had hired an all-season tent from Mont in Canberra which was brilliant, but I did not have the proper sleeping matt rating for the job, so it was quite cold!! Lesson learnt!
It was pretty beautiful seeing the Illawong suspension bridge in the snow, and wow is the snowy river pumping in winter! I also LOVE snow shoes, that is so much fun.
We hiked up only a short way from the Illawong suspension bridge and found a nice spot under some trees for protection from the elements and set up camp! Second mistake I made… I brought a lot of dehydrated meals and didn’t pack nearly enough snacks or easy quick meals. I regretted this greatly over the coming days,
We learnt to dig out a nice flat pad for the tents, did little seats and holes to sit in. It was a cold night! The sleeping matt did me a dirty, but I had a great sleeping bag and tent which was my saving grace. Waking up in the morning my drink bottle was frozen (I may have left it out) and peeing into a bottle was quite an interesting experience.
The first day we promptly hiked straight to Blue Lake to have our first go at ice climbing, the weather was perfect! We camped a fair way away from Blue Lake, so the trek there was pretty tiring. I was also the only female on the course, so I was the slowest, which you never want to be! My fitness was also not where it should have been for the course, pre-training isn’t always my thing… I am more a suffer while you’re there and recover when you get home kind of gal.
Third mistake I made… bringing hiking poles instead of skiing poles… they will not work the same! Luckily I borrowed one from another member on the course.
Seeing Blue Lake in all her glory for the first time is a sight I don’t think I will ever forget. This is also my first time ever seeing a completely frozen over lake, and it’s in Australia! Who knew we could even get such a thing.
To the credit of how Andrew Lock runs his courses, after a thorough gear briefing and practice run, we were straight on the ice! 2023 wasn’t the best season for ice, what we found was more icey snow but it was enough to give us a good taste of what ice climbing entails.
It was tiring, cold, a little frightening and absolutely brilliant.
The views on the hike back to camp were phenomenal. Snow as far as you could see!
Another icey night but what an incredible place to sleep.
On the second day we did it all over again! My mind kept telling me no way in hell, and I tried to bail as I had a headache and wanted to stay in my tent all day but the encouragement got us back out. Andrew assured me that even though I felt more exhausted we would make it back to Blue Lake faster than we did the day before, and he was right!!
This time we found a larger icey-er section to climb. It was very steep getting up to this spot, there is a much easier ice climb most people reach each season but unfortunately for us there was no ice there this year.
A blissful hike back to camp at the end of day 2. I was pretty excited this time that I wasn’t always the slowest… but as I had a headache for most of the day everyone else was carrying most of my gear for me, so that might have been why!
Back at camp we did some more training on setting anchors and belaying climbing partners. Exhausting after hiking to Blue Lake two days in a row but good fun.
Lessons Learnt:
- A sleeping matt rating MATTERS. Ensure you have the right matt for the conditions/environment
- Pack enough snacks, do not rely too heavily on dehydrated meals
- Bring proper skiing poles, even if you don’t ski, hiking poles won’t cut it!
Rachmartee 
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