The Snowy Mountains Highway is one of the prettiest drives we have done in Australia, stretching 333km from Mount Adrah down to Bega in New South Wales. About half of the highway stretches through Kosciuszko National Park.
We're currently living full-time in our campervan, a 2018 Mercedes Sprinter, and exploring Australia, with a plan of "driving the lap" (completing the entire perimeter of the country). I first visited Australia in 2019, following the classic backpacker route, mostly visiting big cities, staying in hostels and traveling by public transport. This time, with the freedom of our campervan, we're trying to hit the lesser known spots and go slower.
We first drove the Snowy Mountains Highway after visiting Canberra, cutting through from Namadgi National Park and loved it so much; the vastness, the history, the gorgeous roads and even spotting wild horses. When my parents came to visit us in Australia for two weeks a few months later, we knew we had to show them this special part of the country.
→ Check out my reel of the wild horses of the Snowy Mountains!
For over 20,000 years, the Ngarigo and Walgal people lived on this land, as well as being a traditional gathering place for many other groups.
The first Europeans arrived in the 1820s and worked in cattle grazing, mining and rural industries alongside Aboriginals. The gold rush and the ski industry both came about in the late 1850s and early 1860s. In 1906, much of the present day national park, including the Yarrangobilly Caves, was preserved in small reserves under the Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1861. Grazing was banned from 1938 due to cattle's negative impacts on the soil. Kosciuszko became a state park in 1944 after many years as a popular outdoor destination for hiking, fishing and skiing. It became a national park in 1967 when the National Parks and Wildlife Service was created.
We first drove the Snowy Mountains Highway at the end of December 2025 from Adaminaby to Mount Adrah and then drove it again in mid-March (with my parents!) back the other direction from Mount Adrah to Cooma. This blog post was first published on 24 December 2025 and updated to contain information from both trips; last updated 12 March 2026.
Every single spot (and more) that I mention in all my blog posts about Australia can be found in my Australia | Ultimate Map!
This is a digital map featuring hundreds of my favourite restaurants, campgrounds, accommodations, shops, photo spots, museums, beaches, lakes, animal spots, bridges, viewpoints, hikes and SO much more in Australia, including its three external territories.
Each pin includes exact locations, images, detailed information, the ability to open and save the spot in your Google Maps and a link to my relevant blog post to read more.
COMING SOON → Buy the Australia | Ultimate Map!
Below is some useful information for preparing for your trip to the Snowy Mountains. In all cases, please be sure to check with the relevant local authorities for the latest and accurate information.
Language: The official language of Australia is English. In the Snowy Mountains, the traditional language of the Ngarigo and Walgal people is Ngarigo and Walgalu, respectively.
→ Learn more about the language of the Ngarigo and Walgal people.
Currency: The currency used in Australia is the Australian dollar, denoted as AUD $. I use a Wise account when I travel which allows me to have a single, free account with multiple currencies. I only have to pay once to convert my money in the app and then I can pay in AUD $!
→ Check the latest currency conversion between AUD $ and your local currency.
Data/WiFi: Telstra is the only of Australia's three mobile phone network providers with coverage on the Snowy Mountains Highway (the other two being Optus and Vodafone). Even then, be prepared for patchy coverage outside the towns along the highway.
We travel with a Starlink in our campervan which enables us to have unlimited WiFi wherever we are, even in places without coverage.
There is free WiFi available at different towns and visitors centres; check out the complete list of where you can find WiFi in the Snowy Mountains.
Visa: All passport holders except New Zealand require a visa to visit Australia. All arrivals must fill out an Australian arrival card before landing.
→ Check which visa you need for Australia.
Time of year to visit: Australia can be visited all year-round. The Snowy Mountains are full of snow (as the name suggests!) in the winter months and great for skiing but if you're looking to do a roadtrip of the highway, then I recommend visiting in spring, summer or autumn (September-May).
Length of stay: The Snowy Mountains Highway stretches 333km from Mount Adrah to Bega. It can be done in a day but most travelers spend at least a night or two in the area as there is so much to explore. Across two visits, we spent four days along the Snowy Mountains Highway stopping at different towns, viewpoints, camping spots and hikes.
Wild horses in the Snowy Mountains
By car: The best way to experience the Snowy Mountains Highway is with your own wheels. The most popular way of exploring Australia is by camping - whether with a motorhome, campervan, caravan or a roof tent on top of a car. This gives you the ultimate freedom of going as fast or as slow as you like.
