The Dead Horse Gap Track is one of the most picturesque walks in the Snowy Mountains. With hundreds upon hundreds of white Snow gum trees, fabulous wildflowers and jaw dropping views from the top, it’s a must do for hikers. We set off intending to walk just this track, but ended up turning it into a 14km epic circuit walk, taking in two additional trails.

If you only want to walk the Dead Horse Gap Trail the first section of this post will cover it in detail, and you can skip the rest.

Here’s exactly what to expect on the Dead Horse Gap walk and the full circuit.

The possible routes

There are three ways to do the Dead Horse Gap Trail, and it depends on how far you want to walk as to which you should choose. You can either do it as a return, make a short loop with the chairlift or a big loop without the chairlift. Here’s each option:

Route one - Dead Horse Gap as a return trail - 11km
Route two - Take the Dead Horse Gap Track, then the chairlift down to Thredbo Village and the Thredbo River Track back to your car. Or vice versa - 9.9km
Route three - Our chosen route, up the Dead Horse Gap Track, down the Merritts Nature Track and then along the Thredbo Valley River Track back to your car - 14.8km

The Dead Horse Gap Circuit Track

The stats

Distance: 14.8km
Elevation: 690m
Difficulty: Hard

If you plan on doing this 14.8km mega loop, allow a decent amount of time (at least 4 hours). You can probably save 45 minutes - 1 hour if you take the chairlift from the top to Thredbo.

This is a pretty steep track both up and down, and even the River Trail isn’t flat! It is a stunning walk though, so the effort is rewarded.

Starting the track

Dead Horse Gap Trail: 5.5km, 462m elevation gained

You’ll start the track at the Cascade Trail car park and immediately head across the road to the Dead Horse Gap trailhead (there’s a sign to show you the way) - don’t make the same mistake we did and start heading up the Cascade Trail as it’s uphill all the way!

From the trailhead you’ll cross the river on a brief moment of flat track before you start heading uphill on a pretty steep trail.

It’s a mixture of stairs and a zig-zagging sloped path. It’s not perfectly manicured but it’s in decent condition.

Through the snow gums

You’ll be heading up through a gorgeous Snow gum forest, although sadly the trees don’t offer much shade! It’s absolutely beautiful though, and if you’re hiking in summer you’ll also be treated to an abundance of wildflowers.

Into the snow gum forest on the Dead Horse Track in the Snowy Mountains

They lined both sides of the path for the majority of the way and covered the grassland in blazes of white, yellow and purple. It’s just stunning and occasionally you’ll also be treated to their perfume as you walk between the densest patches.

The first kilometre of the track is relentlessly uphill, and I was definitely breathless most of the way! Luckily after that, the trail has a few flat sections to break up the climb, and the gradient is much less steep.

You’ll start to get some lovely views back over the mountains behind you, and also straight ahead too. At 1.8km into the walk you’ll find a bench if you want a break from the climb (at this point you’ve climbed 230m elevation in 1.8km).

The track continues to meander through the Snow gums on a well formed path, with boardwalk over any sections that might get boggy. You’ll start to see some huge boulders which are characteristic of this area.

After 3.4km you’ll reach what is possibly the best bench seat I’ve ever seen - a ski lift - and from this point on the track goes from very pretty to simply sensational.

The incredible views from the top

At this point you are surrounded by mountains, wildflowers and huge rock formations, and the whole scene is just breathtaking. Just watch out for Horse flies if you’re there in summer because they are vicious and persistent, and even went for me through my trousers! Mercifully they don’t bother you if you’re on the move!

From the ski lift bench you have the smallest bit more uphill to go, through more and more incredible rock formations before the track flattens.

The views are some of the best we’ve seen on any walk in NSW, a real wow, and we didn’t have any snow at all - I can imagine with a light dusting of snow it is even more magical!

Roughly one kilometre on from the bench seat, you’ll begin descending down towards the ski lift. Firstly that’s on boardwalk, followed by the final 300m on a paved path.

This is the point at which you might start to see more people, up to then we had barely seen another soul!

If you wanted to, you could make a short detour to the Kosciuszko Lookout, which is less than 3km return, you could also go all the way to the summit, but that’s around 12km return.

