Mt Kosciuszko hike: Climbing Australia’s highest mountain

Mount Kosciuszko in New South Wales is the highest mountain in Australia. And, yes, you can climb Kosciuszko fairly easily from the New South Wales ski resort town of Thredbo.

Before moving onto the Mt Kosciuszko hike, let’s get the pedantry out of the way.

The highest mountain on Australian territory is Mawson Peak, which is 2,745 metres high and found on the tiny, uninhabited territory of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean.

Walkers on Thredbo to Mt Kosciuszko walk, New South Wales — Two ‘climbers’ taking on the walk up Mt Kosziuszko, the highest mountain in Australia.

Mt Kosciuszko height – how tall is Mt Kosciuszko?

While this might win you a particularly difficult pub quiz, you’re never going to go there. So let’s stick to the generally accepted answer.

The highest mountain on the Australian continent is Mt Kosciuszko, at a relatively trifling 2,228 metres above sea level.

Where is Mt Kosciuszko?

Kosciuszko is found in the Main Range of the Snowy Mountains near Jindabyne in New South Wales. The nearest settlement to Mt Kosciuszko is the ski resort town of Thredbo (yes, ski resort – it’s not always hot in Australia). This is 210km south of Canberra, the nearest major city.

As mountains go, Kosciuszko isn’t particularly stunning. It just happens to be slightly higher than several surrounding peaks, but blends into them somewhat. But the landscape around it is lovely – all alpine meadows and trickling streams. Come in spring, summer or autumn when the snows have gone. That’s when you can have a delightful few days walking around Thredbo and taking advantage of significantly reduced accommodation prices.

Climbing the highest mountain in Australia

But the main reason to visit Thredbo outside of ski season (June to, at a push, October) is to say you’ve conquered the highest mountain on a continent. And of the seven continental summits around the world, Kosciuszko is the easiest to climb by several billion light years.

The bonus of having a ski resort on the doorstep is that lift infrastructure is in place, and the Kosciuszko Express Chairlift runs from Thredbo between 9am and 4.30pm. This takes 15 minutes to get to the upper station.

Mt Kosciuszko hike: 13km summit walk

From there, it is a 13km return walk to the summit of Mt Kosciuszko. Most of this is along specially created paths with meshing designed to minimise erosion, and the gradients are gentle enough for the whole return walk to take four to five hours.

You’ll come back from the Mt Kosciuszko hike feeling as though you’ve had an invigorating half day’s walk rather than being a brave, all-conquering explorer. But no-one needs to know that when you’re boasting about climbing Australia’s highest mountain on social media afterwards.

Elsewhere in the Snowy Mountains, you can go for a swim in the Yarrangobilly Caves Thermal Pool – it’s heated by a natural spring.