If you have a car without camping options, there are plenty of accommodation options including hotels, hostels, resorts, cottages, lodges and farmstays and to sleep in along the way.
By guided tour: If you don't have your own wheels or simply don't want to tackle the 333km yourself, there are a number of different guided tour options for all sorts of interests.
Driving the Snowy Mountains Highway
Hotel: Not traveling by campervan? Driving in a car? Whatever your reason for needing a place to stay, there are some great accommodation options all along the Snowy Mountains Highway including hotels, hostels, resorts, cottages, lodges and farmstays and to sleep in along the way.
→ Check out all the accommodation options in the Snowy Mountains.
Camping: We are driving "the lap" around Australia, exploring the country in our campervan. As with the rest of Australia, New South Wales permits freedom camping on designated sites. These sites can vary greatly; some offer a variety of facilities such as toilets, trash bins, picnic tables, outdoor cooking stations and others have none of this and might simply be a pull-out on the side of the road.
The best way to find legal freedom camping spots is to use an app. We use Wikicamps Australia, a cheap app that has every single amenity listed (both free and paid) that you might need on the road. This includes things like where to fill up fresh water, where to dump grey water, where to empty toilets, where to stay, gas stations, information points and also has suggestions for things to do as you go.
→ Download the Wikicamps Australia app.
There are a few spots for freedom camping in the Snowy Mountains, as well as a number of paid options. We visited the Snowy Mountains on two different visits and stayed four days in the area and found a few fantastic free and paid campgrounds to stay at.
Our campsites in the Snowy Mountains
In Kiandra, we stayed at two free campgrounds, the first at Sawyer's Hut. It's just a roadside pullout next to the lovely restored Sawyer's Hut (worth a stop in itself- more on that in the next section) with a picnic table and toilet.
In Kiandra, we also stayed at the Three Mile Dam campground. This was one of the most beautiful free campsites we stayed at in Australia located right on the Three Mile Dam. You fall asleep and wake up on the water's edge and might even get lucky and spot the Snowy Mountains' wild horses. We saw them here at sunset and it was just magical.
It's a free campground itself but requires a $6 booking fee per site, plus a park pass to access Kosciuszko National Park.
At the Blowering Reservoir, we stayed at Yachting Point, an absolutely stunning campsite. There are a number of campsites alongside the reservoir; we chose this one because we literally had the entire place to ourselves. We were even joined by a couple of inquisitive emus who decided to wake us up at 5:30am!
It's a free campground itself but requires a $6 booking fee per site.
Just outside Tumut, we camped at Jones Bridge Campground. There are two free campsites along the river; I recommend the south side ("Campground" not "Park") for gorgeous river views. We got so lucky and pulled in here after an intense heat storm and were greeted with the steam literally rising off the river creating such a magical effect.
In the different towns in the Snowy Mountains are loads of different food options. We had some surprisingly delicious meals in both Cooma and Tumut. I've also included a recommendation for Gundagai which, while technically is not on the Snowy Mountains Highway, is straight north of Tumut and a lovely town to visit.
→ Check out all the food options in the Snowy Mountains.
Cooma
In Cooma, we had brunch with my parents at The Lott Cafe and were absolutely blown away. The bright, aesthetic interiors, alongside fantastic coffee and beautifully-displayed, mouthwateringly good brunch? Absolute winner. Make sure to try the avo stack and the corn fritters.
Tumut
For brunch, we tried two restaurants and they were both excellent. Australia really knows how to do good brunch! The Coffee Pedaler serves up an amazing fresh brunch and lunch plus a fantastic coffee. Everything is cycle-themed, just like its sister store in nearby Gundagai.
We also had a casual brunch at the nearby Whisk and Dish while waiting for our campervan to get a new set of tyres (across the road). I can definitely recommend their green smoothies!
The Coffee Pedaler
Whisk and Dish
For lunch or dinner, I can highly recommend Tumut River Brewing Co.. We visited on our first trip down in December and liked it so much - the service, the venue and the food - that we even brought my parents back again when we drove the Snowy Mountains for a second time in March. They brew their own beer, plus have a fantastic non-alcoholic local apple cider on tap. For food, make sure you try their delicious pizza, nachos and corn ribs.
Gundagai
Although not technically on the Snowy Mountains Highway, if you turn right out of Tumut (instead of left towards Mount Adrah), you'll reach the delightful town of Gundagai which I really love. There are some lovely shops to wander around in, nestled in the rolling hills. Make sure to stop for brunch or coffee at The Coffee Pedaler, the sister location to the one in Tumut. The service is fantastic and the food is so yummy.
