Cabramurra, New South Wales: Travel guide and things to do

At 1488 m above sea level (it's 503 km from Sydney via Cooma and 102 km from Cooma), Cabramurra rejoices in the title 'the highest settlement in Australia'. To call it a town is probably to imbue it with qualities that the locals would like it to have but the average visitor would be a little dubious about. It is actually a construction camp which came into existence in 1951 and was known variously as Ghent's Camp (after the SMA worker who surveyed it) and Saddle Camp before Cabramurra (supposedly the name of an Aboriginal camp on the Eucumbene River) was finally settled upon. The town is owned and operated by Snowy Hydro. It is the National Electricity Market's (NEM) third largest generator by capacity and is mainland Australia's largest renewable energy generator, accounting for more than 70% of renewable energy production.

Cabramurra came into existence as a rough and tumble construction town during the construction of the dams and power stations. In those days the accommodation was simple and basic. Today the town is a model construction settlement with new brick houses (all of which boast an interesting roof design to ensure that the snow doesn't settle), neat little streets, undercover shopping and amenities designed to keep the workers happy.

Things to see

Man From Snowy River Country
Cabramurra is said to be the highest village in Australia and the tonnship itself offers fine views.The area around Cabramurra is typical of the image of the Snowy Mountains as created in A.B. Paterson's The Man from Snowy River. The mountain sides are impossibly steep, the gums reach for the sky, and the bottoms of the valleys seem to be an eternity away. The descent to the spillway of Tumut Ponds Dam, which lies below Cabramurra, is dramatic (access via the Cabramurra/Khancoban Road).

Heading towards Khancoban from Cabramurra it is impossible not to be struck by the vast stands of dead trees not only beside the road but in the valleys and reaching to the horizon. It looks like some horrendous environmental disaster. In fact the dead trees are the result of a bushfire which raged through the area in the mid 1980s and again in 2003.

Accommodation
There is no accommodation in the town (nearest accommodation is at Adaminaby or Talbingo) and the only eating facilities are those at the General Store which does have a restaurant attached although the hours are somewhat restricted.