Australian Alps Walking Track

The Australian Alps Walking Track is the country's premier high-country long walk, running roughly 650 kilometres from Walhalla in Victoria across the roof of the continent to Tharwa near Canberra. It links the Alpine, Kosciuszko and Namadgi national parks, staying high on the ranges through the only substantial area of Australia that holds regular winter snow.

Thru-hikers take five to eight weeks to complete the whole route, though most walk it in sections. The track crosses the Bogong High Plains, the summit region around Mount Kosciuszko at 2,228 metres, and remote wilderness where resupply points are days apart. The landscape is one of snow gums, alpine herbfields, granite tors and vast open tops that in summer are carpeted with wildflowers.

Difficulty is demanding. The route is remote, often faintly marked, and requires confident navigation, river-crossing judgement and full self-sufficiency; long carries between resupply towns test planning as much as fitness. There are few huts, most of them historic cattlemen's shelters intended only for emergencies, so a tent is essential. No permit is required, but registering intentions is wise.

The walking season is the southern summer, roughly December to March, when the high tops are largely free of snow. Even then, cold fronts can bring sleet and whiteout to the exposed plateaus, and hypothermia is a real risk. Outside summer the route becomes a serious snow expedition. For experienced walkers it offers the most sustained alpine journey in Australia, crossing the continent's highest and wildest terrain end to end.