The Snowy Mountains Highway stretches 333km from Mount Adrah down to Bega, crossing much of Kosciuszko National Park.
We have driven parts of the Snowy Mountains Highway twice, once from Namadgi National Park in the Australian Capital Territory up to Tumut, and once from Mount Adrah down to Cooma.
As I don't have any recommendations for Mount Adrah, I have included a slight detour from Tumut, heading right towards the lovely town of Gundagai instead.
Here is everything we stopped to see along the way, listed in geographical order from south to north (Cooma to Gundagai):
Best things to see and do on the Snowy Mountains Highway
Sawyers Hut
Sawyers Hut is a historic traveler's shelter in the Snowy Mountains. Prior to paved roads, it was the highest north that carts could reach in the winter at which point travelers would transfer to horseback or skis to carry on into Kiandra. Sawyers Hut was built to provide safety and shelter to those making the trek.
It's burned down quite a few times and rebuilt, most recently in 2022.
There is also a free rest area in the roadside pullout out front where we camped (check out "Where to Stay on the Snowy Mountains Highway" above).
Snowy Mountains Highway Viewpoint
This is the best view in my opinion of the Snowy Mountains Highway. The former gold fields of Kiandra stretch out in front of you and the highway winds off into the distance. It's just stunning and truly epitomizes how beautiful this area is.
It's not an official viewpoint so be careful when pulling over to the side of the road! Finds the exact location on Google Maps (unmarked).
Kiandra Heritage Precinct
Kiandra Heritage Precinct is now not much more than a ghost town. Once the heart of the gold rush that brought thousands of people to the area in search of riches, most buildings are now burned down, with just a few chimneys remaining scattered across the area. Fantastic information signs help you to imagine what the town might have looked like in its heyday.
The courthouse / police station (which at one point also became a popular ski lodge) has been partly reconstructed and is a good place to park and start your walk through history.
Yarrangobilly Caves
The Yarrangobilly Caves are six large limestone caves in Kosciuszko National Park. They are estimated to be around two million years old made of 440 million-year-old limestone.
→ Check out my complete guide to visiting the Yarrangobilly Caves!
Black Perry Lookout
The first thing you'll most likely notice at Black Perry Lookout is how incredible the trees smell! Just a few steps from the parking lot, this viewpoint looks over the Bogong Peaks Wilderness and makes you feel so incredibly small. In the distance, you'll spot Black Perry, a molten rock which came in contact with limestone at more than 580°C creating skarn and marble. This place has important cultural connections for the local Aboriginals.
Jounama Pondage
We went into the tiny town of Talbingo to fill up on diesel and spotted this beautiful lookout over the Tumut River just before it feeds into the Blowering Reservoir. It's a nice place to stretch your legs and take some pretty photos.
Blowering Reservoir
This gorgeous reservoir connects with the Tumut River, just before arriving into Tumut. The reservoir was made in the 1960s to store water to generate electricity as part of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. It's gorgeous to drive around it and also a popular spot for all sorts of water sports.
My three favourite viewpoints of the Blowering Reservoir are here, here and here.
We also camped down at Yachting Point on the water's edge - check out "Where to Stay in the Snowy Mountains" above for photos of what Blowering Reservoir looks like from down below in the sunshine!
Tumut Lookout
This little lookout looks over the town of Tumut, maintained by the local Rotary Club. It's not much, but it is a sweet place to pause and take in the view for a moment.
Gundagai
Gundagai is a delightful town with some lovely shops to wander around in, nestled in the rolling hills. We especially enjoyed poking around in Junque & Disorderly, the local antique shop.
PIN THIS POST TO REFER BACK TO LATER!
GET READY TO TRAVEL!
— Book tours and experiences - with GetYourGuide
— Get all the gear you need for your trip - with Amazon (North America)
— Get all the gear you need for your trip - with Amazon (Europe)
— Find a place to stay - with Booking.com
— Choose a hostel to stay at - with Hostelworld
— Purchase global travel insurance - with World Nomads
— Load an international eSim on your phone - with AirAlo
— Start your own travel blog - with Hostinger
— Join the GetYourGuide Travel Creator Community - with GetYourGuide
Hi! I’m Jana, a Dutch-German-British-Canadian with a dream of seeing every country in the world. I am a storyteller, photographer and adventurer passionate about documenting and sharing my travels.
