Australia’s Highest Peak Stays Open While Its Neighbors Close

New South Wales National Parks will close large parts of Kosciuszko National Park on weekdays from Monday, November 9 through Friday, November 27, 2026. The closures run from 5:45 a.m. to 8:15 p.m. and exist to allow aerial control of feral deer and pigs. Weekends are not affected, and the park service says penalties apply to anyone who enters a closed area.

Several well-known walks will be shut, including Rainbow Lake, Waterfall, Porcupine, Rennix, Illawong and the Hannels Spur track, along with sections of the Snowies Alpine Walk: Guthega to Charlotte Pass, Charlotte Pass Village to Perisher Valley, and Perisher Valley to Bullocks Flat. Backcountry areas on the Main Range, Ramshead Range and Perisher Range, including Mount Guthrie, are included, as are the Pilot Wilderness and the Gungarlin River campground area.

Six huts will be closed: Cootapatamba, Disappointment Spur, Tin, Mawsons, Daveys and Kidmans. The headline exception is that the Kosciuszko, Summit and Main Range walks remain open, so the highest peak in mainland Australia stays reachable on weekdays. Resort areas, public roads, and the Thredbo River and Dead Horse Gap walks also stay open, and Ultra Trail Kosciuszko participants can use race trails on event dates.

The closures are separate from the long-running debate over wild horses: shooting of wild horses is suspended until at least 2027 pending a population survey. Hikers planning a trip in the window should check the official NSW National Parks alerts page for their specific route before leaving, since weekend trips avoid the closure entirely.

Sources: DeepArrival, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service