The Great Dividing Range: Australia's Longest Mountain Chain

Stretching over 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) from the Atherton Tableland in tropical Queensland down through New South Wales to the Grampians in Victoria, the Great Dividing Range is Australia's most significant mountain system—and the third longest land-based range on Earth.

Why It Matters

• Continental watershed: The range separates rivers flowing east to the Pacific (e.g., Murray-Darling tributaries, coastal NSW rivers) from those flowing west/inland (often ending in salt lakes or the Lake Eyre basin).
• Climate maker: It forces moist easterly winds upward, creating rainforests on the coast and rain shadows inland—shaping Australia's agriculture and ecology.
• Biodiversity hotspot: Home to unique ecosystems: Gondwanan rainforests, alpine herbfields, snow gum woodlands, and countless endemic species.

Key Peaks in NSW

• Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m / 7,310 ft) – Australia's highest summit, accessible via a graded walk from Thredbo or Charlotte Pass.
• Mount Townsend (2,209 m) – Second highest, often climbed in the same traverse.
• The Ramshead Range, Mount Twynam, Gungartan – All above 2,100 m in the Snowy Mountains.

Human Connection

The range hosts major hydroelectric schemes (Snowy Hydro), ski resorts (Thredbo, Perisher), national parks (Kosciuszko, Blue Mountains, Barrington Tops), and the iconic Australian Alps Walking Track (650 km). It's also traditional Country for numerous First Nations groups, including the Ngarigo, Wiradjuri, and Gundungurra peoples.

More than a line on a map, the Great Dividing Range is the spine of eastern Australia.