Most people either return the way they came, or head to the chairlift for a ride down to Thredbo Village. Just be warned that a ride on the chairlift is $45 per person, as they only have a daily rate, so there’s no discount for a one way journey.

The alternate to the chairlift - The Merritts Nature Track

Merritts Nature Track: 5.8km, 64m elevation gained

The Merritts Nature Track criss-crosses its way down the mountain over the course of 4km. It starts just to the right of the chairlift and is steep for the first 350m along a rocky track.

You’ll then cross over the road and head onto a bush track which is mainly stairs, easy footing, but quite steep.

You’ll soon pass a number of pretty cascades, the sound of the gushing water provides a nice backdrop for most of the trail.

After you’ve been on the trail for 1.5km you’ll come to a picnic bench with an incredible view. If you’ve brought a picnic with you, this is one of the best spots to stop, it’s so quiet and peaceful.

Into the forest

The downhill becomes a bit less steep from this point on, and after 600m you’ll head into a really pretty stretch of forest, with towering trees providing lots of shade.

This was my favourite section of the whole Merritts Track.

Although you’ll continue to pop out of the forest and cross over the road, you’ll spend most of the rest of the track amongst the trees.

The cascades are even louder here and eventually when you’ve almost finished the descent you’ll finally see them again.

It’s not long after crossing the bridge over the cascades before you’ve completed the whole descent and you’ll head out of the forest onto a footpath just above Thredbo Village.

Starting the Thredbo River Track

Thredbo River Track: 3.5km, 160m elevation gained

From the footpath you’ll turn right and you’ll quickly see the main part of the village. Cross over the footbridge and then turn left to follow the signs for the River Track.

You’ll arrive at the trailhead 850m after leaving the Merritts Nature Track (which is included in our total stats above).

I assumed the River Track was going to be a lovely flat stroll beside the water, but actually there were a fair few hills!

Nothing too strenuous, but I could definitely feel the undulations by this point. It’s a beautiful track though, starting beside the river and then heading into bushland away from the water for a while.

The path is really well maintained and apart from the odd few short rocky climbs, it’s smooth sailing.

Don’t be alarmed when you see the signpost part way through the track saying it’s still 5km to the Cascade Trail car park, I promise it’s not! They are roughly 1.5km out but it definitely threw us for a while!

After 3.2km on the River Track you’ll come to a lookout over a small but gorgeous waterfall.

This is a lovely spot to sit and relax before the final 2km back to the car park. You’ll cross the river a couple of times, but it’s always on bridges and there’s a long fairly flat stretch where you are walking back beside the river on a narrow path through glorious alpine landscape.

I absolutely loved this section, and it felt like we’d suddenly entered the wilds, after the earlier part of the track which is still very pretty but feels much closer to town.

The trail briefly undulates again before you’ll see the car park in the distance and you’ll be back at the original signpost for the Dead Horse Gap Track.

All in all this is a fantastic walk, which offers lots of variety in scenery and the chance to knock off three tracks in one!

Essential information about the Dead Horse Gap Track

The Mount Kosciuszko National Park Fee

The Dead Horse Gap Track falls within the park fee zone and even if you have an NSW parks pass, you still need to pay. The fee is $17 per day, and if you buy 4 days you get 1 free. You can buy an annual pass for this park alone for $190.

The day pass lasts for 24 hours, so if you time it right you can hike for 2 days on a 1 day pass.

Where to park for the track

Assuming you want to walk up the Dead Horse Gap Track you want to park at the Cascade Track car park (and then cross the main road over to the correct trailhead). If you want to take the chairlift up and walk down the Dead Horse Gap Track you can park in Thredbo Village. There isn’t a lot of parking so you may want to arrive early to snag a spot if you’re visiting on a weekend.

The best time to walk the track

The easiest time to walk the track is in summer when the snow has generally melted - although a snow flurry can occur year round. It’s officially open to walkers between the October and June long weekends. Outside this time you can walk the trail with snowshoes or cross country skis but there are no snow poles marking the route.

If there is a small snow covering you might want to have traction devices with you, we love Yaktrax.

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