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Cooma

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Gateway to the Snowy Mountains experience

Cooma sits at the foothills of the Snowy Mountains, making it a natural staging post for riders and hikers who prefer to avoid the tourist‑heavy Alpine Village of Jindabyne. From the town’s modest rail station you can catch the seasonal heritage train that climbs past the Snowy River’s engineering marvels, offering a glimpse of the massive hydro‑electric scheme at work. Arrange a day‑trip with a local guide who can take you onto lesser‑known alpine tracks, where the tussock grass gives way to ancient Ngarigo flora. In winter, the nearby Mt. Selwyn ski area provides gentle slopes for families, while the surrounding plateaux host cross‑country tracks that rarely appear in mainstream itineraries.

A town shaped by the Snowy Scheme legacy

The influx of migrant workers during the 1940s and 50s left an enduring multicultural imprint on Cooma’s streets. Walk past the modest streetscape and you’ll notice a surprising variety of culinary offerings – from Greek souvlaki stalls tucked behind the post‑office to Italian gelato parlours near the courthouse. Community halls still host folk music evenings where descendants of those early dam builders share stories in a blend of English, Italian and Slavic dialects. This layered identity is reflected in the town’s annual “Snowy Festival”, a modest event that showcases historic photographs, local crafts and a revival of the “snowy men” who once laboured on the high country.

Practical travel tip: timing your Monaro Highway stop

When traversing the Monaro Highway between Canberra and the Snowy Mountains, scheduling a lunch break in Cooma can spare you from the midday heat that builds up on the open plateau. The town’s river‑front park offers shaded picnic tables and a well‑maintained footbridge over the Cooma Creek, ideal for a quick rest. If you’re on a tight schedule, the local supermarket’s ready‑made meals are surprisingly diverse, accommodating dietary preferences often overlooked by larger roadside outlets. Arriving after 2 p.m. also aligns with the town’s weekly market, where fresh produce from the surrounding agricultural districts is on offer – a chance to sample regional cheese and honey before heading back onto the road.

Introduction

For the town in Victoria, see Cooma, Victoria. Town in New South Wales, AustraliaTown in New South Wales, AustraliaCoomaTownCooma Court HouseCoomaCoordinates: 36°14′06″S 149°07′33″E / 36.23500°S 149.12583°E / -36.23500; 149.12583CountryAustraliaStateNew South WalesLGASnowy Monaro Regional CouncilLocation 397 km (247 mi) SW of Sydney 116 km (72 mi) S of Canberra 61 km (38 mi) ENE of Jindabyne 112 km (70 mi) NW of Bega Established1849Government • State electorateMonaro • Federal divisionEden-MonaroElevation800 m (2,600 ft)Population • Total6,715 (SAL 2021)Postcode2630CountyBeresfordMean max temp19.4 °C (66.9 °F)Mean min temp4.1 °C (39.4 °F)Annual rainfall541.6 mm (21.32 in) Localities around Cooma Binjura Bunyan Middle Flat Dairymans Plains Cooma Middle Flat Pine Valley The Brothers Rock Flat Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 114 kilometres (71 mi) south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega with the Riverina. At the 2021 census, Cooma had a population of 6,715. Cooma is the main town of the Monaro region. It is 800 metres (2,620 ft) above sea level. The name could have derived from an Aboriginal word Coombah, meaning 'big lake' or 'open country'. Cooma is 5 kilometres (3 mi) south of the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, a main tributary of the Murray–Darling basin. Cooma sources its water from the river.

History

[edit] The area now known as Cooma lies on the traditional lands of the Ngarigo people. Cooma was explored by Captain J. M. Currie in 1823. It was first surveyed in 1840, and was gazetted in 1849. Cooma was proclaimed a municipality in 1879. The railway from Sydney was extended from Royalla to Cooma in 1889 under the supervision of John Whitton. The line was closed to rail passenger traffic in 1989. The estimated population of Cooma was 47 in 1851 and it grew to 2330 (1911), 1969 (1933), 2249 (1947), 9103 (1966), 7353 (1976) and 7978 (1981). In 1949, the town became the headquarters of the Snowy Mountains Scheme and grew rapidly. Between 1949 and 1974 the population expanded due to an influx of 65,000 workers from more than 30 countries. Those working on the Snowy Scheme depended on the railway and during construction of the scheme, the railways were one of the largest employers in the region. In 1959, the tenth anniversary of the scheme was celebrated with the erection of an avenue of flags representing the 27 nationalities of people working on the scheme. Cooma has developed a growing tourism industry as it became the main rest stop for many travellers heading to the NSW snow fields during the winter months. As a result, the town nicknamed itself the 'Gateway to the Snowy Mountains'. The Aviation Pioneers' Memorial at Cooma contains artifacts recovered from the Avro 618 Ten aircraft Southern Cloud, which crashed on 21 March 1931 in the Toolong range of the Australian Alps. The wreck was not found until 26 October 1958.

