Many backcountry huts in the Australian Alps are either intended only for emergency use or are fairly uninviting places to stay (in contrast with many of the ones in high visitation areas of the Tasmanian high country). But the best ones can be fantastic spots for a winter camp when the conditions outside aren’t great.

The best resource I know for locating huts in the mountains is Backcountry Huts. You can search by area or state and find a huge number of buildings, from the ruinous to the fabulous.

About the site:

BackcountryHuts.net started life as a Google map during the planning of a backcountry trip to Colorado. After considerable research the need for a consolidated resource for backcountry huts became apparent and BackcountryHuts.net was born.

Work on the site is ongoing to improve and expand the database of huts throughout the world. Over time the plan is to add more information for each hut however in the short term the focus remains on listing as many huts as possible.

Founders Nicole Paton and Daniel Sherwin are both avid backcountry snowboarders who share an appreciation of all things outdoors.

[Image: the Ironstone Hut at Lake Nameless, Central Plateau, TAS].