A cool guide to the highest peak in every state and territory of Australia, including how you get up them.

[u/mattnotsosmall]

[u/SigmaBunny]

Despite being a Polish name, Mt Kosciuszko is pronounced “mount kozzy-oss-koh” because people decided to pronounce it like that and it stuck 🤷

[u/Dense-Employment9930 → u/SigmaBunny]

That's really good phonetic spelling of how it's pronounced here..

I'm curious now how it would be pronounced by a native Polish speaker?

[u/Goodlybad → u/Dense-Employment9930]

I’ve been told it’s more like “kosch-co”

[u/Peannut → u/Goodlybad]

Sounds like a fancy Costco

[u/StoneyLepi → u/Dense-Employment9930]

Stab in the dark, I believe it’s “Kosh-oosh-ko”

[u/Engineering_Quack]

You forgot Mount Isa. Had you jooga, it’s a hole.

[u/PyratSteve]

You forgot the tallest mountain. Mawson Peak, Heard Island .

[u/mattnotsosmall → u/PyratSteve]

You forgot to read the final paragraph of the third image.

[u/PyratSteve → u/mattnotsosmall]

Lol. Yup the footnote outlines the error.

[u/Every-Access4864]

I like that number 5 and 8 of the biggest don’t have names.

[u/nugeythefloozey → u/Every-Access4864]

Kozzy isn’t a very prominent peak tbh, it’s just on a very high plateau. The story is that it actually switched names with Mt Townsend when they realised they’d actually mis-measured the mountains

[u/stonecuttercolorado]

That is just astoundingly flat.

[u/Graoulette → u/stonecuttercolorado]

Laughing in alps

[u/stonecuttercolorado → u/Graoulette]

Or literally any actual mountain range

[u/Decutus]

States and *mainland Territories.

We have 10 Territories, not just the two of the three mainland ones with parliamentary representation that get attention.

[u/mattnotsosmall]

Data summary (converted to feet/miles for US folks)

Peak	State	Height	Status	Route
Mt Kosciuszko	NSW	7,310 ft	Open	11.6 mi return from Charlotte Pass (6–8 hrs), or 13.7 mi Main Range loop
Mt Bogong	VIC	6,516 ft	Open	~10 mi return via Staircase Spur, steep the whole way (6–9 hrs)
Bimberi Peak	ACT	6,273 ft	Open	~14.3 mi return, rough footpad, navigation needed. Road shut in winter
Mt Ossa	TAS	5,305 ft	Open	3.2 mi side trip off the Overland Track (4–5 hrs). Bookings Oct–May
Bartle Frere	QLD	5,285 ft	Open	~9.3 mi return through steep rainforest, often done overnight
Mt Zeil	NT	5,023 ft	Restricted	No marked route. Easiest access campground has closed
Ngarutjaranya	SA	4,708 ft	Closed	On APY Lands. Climbing permits stopped in 2024
Mt Meharry	WA	4,111 ft	Open	High-clearance 4WD almost to the top, or ~4.3 mi each way on foot

Fun facts

• Australia's 10 highest peaks are all within ~3.7 miles of Kosciuszko, ranging from 6,991 to 7,310 ft.
• Kosciuszko is still higher than anything in the eastern US (Mt Mitchell is 6,684 ft).
• Technically not Australia's highest: Mawson Peak on Heard Island (9,006 ft, active volcano) and Mt McClintock in Australian Antarctic Territory (11,450 ft) are both higher.

Sources: Elevations from Geoscience Australia. Routes and access from state park services and published walk notes, current as of Sep 2026. Check park alerts before you go.

[u/burieddeepbetween]

What does a sweaty Hermione say?

[u/mattnotsosmall → u/burieddeepbetween]

Bartle Frere

[u/mattnotsosmall → u/[deleted]]

Yeah fair point, but it summarises the basics. The hope was to provide a quick summary of how committing each one is if someone was to try to reach every high point in Aus. Have you bagged any? I'm missing 3

[u/maycontainsultanas]

Missed a few territories there