Suggested Itinerary
I would recommend commencing this hike at Charlotte Pass, where you can leave your vehicle, and hiking in an anti-clockwise direction.
If you are planning on undertaking this as a three day hike I would recommend camping in the following locations. Please also refer to the map below.
- Day 1 (19.2km): Camp on the saddle between Mount Northcote and Muellers Peak. There is a reliable water source in the valley to the north of this saddle. This location can get windy so be sure to pitch your tent where you will be most sheltered from the wind. (marked with red dot on map below)
- Day 2 (14.3km). On the plateau to the northern side of North Rams Head. This is a large flat area with a shallow creek and provides rewarding sunset viewing as the light falls onto North Rams Head. (marked with red dot on map below)
- Day 3 (13.3km). Return to Charlotte Pass
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Peak Profiles (in summit order)
- Mount Twynam: 2195m
- Watsons Crags: 2136m
- Carruthers Peak: 2145m
- Mount Northcote: 2131m
- Alice Rawson Peak: 2160m
- Mount Townsend: 2209m
- Abbott Peak: 2145m
- Mount Kosciuszko: 2228m
- Ethridge Ridge 2180m
- Rams Head North: 2177m
- Rams Head: 2190m
Maps and Weather
The hike is all above the tree line and does not offer much protection from the elements. Check current conditions with the Bureau of Meteorology
Purchase a current topographical map online from SV Maps
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Gear to consider
My planning, food and packing checklists provide an introduction to things your could consider (as well as the Ten Essentials) on your day, overnight and multi-day adventures. Everyone, and every hike, is different, so customise your outdoor kit according to your personal needs, always considering safety first.Â
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Weather
Acknowledgement of Country
Trail Hiking Australia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we hike and pay respects to their Elders, past and present, and we acknowledge the First Nations people of other communities who may be here today.
1 Review on “Australia's Eleven Highest Peaks (46.8km)”
Hi Darren
A question regarding terrain on the southern section. We are heading off in two weeks and will pretty much follow your route ( but clockwise). We may however vary the southern section and follow the main path (Summit Walk) from Charlottes to Mt Kosciuszko rather than cross the Rams Head Range.
My question is….you headed east from Rams Head across the Rams Head range. What was the terrain like? clear country and easy to navigate? Lots of negotiating around objects? Hard going? Very Hard? not so bad? Yes…this is subjective but we are not inexperienced and have navigation skills however I don’t necessarily seek the hardest route. We will be hiking from Foremans Hut at Charlottes Pass to Rams Head and then up to Muellers Pass. The reason we may follow the Summit Walk is that it will be faster going but once you get to Rams Head we would have to double back and head back up towards Muellers Pass ( so considering avoiding going back over track that we have already covered). My assumption is that the Rams Head range won’t necessarily save time but would be more interesting. ….or Rams Head range is interesting and will take even longer !!! than the main track ‘cos it is much harder going.
Interested in your thoughts..
HI Catherine. To be quite honest, the section you are referring to wasn’t as interesting as the other sections of the circuit. When we did it, the terrain was easy to navigate as you simply follow the range. We did however note that some sections were quite swampy and wet so we had to deviate often to avoid creating too much damage. Would have been a lot easier to follow the main path. There were a lot of people on the main path at the time so for the sake of isolation, we chose to avoid that.
Loved this hike in winter!!!
So easy to snow shoe wherever you want, you just need good navigation skills. The sunsets & views were amazing, no matter the weather or conditions. I’m excited to eventually do this hike in summer.
As an update: we did a variation of this track 2.5yrs ago. We had already planned a similar route, and I was looking to see if anyone had done something similar and written about it, when I came across this. We stuck to our original route for the winter hike – starting & parking at Dead Horse Gap & doing a slightly different route w very different campsites, a total of 56-59km was hiked (I can’t remember right now), but it was one of the best walks I’ve ever done, and Kosciuszko started my love for snowshoe hiking. It looks lovely what you guys did & I can’t wait to do something similar in summer. Thanks for sharing your journey 🙂
Thank you Misha. Your variation certainly sounds interesting. It is an amazing destination to hike and agree its one of the best walks we have ever done too.