thanks heaps, I am an ex truck driver (B-Doubles for a bit) but just never done that road - thank you

Radar wrote:

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Trevor 57 wrote:

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thanks heaps, I am an ex truck driver (B-Doubles for a bit) but just never done that road - thank you

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 From one truck driver to another, "just another hill", the lookout is interesting on the way up.

Don't forget to drop your second trailer at the bottom as that is mandatory.

-- Edited by Radar on Tuesday 1st of December 2020 11:35:13 AM

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 I will make sure to leave the A trailer at the bottom 

 

Thanks for the info

Thanks Greg

If coming from the south another way is from South Pambula to Bombala via the Mount Darragh road. Not as steep or wide as the Brown Mountain way and a little bit shorter to the top. Of course, the round trip to Cooma is also longer than going up the Brown.
(Ignore a sign post just before Bombala pointing to Nimitabel - that is a fairly rough dirt road. Carry on into Bombala.)

We have made some eight trips up and down the Brown, started towing a camper trailer, upgraded to a Jayco Freedom then finally our Stirling - which has made three trips to date, plus the Mt Darragh one.

A tip about the Brown - as mentioned the Brown is ten kilometres long. At the bottom read your odometer and count off the kilometres. Otherwise, it will seem to take forever. The lookout on the left is about two kilometres from the top and from there the road actually improves a little bit.

As others have already said, drive to the conditions.

Murray

PS: I put our Ranger in sports mode and select third gear for all but the tightest bends. (Both going down and coming up.)

-- Edited by Long Weekend on Tuesday 1st of December 2020 10:36:35 PM

-- Edited by Long Weekend on Tuesday 1st of December 2020 10:37:15 PM

Is Brown Mountain part of the Snowy Mountain Highway? The map says Snowy Mountain Hwy I was wanting to go the Snowy Mountain Highway way

Thanks LW, for some reason I thought Brown Mountain was somewhere else

These maps indicate that the Kings Highway has longer stretches than the Snowy Mountains Highway. Refer to the bit labelled "Bonzle incline/gradient summary" on each map. My preference as to which road to use is "use the most convenient one at the time."

msg is right about the Brown Mountain being shorter that the Clyde - sorta. The Clyde Mountain is about five kilometres long from bottom to top. But, from Nelligen to the start of the real climb the road is winding and undulating, which is almost as bad as the mountain itself.

The same tip I gave for the Brown applies for the Clyde - at the start of the climb read your odometer and count off the kilometres. Otherwise it will appear endless.

The Princes Highway north of Bega is not real good either - lots of bends and speed restrictions. From Moruya it does improve though.

Nonetheless, despite what appears to be negatives about the Brown and Clyde, they are easily taken with a caravan on tow, albeit not at highway speeds! You will certainly see other vans going in the opposite direction, even come up behind ones ahead or have them come up behind you. Buses and semi trailers use the same roads safely, just manually select your low gears and take care.

Murray

Just to add to Radar's post: if you take the Monaro Highway from Cann River then the mountains are irrelevant. The highway is almost straight and level all the way to Bombala - the only way you know you are on a rise is by the engine working a bit harder than on the straight and level.

First stop from Cann River is Bombala for a coffee. Next is Nimitabel on the Snowy Mountains Highway proper. It is several years since I went through Nimitabel but I seem to recall that the servo had closed down. Might be worth a check as it is some thirty odd kilometres to Cooma from there.

Murray

I hadn't actually considered going from Cann River to Cooma, actually truthfully I didn't know you could. I kinda like the idea, we have never been that way before and I like new tracks

 

Any free camps that way?

-- Edited by Trevor 57 on Thursday 3rd of December 2020 07:26:25 PM

PeterD wrote:

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These maps indicate that the Kings Highway has longer stretches than the Snowy Mountains Highway. Refer to the bit labelled "Bonzle incline/gradient summary" on each map. My preference as to which road to use is "use the most convenient one at the time."

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 Sorry, I left a bit of the wording out. What I meant to say was "has longer stretches of steep road than.."

 

Enjoy the trip. Remember to count off the kilometres!

Murray

Trevor 57 wrote:

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Minister for War & Finance has decided we are going the Brown Mountain route

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 let us know howmany gear changes you make?

Just joking  e joy the drive, let us know your thoughts on the scenic drive.

PeterD wrote:

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Does that include on the undulating country either side of the big hill or just the hill itself? One of the steeper pinches is at the bottom. You will probably go to the lowest gear there. You will come back up a gear or two and maintain that until the other steep pinch just before Piper's Lookout. You will drop back to the same gear (or so) as the bottom steep pinch. From there you will gradually go back up to your highest travelling gear as you brest the top. That is unless you stop at Pipers's Lookout, which is worth a stop (there are picnic tables and dunnies there last time I went up.)

You will probably make more gear changes on the undulating country than on the big hill itself.

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 Peter D hi.

My comment was all tongue in cheek, one old ex truck driver to another.

But I would be interested in his thoughts, if he is anything like me it will be, "just another hill".