Alps Walking Track
Information for walkers
On this page:
Walking the track
The Australian Alps Walking Track can be walked from start to finish in ten weeks, or it can be joined at the various access points between Walhalla (Victoria) and Tharwa (ACT). Most people choose to walk short sections such as the Baw Baw Plateau, Mount Howitt and the Crosscut Saw, Bogong High Plains, Main Range, Jagungal Wilderness, and the Brindabellas in Namadgi National Park.
The "approved route" of the Alps Track and important track notes are described in the Australian Alps Walking Track Map Guide. However, there are many alternative routes, loops and walks that join the track. The opportunities are endless if you are self sufficient and skilled in map and compass reading.
Key resources
The Australian Alps Liaison Committee has produced maps and guides to help you with planning your walk on the Alps Track, and for visiting the Alps in general.
John Siseman and John Chapman are two very experienced bushwalkers who have a wealth of knowledge about the Alps Track. Their books are widely available in bookstores and through ABC Maps.
The key resources that you will need if you are planning to walk a section of the Alps Track are:
- The Australian Alps Walking Track Map Guide, available from tabletoppress@bigpond.com
- The Australian Alps National Parks Touring Guide
- Australian Alps Walking Track by John Siseman, Pindari Books
- John Chapman's website
- Information about sections of the Alps Track from the various park information centres around the Alps
- Topographic maps for the sections of the track you intend to walk
For more information and contact details for obtaining these resources go to: Maps, books and other references.
Track signage & marking
For it's entire length the Alps Track is distinctively marked by small totems and confirmation markers at track and road intersections only. The markers are designed to indicate direction of travel at intersections and confirm that you are on the Australian Alps Walking Track, and you must not depend on track markers for navigation.
Please note: New yellow track markers have replaced the older blue markers to improve visibility and to meet new Australian standards.
In some heavily forested sections of track in Victoria where it is difficult to navigate, the yellow track markers will be placed on trees. Please remember that there are no markers in Wilderness Areas.
Wilderness areas
Wilderness implies many things to many people but is generally accepted as a large area relatively unaltered by the influence of European settlement. It is a place where walkers may enjoy inspiration, solitude and self reliant recreation in undisturbed natural settings.
In the past western definitions of wilderness were at odds with the notion that people have always been a part of landscape. Nowadays in Australia the concept of wilderness recognises that Indigenous peoples have lived in, and perhaps altered in some way, most of the areas in Australia we call wilderness.
The Australian Alps Walking Track passes through five wilderness areas – the Razor/Viking, Cobberas, Pilot, Jagungal and Bimberri Wilderness Areas. If you are traveling through these areas expect them to be unmarked and be prepared for remote area navigation.