Mount Stirling is located a 3 hour drive from Melbourne and only 30 minute drive from Mount Buller. Mount Stirling has more than 68 kms of maintained trails through sheltered woodlands of Alpine Ash and Snow Gums & is a destination for all seasons.
Mount Stirling has something to offer intermediate to advanced skiers and snowboarders, trekkers looking to hike to the summit through the stunning alpine landscape, or a quieter option for tobogganing and snow play, with three toboggan areas for maximum fun the whole family can enjoy.
Mount Stirling is here you will find Craig's Hut, the famous cattlemen's hut featured in The Man From Snowy River.
The Craigs' Hut building, located in Clear Hills east of Mount Stirling, was a permanent fixture created for the film. Craigs' Hut was destroyed on 11 December 2006 in bushfires. However, the hut has since been rebuilt.
"The Man from Snowy River" is a poem by Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson. The poem tells the story of a horseback pursuit to recapture the colt of a prizewinning racehorse that escaped from its paddock and is living with the brumbies (wild horses) of the mountain ranges.
In 1982 a drama film was created based on Banjo Paterson’s poem. Released by 20th Century Fox, the film had a cast including Kirk Douglas, Jack Thompson, Tom Burlinson, Sigrid Thornton, Terence Donovan and Chris Haywood. Both Burlinson and Thornton later reprised their roles in the 1988 sequel, The Man from Snowy River II, which was released by Walt Disney Pictures.
Craig’s Hut is a popular 4WD and hiking landmark and there are a number of other huts in the area of Mount Stirling providing emergency refuge to visitors:
- Bluff Spur Hut is a shelter hut near the summit erected as a memorial to a pair of skiers who died of exposure on the mountain.
- Kingsaddle Shelter, an open shelter amidst towering Alpine Ash.
- Howqua Gap Hut was moved around Mount Stirling for loggers to shelter in and was left at the bottom of the Howqua Gap trail.
- Geelong Grammar School Hut on the other side of the summit from Bluff Spur Hut is owned by Geelong Grammar School and is used during cross country skiing by students from the Timbertop campus.
- Mount No 3 Refuge Hut, rebuilt in 2007.
- Bus Hut on the Mount Number 3 Road.
Mount Stirling features a number of refuge huts and snow camping areas, and a permanent alpine camp featuring a central tepee with a pot belly stove, cooking facilities and insulated tents.
Longitude:
146.532849