Population

[edit] Historical populationYearPop.±%19211,834—    19331,969+7.4%19472,249+14.2%19546,506+189.3%19618,716+34.0%19669,106+4.5%19717,788−14.5%19767,353−5.6%19817,978+8.5%19867,406−7.2%19917,385−0.3%19967,150−3.2%20016,914−3.3%20066,587−4.7%20116,664+1.2%20166,681+0.3%20216,715+0.5%Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics data. According to the 2021 census, there were 6,715 people in Cooma. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.5% of the population. 77.8% of people were born in Australia; the next most common countries of birth included England at 2.2%, New Zealand at 1.6%, Germany at 1.3%, India at 1.1%, and Italy at 0.9%. 82.7% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages spoken at home included Italian at 0.8%, German at 0.7%, Nepali at 0.5%, Spanish at 0.5%, and Urdu at 0.4%. The most common responses for religion included No Religion 36.3%, Catholic 23.6%, Anglican 18.7%, and Uniting Church 2.0%; a further 9.5% of respondents for this area elected not to disclose their religious status.

Education

[edit] Government schools include Monaro High School, a high school that serves the town and seven of the neighbouring rural towns and villages including Peak View, Berridale, Jindabyne, Nimmitabel, Bredbo and Dalgety. The other two government schools support primary education and are Cooma Public School and Cooma North Public School, both providing education for students in Kindergarten to Year 6. The Roman Catholic school is called St Patrick's Parish School and provides education from Kindergarten to Year 10. The Snowy Mountains Christian School, an independent Christian school provides education from Kindergarten to Year 10. Tertiary education is provided by TAFE NSW Illawarra Institute Cooma campus. Another Tertiary Education centre is the Cooma Universities Centre, which opened in 2014.

