Mount Beauty Victoria | |||||||||
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Coordinates | 36°44′0″S147°10′0″E / 36.73333°S 147.16667°E | ||||||||
Population | 910 (2021 census) [1] | ||||||||
Postcode(s) | 3699 | ||||||||
Elevation | 365.8 m (1,200 ft) | ||||||||
Location |
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LGA(s) | Alpine Shire | ||||||||
State electorate(s) | Benambra | ||||||||
Federal division(s) | Indi | ||||||||
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Mount Beauty is a small town in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. The town lies alongside the Kiewa River, at the junction of the Kiewa Valley Highway and Bogong High Plains Road in the Alpine Shire local government area.
The town was originally established by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria to house construction workers from the Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme in 1949, [2] passing to the control of the local shire council in 1967 after construction was completed. [3]
Post Offices opened at Tawonga South (to the north) on 15 April 1943 and at Mount Beauty on 17 February 1947. Post Offices known as No 2 Camp, No 4 Camp, and No 5 Camp, Mount Beauty were open in the 1949-1953 period. [2]
The climate of Mount Beauty is truly seasonal, with chilling winters, cool wet springs, warm summers with blue skies and colourful autumns. Each season has its own attractions, including skiing, bushwalking, horse riding, gliding, bike riding (mountain and road) as well as fishing (river and lake). Mount Beauty has its own annual music festival, mountain bike competition and regular weekend markets on the first Saturday of each month. There are also many four wheel drive tracks in the local area.
The town is a launching point for trips to the Falls Creek ski resort, and to the Bogong High Plains. To this end there are several ski hire shops, eateries, and a bus company doing daily trips to and from the resort at Falls Creek, 32 km distant.
This town also has great views to the mountains, such as Mount Bogong and the peaks that are of interest to many of the tourists coming through the town.
The town has a prominent winter rainfall peak, with a yearly average of 1,264.6 millimetres (49.79 in). It rains on 142 days of the year; heavily concentrated between May and October. On account of its southern latitude nearing the 37th parallel, summers have a notable chill about them when compared to slightly northward towns such as Corryong, with a strong seasonal lag from springtime through to high summer (in line with its rainfall pattern). The station is at an altitude of 366 metres (1,201 ft) above sea level and it may snow on occasion.
Climate data for Mount Beauty (1948–1994, extremes 1965–1994); 366 m AMSL; 36.75° S, 147.16° E | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 41.1 (106.0) | 42.5 (108.5) | 37.6 (99.7) | 31.1 (88.0) | 25.0 (77.0) | 20.5 (68.9) | 20.0 (68.0) | 21.7 (71.1) | 27.2 (81.0) | 29.7 (85.5) | 38.0 (100.4) | 39.0 (102.2) | 42.5 (108.5) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 28.8 (83.8) | 29.0 (84.2) | 25.7 (78.3) | 20.2 (68.4) | 15.5 (59.9) | 12.5 (54.5) | 11.3 (52.3) | 12.7 (54.9) | 16.0 (60.8) | 19.4 (66.9) | 22.5 (72.5) | 26.3 (79.3) | 20.0 (68.0) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 12.5 (54.5) | 13.1 (55.6) | 10.8 (51.4) | 7.5 (45.5) | 4.9 (40.8) | 2.7 (36.9) | 2.1 (35.8) | 3.0 (37.4) | 4.6 (40.3) | 6.9 (44.4) | 8.6 (47.5) | 11.0 (51.8) | 7.3 (45.2) |
Record low °C (°F) | 2.0 (35.6) | 2.6 (36.7) | 0.0 (32.0) | −1.0 (30.2) | −2.2 (28.0) | −4.4 (24.1) | −6.7 (19.9) | −4.3 (24.3) | −2.8 (27.0) | −1.1 (30.0) | 0.0 (32.0) | 1.7 (35.1) | −6.7 (19.9) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 67.2 (2.65) | 52.5 (2.07) | 70.9 (2.79) | 91.0 (3.58) | 119.6 (4.71) | 115.1 (4.53) | 151.7 (5.97) | 160.9 (6.33) | 127.3 (5.01) | 134.3 (5.29) | 90.9 (3.58) | 83.2 (3.28) | 1,264.6 (49.79) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 7.1 | 6.0 | 8.1 | 9.2 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 17.0 | 17.8 | 14.2 | 14.0 | 11.6 | 9.4 | 142.2 |
Average afternoon relative humidity (%) | 39 | 43 | 49 | 56 | 66 | 71 | 69 | 64 | 59 | 55 | 50 | 48 | 56 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology; Mount Beauty |
The town in conjunction with neighbouring township Dederang has an Australian rules football team, Dederang-Mount Beauty, competing in the Tallangatta & District Football League.
Golfers play at the Mount Beauty Golf Club on Tawonga Crescent. [4]
A hang gliding competition, the Bogong Cup, is held in January each year.
Mount Beauty also sport a Dragon Boat team, who train on one of local pondage lakes.
The Alpine National Park is a national park located in the Central Highlands and Alpine regions of Victoria, Australia. The 646,000-hectare (1,600,000-acre) national park is located northeast of Melbourne. It is the largest National Park in Victoria, and covers much of the higher areas of the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, including Victoria's highest point, Mount Bogong at 1,986 metres (6,516 ft) and the associated subalpine woodland and grassland of the Bogong High Plains. The park's north-eastern boundary is along the border with New South Wales, where it abuts the Kosciuszko National Park. On 7 November 2008 the Alpine National Park was added to the Australian National Heritage List as one of eleven areas constituting the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves.
