Three Mile Dam Campground; beautiful camping in Kosciuszko
Chasing magic, low cost camping in the Kosciuszko National Park? You won’t go wrong with Three mile dam camp; its absolutely sensational. We were actually recommended to visit this spot by a local who messaged us, and once again, local knowledge trumps any research we’d done.
We’d come from Thredbo Diggings Campground, and rated this so much higher.
Where is Three Mile Dam?
You’ll find this great camp site not far off the Snowy Mountains Highway, and only a few hundred metres off the actual road. It’s roughly an hour and a half North West of Jindabyne and 50 minutes South East of Talbingo. It’s also quite close to Long Plains Hut Campground, which is another decent spot closer to the stunning Blue Holes.
Bookings and costs
This is a national parks campsite, and requires the usual $6 booking fee to reserve a spot. That’s regardless of how many people you’re camping with, or how long you stay, making it another fantastic value NSW camping option.
Amenities and phone reception
There’s drop toilets here, with pretty reasonable Telstra phone reception. You’ll also get picnic tables in a few spots, and fire pits, but nothing else.
What’s the camping like?
In terms of Alpine camping, we thought this spot was a ripper. You can camp on the East or West side of the dam, and there’s spots set back in the trees, up higher with amazing views, or down low so close to the dam that you’d fall in if you weren’t careful at night.
There’s not a ridiculous number of spots available on the East side, but it’s a brilliant part of the world to spend a few nights.
Fishing at Three Mile Dam
Apparently, you can get the usual freshwater fish here, including Trout. We had a bit of a flick around, but had no success (as usual). Powerboats are not allowed in this dam, but if you had a kayak, a sense of adventure and a bit of knowledge I reckon you’d probably do quite well.
Brumbies
One of the major attractions to Three Mile Dam for us was to see the wild brumbies, and it didn’t take long to find them. We could see about 10 on the far side of the dam in the middle of the day, and they came down a bit closer to the water at times.
We went for a walk in the late afternoon and could get reasonably close (leave a decent distance or you could get hurt), and it was a pretty magic experience. Apparently the park is being closed for several months later this year whilst they conduct aerial shooting, so it might be one of the last times you get to see these in larger numbers.
It gets really cold
This part of the world obviously can get quite cold, but if the wind blows, it gets freezing. We chose a nice spot up higher with great views, and loved it, but the following morning my hands were numb with the wind blowing whilst we packed up.
Having a diesel heater is a pretty good idea, in case the temperature decides it wants to get down to single digits.
Is Three Mile Dam worth a stay?
We moved on from here to Long Plains Campground, but I’d argue that the scenery here is better. It’s quieter, more private and a really stunning part of the world. I’d absolutely stay at Three Mile dam again; it’s a steal, stunning and nice and quiet.