Climate

[edit] Cooma has a dry oceanic climate (Cfb). Summer averages are warm, though tend to swing wildly between hot and cool; and winters are chilly with particularly cold night time temperatures due to its valley location, high elevation, and frequent clear skies, sometimes recording the lowest temperatures in the country. However, daytime maximum temperatures in winter are often unremarkable, on account of the foehn effect. The area is exceptionally dry by southeast coastal Australian standards as it lies in a major rain shadow; the region is flanked by mountain ranges on all sides, most notably on the west. Despite its dryness, it has only 90.1 clear days annually, lower than the adjacent coastal areas of Wollongong and Sydney (106 and 107 clear days respectively). Strong cold fronts often push through the region in winter and snow is not uncommon in Cooma from June to September, though is generally light and rarely settles for more than 24 hours. Frost occurs in all months of the year and is frequent between April and October. Severe thunderstorms are semi-frequent in summer, and owing to the elevation of the town can carry large quantities of hail. Climate data for Cooma Visitors Centre (1991–2020, extremes 1973–2025); 778 m AMSL; 36.23° S, 149.12° E Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high °C (°F) 40.0(104.0) 38.9(102.0) 35.2(95.4) 30.4(86.7) 24.2(75.6) 19.6(67.3) 20.9(69.6) 24.5(76.1) 29.4(84.9) 33.1(91.6) 36.5(97.7) 37.8(100.0) 40.0(104.0) Mean maximum °C (°F) 36.2(97.2) 33.7(92.7) 30.2(86.4) 25.6(78.1) 21.2(70.2) 16.7(62.1) 15.9(60.6) 19.3(66.7) 23.5(74.3) 27.4(81.3) 30.9(87.6) 32.9(91.2) 36.7(98.1) Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 28.0(82.4) 26.1(79.0) 23.6(74.5) 19.6(67.3) 15.5(59.9) 11.9(53.4) 11.5(52.7) 13.2(55.8) 16.5(61.7) 19.8(67.6) 22.8(73.0) 25.4(77.7) 19.5(67.1) Daily mean °C (°F) 19.7(67.5) 18.5(65.3) 15.9(60.6) 11.7(53.1) 7.9(46.2) 5.4(41.7) 4.5(40.1) 5.7(42.3) 8.9(48.0) 11.8(53.2) 15.0(59.0) 17.5(63.5) 11.9(53.4) Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 11.4(52.5) 10.9(51.6) 8.2(46.8) 3.7(38.7) 0.2(32.4) −1.3(29.7) −2.5(27.5) −1.9(28.6) 1.2(34.2) 3.8(38.8) 7.2(45.0) 9.4(48.9) 4.2(39.6) Mean minimum °C (°F) 4.2(39.6) 3.9(39.0) 0.9(33.6) −2.8(27.0) −6.0(21.2) −7.7(18.1) −8.2(17.2) −7.9(17.8) −5.6(21.9) −2.9(26.8) 0.4(32.7) 1.7(35.1) −9.2(15.4) Record low °C (°F) −0.2(31.6) −1.0(30.2) −1.9(28.6) −6.5(20.3) −8.6(16.5) −11.5(11.3) −11.4(11.5) −10.5(13.1) −8.6(16.5) −6.8(19.8) −3.9(25.0) −3.0(26.6) −11.5(11.3) Average precipitation mm (inches) 61.6(2.43) 69.0(2.72) 49.4(1.94) 29.4(1.16) 23.8(0.94) 44.3(1.74) 29.2(1.15) 28.6(1.13) 31.5(1.24) 39.4(1.55) 60.7(2.39) 62.6(2.46) 529.7(20.85) Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 6.3 6.6 5.4 4.5 3.8 4.9 5.0 5.2 5.9 6.3 7.8 6.8 68.5 Average afternoon relative humidity (%) 41 44 44 47 52 59 55 47 44 43 44 43 47 Source: Bureau of Meteorology The airport is located at a higher elevation than the town, causing maximum temperatures to be notably cooler but winter minima somewhat milder. Climate data for Cooma Airport AWS (1991–2020, extremes 1991–2025); 930 m AMSL; 36.29° S, 148.97° E Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high °C (°F) 39.1(102.4) 38.0(100.4) 36.0(96.8) 30.0(86.0) 23.8(74.8) 21.9(71.4) 19.7(67.5) 25.4(77.7) 27.7(81.9) 29.3(84.7) 35.9(96.6) 37.7(99.9) 39.1(102.4) Mean maximum °C (°F) 35.2(95.4) 33.0(91.4) 29.1(84.4) 24.5(76.1) 20.0(68.0) 16.0(60.8) 15.1(59.2) 18.2(64.8) 22.2(72.0) 26.1(79.0) 29.7(85.5) 32.3(90.1) 35.8(96.4) Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 26.8(80.2) 25.0(77.0) 22.4(72.3) 18.2(64.8) 14.2(57.6) 10.7(51.3) 10.3(50.5) 11.9(53.4) 15.1(59.2) 18.4(65.1) 21.4(70.5) 24.2(75.6) 18.2(64.8) Daily mean °C (°F) 18.9(66.0) 17.7(63.9) 15.1(59.2) 11.1(52.0) 7.4(45.3) 4.8(40.6) 4.2(39.6) 5.2(41.4) 8.1(46.6) 11.0(51.8) 14.0(57.2) 16.5(61.7) 11.2(52.1) Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 10.9(51.6) 10.3(50.5) 7.7(45.9) 3.9(39.0) 0.6(33.1) −1.1(30.0) −2.0(28.4) −1.5(29.3) 1.1(34.0) 3.6(38.5) 6.6(43.9) 8.7(47.7) 4.1(39.3) Mean minimum °C (°F) 2.8(37.0) 2.8(37.0) −0.1(31.8) −3.5(25.7) −6.5(20.3) −7.9(17.8) −8.5(16.7) −8.4(16.9) −6.3(20.7) −4.3(24.3) −1.3(29.7) 0.1(32.2) −9.6(14.7) Record low °C (°F) −2.2(28.0) −1.2(29.8) −2.7(27.1) −8.4(16.9) −9.7(14.5) −11.0(12.2) −10.8(12.6) −11.0(12.2) −9.4(15.1) −9.2(15.4) −5.6(21.9) −3.5(25.7) −11.0(12.2) Average precipitation mm (inches) 55.8(2.20) 54.7(2.15) 45.0(1.77) 31.0(1.22) 23.6(0.93) 42.2(1.66) 26.8(1.06) 31.9(1.26) 33.0(1.30) 43.6(1.72) 61.5(2.42) 51.1(2.01) 501.7(19.75) Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 6.0 6.3 5.1 4.7 4.2 5.1 5.0 4.7 5.8 6.4 7.2 6.2 66.7 Average afternoon relative humidity (%) 39 43 43 46 54 60 57 48 46 43 43 39 47 Average dew point °C (°F) 7.0(44.6) 8.1(46.6) 6.3(43.3) 4.0(39.2) 3.1(37.6) 1.6(34.9) 0.2(32.4) −0.8(30.6) 0.7(33.3) 2.1(35.8) 4.2(39.6) 5.2(41.4) 3.5(38.3) Source: Bureau of Meteorology

