As you leave Canberra on the Monaro Highway, away to your west is the most northerly section of the Australian Alps, the culmination of nearly 1,000km of high mountain country stretching from Victoria, through NSW and into the ACT.

The hills close in then pull away from the road as you head into the Monaro region. Often close but always hidden from view is the Murrumbidgee, Australia’s second longest river. Should you want to surprise it then Angle Crossing, just before crossing the ACT/NSW border, is an easy 6km return drive on a good dirt road.

The tiny village of Bredbo holds both a classic country pub and place of Christmas cheer. Perhaps Santa and his elves were waylaid at the former whilst sleighing from the Snowies. The Bredbo Christmas Barn will satisfy anyone stocking up for the big December day.

Another worthwhile detour is Macenmist Black Truffles – join the expert truffle dogs on a hunt for the rare black perigords.

At Cooma, the centre of the Monaro, take a break, an escape even. The Corrective Services NSW Museum is a gem of a place. Attached to the Cooma Gaol in the centre of town, the museum tells the story of prisons and prison life from the First Fleet to today. The manager, Andrew Weglarz, a former prison officer in the UK and Australia, scours the state for display material and stories. Tours, guided by serving inmates, are available.

Cooma is also home to another place with much experience in tunnelling. Snowy Hydro has its headquarters in town and the Discovery Centre is a must visit, given the Kosciuszko Alpine Way passes many of the dams, lakes, and hydroelectric power stations of the immense Snowy Mountains Scheme. Still the largest engineering project undertaken in Australia, the scheme played a pivotal role in the modern history of the Snowies. For a quarter of a century from 1949, thousands of workers from around the world came to build the 16 major dams, 145km of tunnels and seven power stations.

Lovers of good coffee and perhaps its finest accompaniment, carrot cake, should seek out little Kettle & Seed.

Once out of Cooma, a short drive up Mount Gladstone provides a panoramic view of the Monaro grasslands. So often the bulk of the alpine mountains block the clouds reaching the Monaro – a classic rain-shadow. Wiry merino sheep are well camouflaged amongst endless granite boulders. Indeed it’s often only when they move that you can tell the difference between stone and sheep. It is hard to credit these rather scruffy, hardly fluffy animals produce the finest of wool loved by fashion houses across the world.

Those who have driven to the Snowies before, may well, in a rush to reach the mountains, have passed straight through the village of Berridale. Put the brakes on, park up, wander. If you are lucky, you will find Lucy Rose painting in her gallery. A Kiwi by birth, Lucy has, like so many, come under the spell of the Snowies and to painting scenes combining horse, ski, snow, mountain, felt hat and more. At Whisk & Cocoa you’ll find a local favourite for brekkie or lunch.

Climbing out from Berridale, the bulk of the Main Range unfolds in the distance. This section of Kosciuszko National Park holds the 10 highest mountains in Australia and, even in the height and heat of summer, you may well spot remnant patches of snow clinging to their flanks.

Lake Jindabyne is next into view. Created by the damming of the Snowy River for the Snowy Scheme, the old village now lies beneath the lake, the newer town hugging its southern shore.

If Snowy Hydro have been pumping out, you might almost think you were down the coast. Wide sandy beaches and coves are separated by rocky headlines. At other times, with the lake at a full level, the water laps at grassy shores. Despite the spring snowmelt, Lake Jindabyne offers surprisingly warm summer swimming.

Mountain fever afflicts many. The crisp air and clarity of the sky ensures that even the most sedentary will be urged to pull on walking shoes, pedal down a trail, paddle a canoe, throw in a line. To listen, to smell, to explore. To follow in the footsteps of the Ngarigo and Walgal people who, for thousands of summers, climbed up into the high country to feast on the juicy Bogong moths.

Ski town in winter, adventure and relaxation hub in summer, Jindabyne has plenty going on. The Jindabyne Visitors Centre is a good place to gather information on the myriad of things to do in the region.

The official hiking trail network has grown massively over recent years and one local has left his mark right across the Snowies. Craig Stonestreet, an apt name indeed, has built trails in Canberra, Cooma, Jindabyne, Kosciuszko National Park, Talbingo, and Tumbarumba. In winter Craig swaps shovels for skis, running a ski program for people with disabilities.

An old machinery shed once used for building ski lifts is now used for brewing beer. Former ski instructor Karl Veiss swapped his skis for a malt shovel to set up Jindabyne Brewing which has fast become a favourite haunt for locals and visitors alike.

The Alpine Way climbs into the Kosciuszko National Park to Thredbo village. Watch out for emus, kangaroos and deer. Paralleling much of the drive, the multi-use Thredbo Valley Track snakes 35km along the crystal clear, boulder strewn Thredbo River with various access points en route.

Thredbo village is well worth a wander. Winter is all ski and snowboard but for the rest of the year bikes, hikes, golf and numerous festivals take over.

