An attractive timber and farming town nestled in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains. The town's distinctive Lombardy Poplars were planted in 1861.

Where is it?: Southern Agricultural. Tumut is 523 km south west of Sydney; 180 km south of Canberra via the Hume Highway; 34 km from Gundagai.

The Tumut River, which runs for 145 km before joining the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai, flows along the edge of the town; the plains spread out on either side of the river; and the foothills of the Snowy Mountains rise on all sides. The town itself has an elevation of 280 m above sea level which means that it is located so that it has four distinct seasons.

Lookouts: The Rotary Lookout, at the top end of Wynyard Street, offers an excellent view across the town and the Tumut River to Bombowlee. Just past Bondo, on the Wee Jasper Road (off Bombowlee Creek Rd), Tumorrama Fire Tower Lookout offers fabulous views across the valley.

Events: The Festival of the Falling Leaf is held each year in April-May. This Autumn Festival has become a hugely popular event and is held each year in April-May.

Things To See and Do

Tumut has a large number of historic buildings notably its collection of fine hotels, the Court House and the very fine Anglican Church which was built to a design by Edmund Blacket, the architect responsible for the Quadrangle at Sydney University. A brochure relating to a heritage walk of the CBD s available from the visitors' centre.

Heritage Buildings: All Saints Anglican Church (1875-79); Court House (1878); Police Station (1874); Oriental Hotel, originally the Queens Arms (c.1876); Westpac (1891); CBC Bank, now National (1889); Tumut Museum; Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception; Pioneer Cemetery.

Millet brooms are still handmade at the Tumut Broom Factory which is located on Adelong Road. With over 950 named varieties, Tumut Valley African Violets Farm is reputedly the largest African violet farm in Australia. The farm offers morning and afternoon teas at the Garden Cafe.

Surrounding Area
Gundagai, a pretty, historic farming town built on the hillside overlooking the Murrumbidgee River. Its name is one of the most well known of Australian towns thanks to the legendary dog sitting on the tuckerbox. The popular verse which immortalised the dog refers to Five Mile Creek to the north of the town, which was a popular meeting place with teamsters, drovers, shearers and bush travellers. The annual Dog on the Tuckerbox Festival is held each November.


Blowering Dam (12 km) has the second largest storage capacity in the whole Snowy Mountains project. Built in 1963-68, the dam was the site where the world's longest water-ski run occurred when someone kept going for 1673 km. It also became the location of the world water-ski record when Ken Warby travelled across it on skis at 510.45 km/hour in 1978.