Skiing in Victoria, Australia takes place in the Australian Alps located in the State of Victoria during the southern hemisphere winter. Victoria is the State with the greatest number of ski resorts in Australia. The highest peak in Victoria is Mount Bogong at 1986m. The first ski tow was constructed near Mount Buffalo in 1938. Victoria has a number of well developed ski resorts including Mount Hotham, Falls Creek and Mount Buller. Cross country skiing is popular in such national parks as Mount Buffalo National Park and Alpine National Park.
The Mount Buffalo National Park is a national park in the alpine region of Victoria, Australia. The 31,000-hectare (77,000-acre) national park is located approximately 350 kilometres (220 mi) northeast of Melbourne in the Australian Alps. Within the national park is Mount Buffalo, a moderately high mountain plateau, with an elevation of 1,723 metres (5,653 ft) above sea level.
The Falls Creek Alpine Resort is an alpine ski resort in the Hume region in northeastern Victoria, Australia. It is located in the Alpine National Park in the Victorian Alps, approximately 350 kilometres by road from Melbourne, with the nearest town being Mount Beauty, which is approximately 30 km (20 mi) away. The resort lies between an elevation of 1,500 and 1,830 m above sea level, with the highest lifted point at 1,780 m (5,840 ft). Skiing is possible on the nearby peak of Mount McKay at 1,842 m (6,043 ft), accessed by snowcat from the resort.
Mansfield is a small town in the foothills of the Victorian Alps in the Australian state of Victoria. It is approximately 180 kilometres (110 mi) north-east of Melbourne by road. The population around Mansfield was 4,787 as at the 2016 census. The town itself has 3410 persons.
The Australian Alps are a mountain range in southeast Australia. It comprises an interim Australian bioregion, and is the highest mountain range in Australia. The range straddles the borders of eastern Victoria, southeastern New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory. It contains Australia's only peaks exceeding 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in elevation, and is the only bioregion on the Australian mainland in which deep snow falls annually. The range comprises an area of 1,232,981 ha.
Kiewa River, a perennial river that is part of the Murray catchment within the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Alpine bioregion, in the Australian state of Victoria.
Mount Bogong,, located in the Alpine National Park and part of the Victorian Alps of the Great Dividing Range, is the highest mountain in Victoria, Australia, at 1,986 metres (6,516 ft) above sea level.
The Victorian Alps, also known locally as the High Country, is a large mountain system in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria. Occupying the majority of eastern Victoria, it is the southwestern half of the Australian Alps, the tallest portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Yarra and Dandenong Ranges, both sources of rivers and drinking waters for Melbourne, are branches of the Victorian Alps.
Bright is a town in northeastern Victoria, Australia, 319 metres above sea level at the southeastern end of the Ovens Valley. At the 2021 census, Bright had a population of 2,620. It is located in the Alpine Shire local government area.
Alexandra is a town in north-east Victoria, Australia, 130 kilometres north-east of the State Capital, Melbourne. It is located at the junction of the Goulburn Valley Highway (B340) and Maroondah Highway (B360), in the Shire of Murrindindi local government area. At the 2016 census, the town had a population of 2,695 and the broader area a population of 6420.
The Bogong High Plains, part of the Victorian Alps of the Great Dividing Range, are a section of plains located in the Alpine National Park in the Australian state of Victoria and are situated south of Mount Bogong.
The Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme is the largest hydro-electric scheme in the Australian state of Victoria and the second-largest in mainland Australia after the Snowy Mountains Scheme. The scheme is situated in the Australian Alps in north-eastern Victoria about 350 kilometres from Melbourne and is wholly owned by AGL Energy.
The Rocky Valley Dam is located on the Bogong High Plains, near Falls Creek, Victoria, Australia, a winter ski resort. The dam is man-made and has a capacity of 28,000 megalitres and is situated at 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) above sea level. The Dam wall is traversable during both Winter months and Summer months.
Tawonga is a town in northeast Victoria, Australia. The town is on the Kiewa Valley Highway, in the Alpine Shire local government area, 350 kilometres (217 mi) northeast of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2021 census, Tawonga had a population of 568.
Dederang is a town in north east Victoria. The town is located on the Kiewa Valley Highway, in the Alpine Shire Local government in Australia, 329 kilometres from the state capital, Melbourne. Dederang is located in the Kiewa River valley. At the 2006 census, Dederang and the surrounding area had a population of 422.
The Kiewa Valley Highway is a minor highway of 80 kilometres (50 mi) which traverses the Kiewa Valley near the alpine regions of Victoria, Australia. In the 1950s the road was sealed and realigned to Mount Beauty to permit the transport of materials for the construction of the Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme. From Mount Beauty the road continues as the Bogong High Plains Road, a winding and twisty route via the alpine resort of Falls Creek, which terminates at its junction with the Omeo Highway at Shannonvale south of Glen Valley.
William Francis "Bill" Waters was Scouts Victoria's Headquarters Commissioner for Rover Scouts between 1930 and 1965.
Mount Hotham Alpine Resort is an Australian alpine resort, is located in the Alpine region of Victoria. Set on the slopes of Mount Hotham, the ski resort comprises an alpine village, situated at an altitude of 1,750 metres (5,740 ft) AHD, making it the second highest resort village in Australia after Charlotte Pass village, in New South Wales.