![]() About the region: Lower than alpine regions in other parts of the world, and lacking sheer escarpments and jagged peaks, Australia's High Country is nonetheless majestic, especially in the cooler months when they are covered in snow. Alpine National Park contains 10 of the 11 highest mountains in the state and boasts beautiful alpine topography with mountain landscapes, wild rivers, snow gum forests and open grasslands known as high plains.
The Alpine region of Victoria is all about enjoying the great outdoors. During the snow season (June to October) the mountains are abuzz with skiiers. Outside of the snow season, outdoor activities include horseriding, camping, hiking, picnicking, sightseeing, driving, cycling, rock climbing. Even swimming - along with angling and boating on Lake Wartook - can be enjoyed in the summer months. Nature study is another popular activity with superb wildflowers, many birds, and kangaroos and koalas easily seen from many popular areas.
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Skiing at Falls Creek
Snow Skiing: As the ski regions of the Australian Alps are in expanses of rolling mountains, they are ideal for cross-country skiing as well as for the more popular downhill variety. Leisurely cross-country skiing, downhill skiing and snowboarding are the main activities during the snow season. There is not snow all the year round, so the ski season begins in June and closes in October, although in reality it extends beyond those dates and is governed by the amount of snow falling at any given time.
The main ski resorts are:
Falls Creek: 356 km from Melbourne via Oxley
Lake Mountain: 109 km from Melbourne via Healesville
Mount Baw Baw: 177 km from Melbourne via Myrtleford
Mount Buffalo: 331 km from Melbourne via Myrtleford
Mount Buller: 241 km from Melbourne via Mansfield
Mount Stirling: 250 km from Melbourne near Mount Buller
Mount Donna Buang: 95 km from Melbourne via Warburton (a snow play only destination)
Mount Hotham: 367 km from Melbourne via Wangaratta
Dinner Plain: 367 km from Melbourne near Mount Hotham
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Mount Hotham snowfields
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Recreational activities: There are not too many ski areas in the world that can also offer such a variety of none snow-related activities in the summer months as Victoria's High Country. At that time, the lakes and streams are bountiful with trout, and canoeing, sailing and even water skiing and swimming are all enjoyed. To take in the beauty of the alpine regions without snow, some simply enjoy a drive, while the more energetic prefer fishing, walking, horseriding or mountain biking excursions. These let you explore beyond the alpine villages into the heart of the country. Many treks, over one or several days, follow in the path of the early high country explorers.
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King Valley Gourmet Region: The extraordinary diversity in the conditions and landscape - the variation in altitude, soil type, rainfall and temperature - across the North East Valleys of the High Country is unrivalled in Australia. Its continental climate, with four distinct seasons, provides ideal growing conditions, whether for grapes, dairy cattle and other livestock, fruit, vegetables and nuts or mountain river fish. The King Valley boasts some of the highest altitude vineyards in the country, producing premium boutique wines including European and Mediterranean varieties, a reflection of the vibrant Italian community.
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The Great Alpine Road: One of Australia's great drives, The Great Alpine Road passes through the heart of Victoria's High Country. It is Australia’s highest year-round accessible sealed road and winds past lofty mountains, valleys, forests, rivers, vineyards and farms. The scenery along the way is varied, and takes in historic goldmining villages, mountain lakes and the sheer cliffs, wildflowers and some of Victoria's highest peaks within the Alpine National Park. The journey is best taken outside of the snow season (June to October) to avoid both inclement weather and snow skiers going to and from the resorts.
Kiewa Valley
Kiewa Valley: The picturesque valley of the Kiewa River - a major tributary of the Murray River - serves as the northern gateway to Victoria's High Country. From a broad expanse of lush green famland around the City of Wodonga, the valley gradually narrows as it climbs higher into the Australian Alps before reaching the river's source in the Bogong High Plains. To follow the Keiwa river from the Murray into the high country is a delightful drive, passing through the villages of Myrtleford, Bright, Mount Beauty, Harrietville and Tawonga to the snowfields of Mt Buffalo, Falls Creek and Mt Hotham.
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The Best Time To Visit
The skiing season officially opens on the Queens Birthday long weekend each June and closes in October. During those months, it is best to come to ski and not to sightsee as the roads are busy with skiers coming and going, and the riding and walking paths are generally obliterated by snowfalls. To visit the mountains in their non-snow season, plan a visit from October to May. In the shoulder months, some snow does fall, making cross country driving less easier than in the summer months. In April and May, the many deciduous trees throughout the region leave towns like Bright basking in Autumn splendour as leaves turn vibrant shades of yellow, orange and deep red. Autumn Festivals bring bring crowds from Melbourne on weekends. October and November can be quite busy too, as Spring Festivals are held in the mountain towns.
How to get there
By car: a great way to experience the park is to drive the Great Alpine Road Touring Route which winds through the heart of the Victorian Alps on the highest altitude road in Victoria, and offers panoramic views as far as the eye can see. The sealed road passes through farmland valleys, along winding rivers, through the eucalypt forests of the Alpine National Park then deep into mountain cattleman country, to the lakes and the ocean beyond. Avoid the winter months if you plan to do an Alpine region drive through.
By air: 20 kms from Hotham and 10 kms from Dinner Plain is Australia's highest commercial airport. During the peak skiing season, there are connecting flights Australia wide.
By coach: most Victorian based coach companies operate tours to and through the alpine regions of Victoria. Coaches depart daily from Melbourne's Southern Cross Station Coach Terminal and Tullamarine Airport. Coach tours to Mount Hotham
High Country Heitage
Aboriginal people went to and through the Alpine area over thousands of years, and knew its flora, fauna, geography and seasonal changes intimately. Groups visited the Alps in summer to hold ceremonies and gather the nutritious bogong moths that shelter there. Today, Aboriginal communities in Victoria, NSW and the ACT take a particular interest in the management and heritage of the high country.
European pastoralists from NSW started moving south into the Alps in the 1830s. Grazing began around Omeo in 1836, and runs were taken up in the foothills. Summer grazing soon extended to the higher country, and huts were built there for shelter and storage during stock mustering. You can experience this history by visiting the cattlemen's huts dotted along the high plains or the ruins of Wonnangatta Station (home of the pioneer Bryce family for many years). Wallaces Hut near Falls Creek, built in 1889, is one of the oldest surviving huts in the area.
From the 1850s to around 1900, gold lured many people to the Alps. Relics can still be seen in historic areas, and towns like Dargo, Harrietville, Mitta Mitta, Omeo and Bright have strong links to the gold era. The 1939 bushfires in the forests around Melbourne and the boom in house-building after World War II led to a greatly increased demand for timber from the Alps. This, and the building of a number of hydro-electric dams and power stations, resulted in the building of a network of roads that helped open the Alps to visitors. Today tourism is one of the most important activities in the Alpine area.
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