Great Alpine Road

Great Alpine Road
Formerly
Length	303 km (188 mi)
Direction	Northwest-Southeast
From	Old Hume Highway, Wangaratta, Victoria
via	Myrtleford, Ovens, Bright, Harrietville, Mount Hotham, Dinner Plain, Omeo, Swifts Creek, Ensay, Bruthen
To	Princes Highway, Bairnsdale, Victoria
Established	1998
Allocation	B500
Major junctions	Hume Freeway Omeo Highway

The Great Alpine Road (B500)^[1][2] is a country tourist road in Victoria, Australia, running from Wangaratta in the north to Bairnsdale in the east, and passing through the Australian Alps. The road was given its current name as being the mountain equivalent to Victoria's world famous Great Ocean Road in the south-west of the state^{[citation needed]}.

Route details

The Great Alpine Road^[3] winds through mountains, valleys and forests, and past rivers, vineyards and farms. At a length of 303 kilometres, it is Australia’s highest year-round accessible sealed road. The section over Mount Hotham rises to an altitude of 1840 m,^[4] is blanketed with snow during winter months and must be cleared on a daily basis. Extreme weather conditions can sometimes still result in the road being closed between Harrietville and Omeo.

The Great Alpine Road links Victoria's North East with Gippsland. It was completed with the sealing of the section between Mount Hotham and Dinner Plain and was officially opened on 4 April 1998.^{[citation needed]} The road itself has existed since colonial times in some form, but was unsealed for much of its history, and was only given the Great Alpine Road designation after being fully sealed.^{[citation needed]}

The current Great Alpine Road includes the former Ovens Highway from Wangaratta to Bright, and a former section of the Omeo Highway from Omeo to Bruthen,^[5] along with the section of the Princes Highway from Bruthen to Bairnsdale. Attractions include the Mount Buffalo National Park, popular tourist town Bright, the Mount Hotham and Dinner Plain alpine resorts, the historic gold rush township of Omeo, the folk art sculpture Mr. Stringy, and stunning views and challenging driving along its length.

Towns and resorts

The Great Alpine Road descending "The Gap" between Omeo and Swifts Creek

Travellers have spectacular views across the Australian Alps from the Great Alpine Road on Mt Hotham

View from Myrtleford to Mount Buffalo National Park

Location	Distance from Wangaratta (km)	Distance to next location (km)	Distance from Bairnsdale (km)
Wangaratta	0	0	303
Myrtleford	46	46	257
Ovens	53	7	250
Bright	79	26	224
Harrietville	105	26	198
Mount Hotham	133	28	170
Dinner Plain	143	10	160
Omeo	188	45	115
Swifts Creek	214	26	89
Ensay	232	18	71
Bruthen	277	45	26
Bairnsdale	303	26	0

See also

The Great Alpine Road winds across Mount Hotham, clinging to the side and ridge of the mountain

• Highways in Australia
• Highways in Victoria

References

1. ^ "Map NE Victoria". vic roads. p. p16. http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/36A4D071-9C13-4F35-95B8-B9D68C5B4ABB/0/DriverGuideA4.pdf. Retrieved 09/02/2009.  size 2.4MB
2. ^ "Google Maps". ©2009 Google - Map data ©2009 MapData Sciences Pty Ltd, PSMA. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Great+Alpine+Rd&daddr=Great+Alpine+Rd+to:Great+Alpine+Rd+to:-37.818768,147.649169&hl=EN&geocode=FUFS1f0dY9-4CA%3BFUDjz_0dyOrBCA%3BFfjAzP0dUN_DCA%3B&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=3&sz=15&via=1,2&sll=-37.815107,147.653289&sspn=0.018206,0.032959&ie=UTF8&ll=-37.147182,147.002563&spn=2.351268,4.21875&z=8. Retrieved 10/02/2009. 
3. ^ "Great Alpine Road". Tourism Victoria. http://www.visitvictoria.com/Activities-and-attractions/Touring-routes/The-Great-Alpine-Road.aspx. Retrieved 10/02/2009. 
4. ^ "Mt Hotham Section". ©2009 Google - Map data ©2009 MapData Sciences Pty Ltd, PSMA. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=&daddr=&hl=EN&geocode=&mra=mr&ie=UTF8&ll=-36.977872,147.13058&spn=0.021153,0.049438&t=p&z=15. Retrieved 10/02/2009. 
5. ^ 8423 Omeo, Victoria, Topographic Map. National Topographic Map Series (1 ed.). Commonwealth of Australia. 1982. 

External links

"Great Alpine Road - Tourism Victoria". http://www.visitvictoria.com/Activities-and-attractions/Touring-routes/The-Great-Alpine-Road.aspx. Retrieved 2011-07-21. 
"Australian Traveller". http://www.australiantraveller.com/index.cfm?page_id=1693. Retrieved 10/02/2009. 
"Sydney - Melbourne Touring". http://www.sydneymelbournetouring.com.au/touring-routes/gar-overview.aspx. Retrieved 10/02/2009. ^{[dead link]}
"Victoria's Alpine High Country". http://www.visitalpinevictoria.com.au/pages/the-great-alpine-road/. Retrieved 10/02/2009. 
"NRMA Motoring Services". https://www.mynrma.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/mynrma/hs.xsl/Victoria_Great_Alpine_Road.htm. Retrieved 10/02/2009. 
"Discover East Gippsland". http://www.discovereastgippsland.com.au/greatalpineroad.asp. Retrieved 10/02/2009.