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Alpine National Park
Wilderness and the Snowy
- around Benambra, Buchan and Bonang
In the heart of the Australian Alps, this is one of Victoria’s largest and most remote areas of
national park. The rugged landscape features the magnificent Snowy River and Suggan
Buggan Valleys, the headwaters of the Murray River and spectacular peaks including the
Cobberas (No.1 1838 m) and Mount Tingaringy (1448 m).
Getting there and getting around
Walking
The Alpine National Park here adjoins Kosciuszko
National Park along its northern boundary and the
Snowy River National Park to the south.
This area of the Alpine National Park has a great
deal to offer adventurous, fit and experienced
bushwalkers.
The park is between 440 and 500 km north-east of
Melbourne. The main access roads are all
unsealed, narrow and winding and generally
unsuitable for caravans.
Management tracks (shown on the reference
maps listed overleaf) are suitable for easy and
medium walks and serve as approaches to the
principal features of the park.
The Snowy River Road accesses the Snowy River
at Willis on the state border. This road becomes
the Barry Way across the border and passes
through Kosciuszko National Park en route to
Jindabyne. The Bonang Road from Orbost is an
alternative approach, McKillop Road branches
from it a few kilometres south of Bonang.
Other walks include:
The Limestone - Black Mountain Road crosses
the central part of the park and links Benambra to
the Snowy River Road. This road is often closed
in winter as a result of heavy snowfalls.
The long distance Australian Alps Walking Track
(AAW T) passes through the area on its 650 km
route between Walhalla (Gippsland, Vic.) and
Tharwa (near Canberra, ACT).
Car touring
Although unsealed, narrow and winding in places,
the Buchan - Jindabyne, McKillop and Limestone Black Mountain Roads are suitable for scenic
driving in a conventional 2WD car.
This ‘track’, which at times is barely a foot pad,
passes through the remote, untracked Limestone
Creek country into the Cobberas Wilderness,
eventually entering the Pilot Wilderness
(Kosciuszko National Park) at Cowombat Flat.
There are also numerous tracks suitable only for
4WD vehicles. A few millimetres of rain can turn a
track into one that is treacherous and impassable
- even for the most experienced driver.
Bushwalking along the AAWT in this area is only
for experienced walkers with navigation and self
sufficiency skills. There are no signs or track
markers within wilderness areas.
Please remember:
The wilderness experience
• check road conditions and river crossing levels
before starting out
• vehicle access is limited to formed roads and
tracks open to the public
• many roads and tracks are closed seasonally
for environmental and safety reasons
• Rams Horn Walk
• Mt Stradbroke Walk
• Mt Tingaringy Walk
• Tingaringy Falls Walk
Wilderness areas have been set aside to provide
opportunities for solitude and self reliant
recreation activities including bushwalking,
canoeing, dispersed camping, nature studies and
photography.
There are four wilderness areas in this part of the
Alpine National Park. They are Indi, Cobberas,
Tingaringy and Buchan Headwaters (see map).
For more information call the Parks Victoria Information Centre on
13 1963 or visit our website at www.parks.vic.gov.au
For further information
Parks Victoria
Information Centre
Call 13 1963
or visit our website at
www.parks.vic.gov.au
Parks Victoria Offices at
Buchan, Bendoc and Omeo
Phone 13 1963
Caring for the
environment
Help us look after your park
by following these guidelines:
All native plants, animals
archaeological and historical
sites are protected by law
Take your rubbish home.
‘Carry out what you carry in’
Dogs and other pets are not
permitted
Use a portable stove instead
of lighting a fire - especially
above or near the tree line
Firearms, generators and
chainsaws are prohibited
Choose a firm, dry, well
drained campsite at least 20
metres from any watercourse
Use of vehicles, including trail
bikes, is restricted to existing
roads and tracks. Vehicles
must be fully registered and
drivers licensed
Always check fire danger
forecasts. No fires (including
stoves) on days of Total Fire
Ban.
