NSW Nordic Ski Club
Off the Beaten Track Notes - Khancoban And Beyond
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Maps:
- CMA 1:50,000 Khancoban
- CMA 1:25,000 Cabramurra
- T Lamble 1:31,680 Mt Jagungal
- VMTC 1:50,000 Round Mountain.
The north-west of the Koscuizsco National Park is a great ski touring area. It suffers the disadvantage for Sydney skiers that it is more difficult to access than the rest of the park. The great skiing makes up for this though and makes it an area well worth visiting. It does require good snowfalls however as the elevation is generally from around 1,300m to 1,700m. The area in question is roughly that to the east and south of the Khancoban-Cabramurra road and west of Mt Jagungal. It can also be accessed for long trips from Munyang via Valentine's hut, or from Eucumbene through the Cesjack's hut area or by the Grey Mare Fire Trail past Mackey's Hut.
Access from the western side is through Khancoban. There are a few possible points of access, which are:
from Bradney's Gap, up the Everard's Flat Fire Trail to Pretty Plain hut
from the vicinity of the Montague hut ruin, along the Snakey Plain Fire Trail to Wheeler's hut
from the northern side of Tooma Dam, past Paton's hut and along the Dargals Fire Trail to wheeler's hut
from the vicinity of Round Mountain, either past Round Mountain hut and along the Round Mountain Fire Trail or past the Cool Plain hut ruin and along Ogilvie's and Hell Hole Creeks
from Bradley's hut, using this as a base for day trips in the vicinity
You need to be aware that the road from Khancoban to Cabramurra is closed in winter. There are locked gates along this road, which prevented private access to all of the access points mentioned above, except for the Everard's Flat Fire Trail. The road is snowploughed to Ogilvie's Creek picnic area.. One way of overcoming this is to use one of the local transport services. A mini-bus service is now operated by Bob Wilkinson of Corryong - phone 060 76 1418. Also, Ray Wright of the Murray Gates Caravan Park at Khancoban on 060 769 488 will transport you in your vehicle or his, as well as providing an agreeable spot to stay overnight after the drive from Sydney before setting out.
For the Everard's Flat Fire Trail, you will see that you are faced with some 1,200m of climbing, most of it without skis. Nevertheless this represents the shortest and most direct access to Pretty Plain hut and the Grey Mare Range from the western side of the mountains (unless you want to try the Dargals Fire Trail up Scammels Spur). The Pretty Plain hut is well worth visiting, but it requires good snow cover as its elevation is only 1,340m.
The Snakey Plain Fire Trail becomes a little difficult to follow as it reaches the top of the hill about 4km from the Tooma Road. Wheeler's hut is a beautifully sited hut, with great views of Jagungal as you relax in the bathtub on the front porch. A better alternative for access to this hut could be along the Dargals Fire Trail from Tooma Dam, provided snow cover is good. Paton's hut is very well-kept and commodious.
Access to the Round Mountain and Bradley's hut area is along the Tooma road. Generally this requires walking or skiing beyond Ogilvie's Creek, but if you have Laurie Bell's luck you might be driven to within a couple of km of Bradley's hut and then watch the snow fall for an exhilarating ski out down the road. An easy way, with a little timber, to access Cool Plain is to follow a faint track from the eastern side of the quarry at GR 214 107 south to the vicinity of the Cool Plain Hut ruin. An alternative is to ski past Round Mountain and then along the Round Mountain Fire Trail. If you are heading south this avoids wet feet crossing the Tumut River and some steep hills.
Using the Theiss Village Fire Trail is not recommended for access in winter between Tooma Dam and Round Mountain unless you are prepared for some tricky navigation, especially around Ogilvie's Creek and Musical Hill where the fire trail is somewhat overgrown.
Bradley's hut makes a great base for day trips in the Manjar - Fifteen Mile Spur - Cool Plain area. More of this in a later article in this series.
Once having gained access to the north west area there are many delights which await the cross-county skier. Grey Mare Range, Jagungal, Pretty Plain, Cool Plain, Ryrie's Parlour and Town of Ross are some of these. Huts in the area include Grey Mare, Pretty Plain, Wheeler's, Derschkos and O'Keefes. So next time you are looking for something a little different when the snow is thick on the ground, you could do a lot worse than to go the Khancoban and beyond.
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