Buchan to Jindabyne road okay?

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Thought it prudent to check.
Anybody been along this section recently, since any major weather conditions I mean?
I talked to somebody that came down in September last year in a front-wheel drive car and he said I won't have any trouble.
Only planning to get to Gunning, NSW before dark so if it starts looking iffy I can turn back and go Orbost - Bombala - Cooma instead, but I'd like a look at that area.
It's pretty hilly around there so is it noticeably easy going north or south? I could go Bombala way on the way up and check out Jindabyne on the way back if that's easier.

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Thought it prudent to check.
Anybody been along this section recently, since any major weather conditions I mean?
I talked to somebody that came down in September last year in a front-wheel drive car and he said I won't have any trouble.
Only planning to get to Gunning, NSW before dark so if it starts looking iffy I can turn back and go Orbost - Bombala - Cooma instead, but I'd like a look at that area.
It's pretty hilly around there so is it noticeably easy going north or south? I could go Bombala way on the way up and check out Jindabyne on the way back if that's easier.

Okay, I did the trip and this section was by far the most exhausting, but bloody beautiful once you get down along the river.
The first 55km north out of Buchan is a very good bitumen road, though there are plenty of potholes so you do need to stay on your toes. This is a climb from 86m up to just over 900m. You climb a little more to around 950m before starting to drop back into the valley, meeting the Snowy down around 230m. Then it's gravel from Woolgulmerang East down into the bottom of the valley, more than an hour of tight off-camber corners on gravel gets exhausting, lots of holes, large rocks that have rolled down onto the road, and washouts. The Buchan side I found more tiring and potentially dangerous as it's very easy to carry just a little too much speed to wash off on loose gravel and put the vehicle into the valley or into the cliff face, the Jindabyne side I found less technical but the holes, rocks and wash outs were more common and bigger. The stretch along the river is relatively flat then you start climbing out to over 1250m before dropping back down to Jindabyne. Don't let your attention wander out there. After 90km of gravel, at Old Grosses Road, Ingebirah Gap it turns back to bitumen, but of the NSW kind so you have to always be on your toes for potholes coming at you with no warning.

I left Buchan at 1305, got up to Wallace's Lookout at 1518, and got to Jindabyne at 1556 to have a quick burger at the boat ramp. According to Google Maps just the dirt section should take 90 minutes.

I would recommend if you do go this way plan to make some stops along the river at the bottom, it's too beautiful to fly though on a schedule, take your time and enjoy it. I would not recommend a trailer or caravan though and I would not take take the Coaster bus, the roads are very narrow in places and although the traffic was sparse you definitely don't have the road entirely to yourself. I saw a bike and a small car coming out of the Buchan end, when I hit the river heading toward Jindabyne there was more traffic, mostly 4x4's. You meet the Snowy River about 4km south of the NSW border, and then the road follows alongside the river for 26km to the Jacob River branch. I don't ride horses but when I saw it I couldn't help but wonder about riding a horse along there for a month, it's just gorgeous. I had no idea it was the Snowy until just now plotting the route on the map, and one of the first posts on Facebook I see is from Tom Burlinson telling us that the director of the movie has died. I also just noticed that when the road becomes dirt at Woolgulmerang East it becomes the Snowy River Road

Well worth going back for another look, but I think I'd rather just come down from north, have a look around for a week or two, then head back out to the north.

[MontyShooter]

Well worth the detour to check out McKillops bridge if you are heading up Barry way. Cracking ride on the bike.

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Well worth the detour to check out McKillops bridge if you are heading up Barry way. Cracking ride on the bike.

Noted for next time
I was wishing I'd been on a bike for the whole trip, but that's off the board nowadays.