This park is located in the
East Gippsland Total Fire Ban
Districts
Do not pollute waterways with
refuse, detergent or human
waste. Use existing toilets or
bury your waste at least 100
metres from any waterway or
campsite
Enjoy a visit to a hut but do
not use them for
accommodation. Always carry
a tent
Please don’t throw this park
note away. Keep it, return it
for others to use, or recycle it
Healthy Parks Healthy People
Visiting a park can improve
your health, mind, body and
soul. So, with over four million
hectares of parkland available
to Victorians, why not escape
to a park today!
During 1839 - 1841, explorer Angus McMillan
travelled from Currawong, NSW, south along the
Snowy River and to the Murray on his way to Port
Albert in South Gippsland. The Government
botanist, Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, also
explored much of this area during his journeys in
1853 and 1854 to Mount Kosciuszko and along
the Murray River to East Gippsland.
In 1869 - 1872 the straight-line border between
NSW and Victoria was surveyed, mapped and
marked on the ground by Alexander Black and
Alexander Allan. Black surveyed the headwaters
of the Murray River to locate its source nearest to
Cape Howe. A series of cairns and associated
trenches marking the border can still be seen
today.
Plants and animals
The park is of great importance for nature
conservation because it is relatively undisturbed. It
contains a wide variety of vegetation types,
including the habitat for several rare plant and
animal species.
Vegetation ranges from Snow Gum woodlands
and Alpine Ash forest at higher elevations to
Cypress-pine and White Box woodlands in the
much lower warm, dry country of the Snowy River
and Suggan Buggan Valleys.
Brush-tailed Rock Wallabies inhabit rock faces
with large tumbled boulders, ledges and caves. In
the early 1900s, these wallabies were abundant in
the Upper Snowy River area. However, they
suffered a rapid population decline around 1910.
This decline was attributed to unrestricted hunting
and an increase in the numbers of foxes and wild
dogs. Only a small number of colonies remain
since the decline.
They are considered critically endangered in
Victoria due to the extremely low numbers within
the remaining population and their susceptibility to
a range of threats.
Parks Victoria and the Department of
Sustainability and Environment are carrying out
extensive monitoring and predator baiting around
the colony to maximise long term prospects for the
existing wild population.
The future recovery of the species across its
former range is also dependent on a successful
captive breeding program which includes the
cross fostering of pouch young with other species
of wallabies to increase the reproductive potential
of the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby. These programs
occur at several institutions including Healesville
Sanctuary, Adelaide Zoo and Tidbinbilla Nature
Reserve whose facilities have been rebuilt
following the 2003 Alpine wildfires across Victoria,
NSW and ACT.
At the time of European settlement, Spot-tailed
Quoll or Tiger Quoll as it is also referred to, were
found throughout southern and eastern Victoria.
Since then forest clearing, hunting and habitat
disturbance have greatly reduced the abundance
and distribution of the Quoll.
Other significant species such as the Alpine Water
Skink and the Broad-toothed Rat also rely upon
the protection of the habitat in this part of the
Alpine National Park.
Other publications
For more details and extensive coverage of the
Alpine National Park see the following maps and
publications:
Maps
Spatial Vision Touring the Victorian Alps Map
1:140,000
VicMap 1:50,000 Omeo - Bindi, Deception Deddick, Delegate and Murrindal - Yalmy
CMA 1:50,000 Suggan Buggan, Kosciuszko,
Tombong and Thredbo
Natmap 1:100,000 Murrindal, Bendoc, Numbla
and Jacobs River
Alpine National Park park notes
Our Mountain Heritage
- around Heyfield, Licola and Dargo
Valleys and Bluffs
- around Mansfield & Whitfield
The High Country
- around Bright, Mt Beauty and Omeo
Source of the Rivers
- around Mitta Mitta, Omeo, Tallangatta and
Corryong
Horseriding in the Alpine National Park
Books
The Australian Alps Walking Track and Alpine
National Park by John Siseman (Pindari
Publications)
Victoria’s National Park Explorer’s Guide (See
Australia Guides)
Explore the Australia Alps - Car touring guide to
the Australian Alps national parks by Australia
Alps Liaison Committee (New Holland Press)
August 2012
Printed on Australian-made 100% recycled paper
The wilderness experience
These wilderness areas protect large and essentially
untouched areas containing significant plant and animal
communities and a variety of geological formations.