In the Thredbo Alpine Museum even non skiers will find the story of the development of Australian snow sports from the late 19th century fascinating. Hold the picture in your mind or phone of the Kiandra ‘butterpat’ skis for later in your journey. Proudly displayed, of much more recent vintage, are the Olympic gold and silver medals won by Cooma snowboard legend Torah Bright.

The Kosciuszko Chairlift whisks you up from the village to almost 2,00m. Some of your fellow travellers will go no further than take in the views. Others will drop over the edge, like lemmings, on mountain bikes down, down, down to the village far below. Still more will begin the 13km return walk, on a well-constructed but exposed trail, to the summit of Mount Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest point at 2,228m.

The 80km drive through to Khancoban should be done in good light, good weather and with a good amount of time. Once over 1,582m Dead Horse Gap, the road loses three quarters of that altitude in twists and turns to Tom Groggin. Here a short dirt diversion brings you to the infant Murray River. A mere 10m across on the south bank is Victoria and Australia’s longest single river forms the state border all the way to South Australia. Drop a fallen leaf into the narrow channel and imagine it journeying nearly 2,500km to the sea.

At Geehi Flats, and again at Scammell’s Lookout, stop to view the western faces of the Main Range. Unlike their relatively gentle rise from the Monaro, the mountains here shoot up steeply, impressively for nearly 2,000m, all crag and creek.

Murray 1 power station appears far below the road before you arrive at Khancoban, a town created during the Snowy Scheme construction. It is, at 300m, the lowest point of this roller coaster road trip.

This western side of the Snowies is much less visited than the east. Locals may tell you that the lake and pub are favourites but there is much else to discover. Wannabee energy traders could spend hours in the Khancoban Visitors Centre watching screens, one showing the real time national energy market demand and pricing, another where power is generated and water pumped across the massive Snowy Scheme.

A drive or walk across the Khancoban Pondage dam wall to the outlet gates is well worthwhile while fishing, walking and riding opportunities abound. At the Alpine Inn you are almost guaranteed to meet a local character and where else in Australia would you find a single business merging pharmacy and outdoor equipment store? The pioneering spirit is alive and well in the mountains.

What went down must surely go up and just north of Khancoban our grand loop of the Snowies, what locals call ‘going around the block,’ turns onto the KNP5 Road, the old Tooma Road. Closed in the winter months, the road rises above Dead Horse Gap by mere metres as the highest point reached on our journey. So much of this grand country, back east across the mountains, was heavily impacted by the devastating 2020 bushfires, a summer Australia can never forget. Green shoots are showing through, but it will be a long, slow recovery in such fragile, such beautiful landscape.

The lonely KNP5 road finally meets the Snowy Mountains Highway at Kiandra. Remember those ancient, long skis you saw back at the museum in Thredbo? During the short-lived goldrush at Kiandra, thousands rushed to this cold, windswept place. For entertainment Norwegian miners fashioned skis from local mountain ash and hit the slopes. In 1861, on the hottest continent on earth, the world’s first official ski club was formed.

Little remained of the town that once stood at Kiandra, 150 years of mountain weather eroding away such human endeavours. Sadly those that did survive, the old Courthouse and other buildings renovated as part of the historic precinct, were razed by more recent natural forces. The memories of Kiandra are now interred in the ashes.

After all this time out in the open air it’s time to duck underground. Diverting 20km north brings you to Yarrangobilly Caves, a break from the glorious granite to celebrate lovely limestone. Home to some of the most decorated caves in NSW, you can guide yourself through South Glory Cave or join a guided tour in Jersey or Jillabenan Caves. There are numerous walks in the cave precinct and a natural thermal swimming pool that stays at 27 degrees year-round. A warming contrast to the freezing alpine streams and rivers.

Crossing the Great Divide for the last time en route back to Kiandra there is a good chance that you will spot some brumbies. There is another great divide, on how to deal with these wild horses. No-one can deny the majesty of these introduced animals, some 25,000 in total in the park, but equally no-one can deny the damage they do to the fragile landscape. It is, perhaps, the most debated issue in the Snowies.

No road trip in Australia would be complete without a Big something and Adaminaby serves up The Big Trout. This is fishing country, a fisher’s town. The original Adaminaby, like Jindabyne, was drowned under the vast waters of Lake Eucumbene and the town moved 10km to its present location. Various buildings were shifted either stone by stone or, as remarkably, whole buildings on wheels, to ‘new’ Adaminaby. Follow the town walk to see some of the buildings that were moved, including the impressive stone St John’s Anglican and Rossiter’s Cottages, the latter moved no less than four times.

There is an Old Adaminaby, down close to Lake Eucumbene, the largest reservoir of the Snowy Scheme. Whilst most buildings here were constructed after the lake was created, a couple were pulled up the hill from the now flooded town. It’s a great spot to stroll along the lake, to sit and look across the water to the mountains beyond. To reflect on your own journey around the block through some of the most iconic and impressive landscapes in Australia.

You could finish this loop back in Cooma and then onto Canberra, or you might choose the roads back toward the mountains. Many others before you have been drawn into the spell of the Snowies. Again, and again and again.