This is completely epic: A 1,000 km journey by bike ‘through the rooftop of Australia along backcountry trails, across exposed high plains, through snow gum woodlands and among tall native forests. The trail links two of major cities (Canberra and Melbourne) with limited resupply points and some of Australia’s best high country campsites’.

The Hunt 1000 is envisaged as a 7 day bike packing ride. It is the brain child of Daniel Hunt. A number of my riding friends have been talking about it, so I thought I would check it out.

Daniel says:

“Developed for the inaugural Hunt Bikes Snowy Mountains 1000 event in November 2016, the objective of the route is to link two of Australia’s major cities, Canberra and Melbourne, and traverse some of Australia’s most beautiful high country in a tough but achievable seven days. The route links some amazing campsites and historic alpine huts, provides a limited number of resupply points, and mixes in some challenging hike-a-bike sections, as well as river and creek crossings.

Encompassing the Kosciuszko, Alpine and Namadgi National Parks, the Hunt 1000 takes you into the heart of these remote and uniquely Australian alpine wilderness areas. The Australian Alps have a geological history dating back 160 million years and are unlike regions commonly associated with the term alpine, such as the Andes or the Himalayas. Rather, the Australian alpine region is essentially an uplifted plain made up of grand plateaus surrounded by eroded steep valleys. This unique geology becomes apparent as you climb out of Brindabella Valley to Long Plain or when you scramble 1100m up Billy Goat Bluff Track to the plateau above. The nature of the landscape means you will spend hundreds of km’s on top of the world. But, what goes up must come down and you’ll work hard for those high trail views.

Weaving together a network of fire trails, alpine paths, gravel tracks and country roads, sometimes you’ll wish you had a randonneur with slick 32’s, other times you’ll wish you had a fat bike, and sometimes it just doesn’t matter because its too steep to pedal. The trail conditions and the elevation profile are about as varied as the alpine weather can be. This all combines to make the route a beautiful challenge.

Some stats:

The ride, as recommended

  • Is 930 km long
  • Takes 7 days
  • Is 70% on unpaved roads and tracks
  • On a scale of difficulty from 1 to 10, is rated as an 8
  • Is too steep to ride for about 10% of the route
  • The total Ascent is 18,575 M (!!)

Because of winter snows, Daniel recommends you only ride the route between October and March.

You can find out more, including route maps, here.