People visiting wilderness areas need a level of self
reliance far exceeding that required for most other
natural areas.
Horseriding and vehicles, (including motor and mountain
bikes), are not permitted in wilderness areas. All tracks
in wilderness areas are closed to public vehicles.
Rafting and canoeing
The Snowy River is renowned for its challenging whitewater canoeing and rafting. Consult canoeing
guidebooks and park staff when planning your trip, and
check river flow levels and weather close to your date of
departure. The safe level for the Snowy River (at
McKillop Bridge) is between 0.9m and 1.6m. River
levels, normally quite low in summer, can rise suddenly
after heavy rain over the catchment. Please register trip
details at the Buchan Police Station.
Follow the Australian Alps River Users Code (available
at the Buchan and Omeo park offices). River heights
information can be obtained from the Bureau of
Meteorology website www.bom.gov.au
On horseback
The area is excellent for horseriding in remote country.
Keep to the tracks where possible, and ensure that your
horses are secure at night.
The Bicentennial National Trail, a long distance national
trial designed primarily for horseriding, passes through
the area on its journey from Cooktown in Queensland to
Healesville in Victoria.
Look for the red and yellow triangular markers around
Limestone Creek and Tom Groggin. Bicentennial
National Trail Guidebooks are available. Guidebooks 11
and 12 covers Victoria and the Alpine National Park.
Chances are you will see feral horses. Treat stallions
with caution. Contact the rangers at Omeo to register
your trip.
Setting up camp
Dispersed bush camping is permitted throughout the
area but there are several sites where basic facilities
such as a pit toilet and fireplace are provided:
• McKillop Bridge beside the Snowy River on McKillop
Road.
• Willis on the Barry Way (NSW/Vic. border)
• Native Dog Flat (Limestone-Black Mountain Road)
• Limestone Creek (rough 2WD, 4WD when wet)Other
vehicle based (4WD only) dispersed campsites with
toilet and camping facilities include The Poplars and
the Davies Plain area.
Take care!
All visitors, and especially walkers, should realise that
weather conditions can change rapidly in alpine areas.
Snowfalls can be experienced at any time of the year
and water can be extremely scarce, so always be
prepared with:
• w arm clothing
• w ind and waterproof jacket
• gloves, hat, sunglasses and strong footwear
• first aid kit and sunscreen
• compass and relevant topographical map
Before you go, let someone know where you are going,
and when you expect to return. Also, please keep your
group small (4 - 8 people).
Tour guides
A number of licenced tour operators run tours (four
wheel driving, nature rambles, bushwalking, horseriding
and rafting) in this area.
Contact Tourism Alliance Victoria for details on
(03) 9650 8399 or visit their website
www.tourismalliance.com.au
Fire in the Alps
During the summer of 2006 a number of fires swept
through the Australian Alps. As a result some roads and
tracks have been closed in the interest of public safety.
To assist with regeneration please keep to tracks and
trails, especially in fire affected areas.
Reflections on the past
Aboriginal presence in the area can be traced back at
least 4000 years. It is believed that the Jaithmathang
were the largest tribe, inhabiting large areas of the north
eastern Alps including the Mitta Mitta and Gibbo Rivers.
Sub tribes of the Jaithmathang were the Kandagoramittung, who occupied the Mitta Mitta area.
The tribes lived at lower altitudes for most of the year,
but visited the high plateaus during spring and summer.
Limestone Creek may have been part of a transmontane route used by Aboriginals of the Monaro
Tablelands and Gippsland. The Krauatungalung clan of
the Gunai/Kurnai tribe also passed through the northeast
of this area en route to the Snowy Mountains in summer.
European history in this area of the Alpine National Park
can be traced back to the 1830s when the search for
new grazing land led McKillop, McFarlane and
Livingstone from the Monaro Tablelands in New South
Wales to the Omeo Plains.
One of the earliest runs in northeast Victoria was
established by James McFarlane at McFarlane Flat in
1835. In 1837 John Pendergast settled in the Lake
Omeo area and later his sons took up runs at Tom
Groggin, Limestone Creek, Native Dog Flat and
McFarlane Flat.