snowy mt highway tumut to cooma and bega.

Cecilyt
We towed a 25 ft van along that road from the coast to Tumut about this time last year without any issues. There are a number of steep sections, and some very tight bends on the Brown Mountain section.
Drive to the conditions and make use of the low gear on the down hill sections, Use the gears to avoid using the brakes as much as possible, do NOT let following vehicles pressure you into going faster down the hills than what you are comfortable with and make use of any passing sections or bays so that the following vehicles can get around you.
The road is generally average 2 lane highway, so no issues with excessively narrow sections.
Driving too fast on the down hill sections and relying on the brakes to maintain speed WILL result in brake fade, especially when towing.
Enjoy a very picturesque drive.
Regards
Athol

Cecily,

Have a look at the Imlay Road which goes just south of Bombala to the coast near Eden. If that suits your itinerary? We travelled it both ways a week ago and no need for low gear work at all. Hills were pretty minimal and overall an easy run. One or two forestry trucks but no problem.

I guess the problem with Brown Mountain is that it goes for many kilometres downhill with no flat sections or uphills, so you are constantly braking all the way, and it is pretty steep.
I am trying to recall rest areas , but AFAIR there are few. There is a large rest area at the top .
Probably the second longest continuous climb /descent in OZ after the Alpine Way from Thredbo to Kancoben.
Regards Philip A

From Tumut, the road over the mountains to Cooma is generally OK for caravans etc. Large trucks use it all the time. There is one major climb you have to take - up Talbingo Mountain. It is narrow and steep. Not sure what your tug is, but an 18 ft caravan isn't that heavy, so most vehicles should do it OK.Once up the top of the mountain, you still have a few climbs, (one near Yarrangobilly turnoff is also fairly steep) but they are short and the road is wide. After Kiandra, the road is generally undulating and althoug winding, should present no problems provided you keep your speed down.

From Cooma to the coast, the Snowy Mtns Hwy goes to Bega, but this week it is closed at Brown Mountain, so you have to detour via Mt Darragh, near Bombala. Good wide road, a few hills but nothing too dramatic. Once over Talbingo Mountain, you have it mastered. The other option as already said is to go past Bombala and go along the Imlay Road, which is undulating by straigh. It is used by logging trucks.

If you are coming from Corryong, the road to Tooma Dam and then Cabramurra is sealed all the way, but it is narrow and fairly steep. You have two steep climbs out of the Khancoban valley (one beside the power lines and the other just after them), and the road winds around a lot on itself. Once at the top of the climbs, you have a fairly easy run until you start to go down into the Tumut Valley and cross it at Tumut Pond Dam. If you go this way, take it easy and use your gears all the way down. The road is reasonably narrow and winding (very slow), but is OK. You are on the inside of the cliff and it is not a major drama. The climb out of Tumut Pond is spectacular and not that steep. That brings you to Cabramurra, and then you make your way to Kaindra and Cooma, and then follow your nose to the coast from there.

Take it easy and follow the advisory speed signs and you should have no worries.

Cecilyt: Brown Mtn road re-opens at noon today. There will still be one lane roadworks in places for a few weeks, but the road is at least open again. See my followup above for comments on the chocie of roads.