Mount Kosciusko

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Kosciusko National Park includes Australia’s highest mountain, Mount Kosciusko (2,228 metres/7,310 feet). Several tributaries of the Murray and Snowy rivers begin in the park. There are numerous lakes, including the Blue, Albina, and Club. The park has more than 200 caves and the most extensive examples of glaciated upland landscapes and subalpine flora in mainland Australia. Several of Australia’s major ski resorts are located in the park, including Perisher Valley, Smiggin Holes, and Thredbo.

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The largest national park in New South Wales, Kosciusko National Park extends 200km north to south, from Tumut to the Victorian border, encompassing an area of some 6500 square kilometres. The scenery includes almost all of the high country, with ten peaks above 2100m, forested valleys and a treeless plateau with glacial lakes, as well as the headwaters of Australia’s biggest river system, the Murray–Murrumbidgee.

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The broad shaped valleys around the main range are a result of glacial action during the ice ages and make for easy access to the Main Range which offers fantastic cross country skiing. and for the adventurous , challenging downhill runs on the steep western faces.

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The displays of wildflowers in the summer months on the alpine areas are truly spectacular and bushwalking to the top of Australia during this time is an incredible experience.

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Named after the Polish military leader Thaddeus Kosciusko (1746–1817), the area was important for summer cattle grazing until the park was founded in 1944. The construction of the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a hydroelectric project completed in 1972, left an extensive road network that is now heavily used by tourists. Several large dams associated with the hydroelectric project are located in the park.