Media

[edit] Newspapers[edit] One newspaper operates in Cooma, The Monaro Post, which began in 2006 and is independently owned by Gail Eastaway, Tracy Frazer and Louise Platts. Radio stations[edit] XLFM 96.1 FM (commercial) Snow FM 97.7 FM (commercial) Triple J 100.1 FM ABC South-East 810 AM/1602 AM Radio National 95.3 FM/100.9 FM ABC Classic 99.3 Monaro FM 90.5 (community) Racing Radio 96.9 FM Vision Radio 88.0 FM (narrowcast, relay) Note: transmitters for XLFM and Snow FM, as well as some ABC services, are in place throughout the Snowy Mountains. Television[edit] Cooma receives five free-to-air television networks including all the digital free-to-air channels relayed from Canberra, broadcast from the Telstra site Radio Hill translator in Cooma Common, off Polo Flat Road. The stations are: ABC SBS Seven Nine (WIN) Network 10 Another transmitter for the Cooma and surrounding Monaro region is located at Mount Roberts approximately 30 km NNE of the town, broadcasting The Three Commercial TV Networks and the ABC Television services, but not SBS Television Services.

Sports

[edit] Cooma has several sports teams, the most popular sports played in town being Rugby League, Rugby Union, Cricket, Soccer and Australian rules football. The Cooma Colts is the town's junior rugby league team, the Stallions (founded 1973) is the senior rugby league team and the Rugby League Tag team known as the Fillies also plays during the rugby league season. The Cooma Tigers (founded 1952) soccer team plays in local competitions. The Southern Cats (formerly Cooma Cats founded in 1975) Australian rules football club is based at the Snowy Oval and participates in the AFL Canberra Community Division 3.

Transport

[edit] Cooma is served by Cooma–Snowy Mountains Airport, which is 15 kilometres from the CBD. Cooma has a bus service connecting various areas of town three times a day run by Cooma Coaches. Snowliner Coaches also operate services. Cooma has a taxi service run by Cooma Radio Taxis. NSW TrainLink operate road coach services from Canberra to Bombala and Eden. Cooma was served by the Cooma Mail until May 1986 and the Canberra Monaro Express until September 1988. The Cooma Monaro Railway is a heritage railway using CPH railmotors built in the 1920s. Until operations were suspended in January 2014 the railway provided a weekend and public-holiday service on an 18-kilometre section of the Bombala railway line north to Bunyan and Chakola.

Notable people

[edit] Samantha Armytage – breakfast show host John Bērziņš – bishop of Caracas of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia; first Australian-born orthodox bishop Torah Bright – Olympic snowboarder Jamie Burns – NSW cricketer, 1927 Nick Cotric – rugby league player in the National Rugby League and New South Wales rugby league team representative Carmen Duncan – actress Paula Duncan – actress Michael Gordon – rugby league player in the National Rugby League A. D. Hope – poet and essayist Pat Hughes DFC – Royal Australian Air Force pilot, killed in the Battle of Britain Keegan Joyce – actor and singer has a song called "Cooma" included in his album, Snow on Higher Ground Horst Kwech – Austrian born, Cooma raised, motor racing driver in the early US based Trans-Am Series Steve Liebmann – journalist Laurie Nichols – wood carter and rugby league fan Joan Richmond – racing driver Anneliese Seubert – German born, Cooma raised, model Angus Taylor – Leader of the Australian Liberal Party (2026 - present) John Tierney – Australian Senator Imants Tillers – Sydney born, Cooma based artist and writer John Tranter – poet Lou Wall – comedian Wilton Welch – actor and playwright Brett White – rugby league player in the National Rugby League Jack Williams – rugby league player in the National Rugby League Sam Williams – rugby league player in the National Rugby League Charlotte Wood – writer