Khancoban () is a small town in

Snowy Valleys Council The Snowy Valleys Council is a local government area located in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia. This area was formed on 12 May 2016 from the merger of the Tumut Shire and Tumbarumba Shire councils. The council area ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The town is located from the state capital,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and from the state border with

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, in the western foothills of the

Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range, a cordillera syste ...

, near the upper reaches of the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

in the

South West Slopes The South Western Slopes, also known as the South West Slopes, is a region predominantly in New South Wales, Australia. It covers the lower inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range, extending from north of Dunedoo through central NSW and into ...

. At the , Khancoban had a population of 319. Khancoban Post Office opened on 7 November 1876.

Tourism

The town is a popular launching place for tourists exploring the Snowy Mountains area including

Kosciuszko National Park The Kosciuszko National Park ( ) is a national park and contains mainland Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, for which it is named, and Cabramurra, New South Wales, Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia. Its borders contain a mix o ...

. Khancoban is linked to

Jindabyne Jindabyne () is a town in south-east New South Wales, Australia that overlooks Lake Jindabyne near the Snowy Mountains, in Snowy Monaro Regional Council. It is a popular holiday destination year round, especially in winter. This is due to its p ...

and

Cooma Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega, New South Wales, Bega with the Riverina. ...

by the

Alpine Way Alpine Way is a rural road located in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The road connects in the east to the New South Wales- Victorian border in the west, crossing the Murray River near Bringenbrong and Upper Towong. ...

, a scenic route that takes travellers past the ski resort of

Thredbo Thredbo is a village and ski resort in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately south of Sydney, accessible by the Alpine Way via Cooma, Berridale and Jindabyne. The village is built in the valley of the Th ...

. The closest regional centre is

Corryong Corryong is a town in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, east of Albury-Wodonga, near the upper reaches of the Murray River and close to the New South Wales border. At the , Corryong had a population of 1,348. The post office opene ...

, to the west in Victoria.

Economy

Khancoban was constructed to house workers involved in the

Snowy Mountains Scheme The Snowy Mountains Scheme, also known as the Snowy Hydro or the Snowy scheme, is a hydroelectricity and irrigation in Australia, irrigation complex in south-east Australia. Near the border of New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

, Australia's largest engineering project, designed to provide hydro-electric power and water for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

to vast areas of the nation. The town is still mainly populated by workers employed by

Snowy Hydro Limited Snowy Hydro Limited is an electricity generation and retailing company in Australia that owns, manages, and maintains the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme that consists of nine hydro-electric power stations and sixteen large dams connected ...

working in places such as Murray 1 and Murray 2

Power Station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

Climate

Khancoban historically has had a temperate oceanic (''Cfb'') climate with four distinct seasons, though with more recent data it now qualifies for a humid subtropical (''Cfa'') climate. It is characterised by its inland location and likewise

windward In geography and seamanship, windward () and leeward () are directions relative to the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e., towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point ...

position (west of the Snowy Mountains); with the summers having a high diurnal range with often chilly mornings, and generally low humidity and rainfall amount—although thunderstorm buildup with a northerly airstream can occasionally give way to much higher dew points. Winters are chilly, overcast and very rainy, with occasional

snowfalls Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

, and a much narrower diurnal range due to frequent cloud cover. Autumns are mild and dry, with crisp nights. Springs are mild, albeit tepid by November, and damp with a high frequency of thunderstorms.

Gallery

File:Khancoban aerial.jpg, Aerial photo File:KhancobanHotel.JPG, Khancoban Hotel File:KhancobanCommunityHall.JPG, Community hall

References

External links

Tumbarumba Shire Council
– Official Site {{authority control Towns in New South Wales Snowy Mountains Scheme Snowy Valleys Council