Kosciuszko
is the largest national park in New South
Wales (Australia), 354 km southwest of
Sydney. It is named for Mount Kosciuszko,
which it contains, and which is in turn
named for the Polish hero Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
The park has an alpine climate and an
alpine flora, which is quite rare in Australia.
The landscape near Mount Kosciuszko was
shaped by ancient glaciers which left
moraines and tarns. The glacial lakes
are: Lake Cootapatamba, Lake Albina, Club
Lake, Blue lake, and Hedley Tarn. The
Snowy River originates in the park and
flows south to Victoria. There are tunnels,
dams, generators and other parts of the
Snowy Mountains Scheme hydro-electric
system within the park. The ski resorts
of Thredbo, Selwyn snowfields, Perisher
Blue and Charlotte Pass lie within the
park, as does Cabramurra the highest town
in Australia. The larger towns of Cooma
and Jindabyne lie just outside and service
the park.
In
the 19th century gold was mined on the
high plains near Kiandra. The park is
contiguous with the Alpine National Park
in Victoria to the south, and the Namadgi
National Park in the Australian Capital
Territory to the east. Around the national
park there are a wide variety of historic
alpine huts. Many of these huts are left
over from early cattle grazers, miners
and summer homes. Today these huts are
used for hiking, cross country skiing,
science and engineering. Many of these
huts are maintained by the National Parks
and Wildlife Service or volunteer organisations
like the Kosciuszko Huts Association.
Much of the tree cover in the lower sections
of the park was burned in bushfires in
2003. Fires are a natural feature of the
park ecosystem, but it will take some
time for the region to return to its pre-fire
appearance.
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