Kiandra, New South Wales

Kiandra
View over Kiandra from a nearby hill
Kiandra
Coordinates: 35°53′S 148°30′E / 35.883°S 148.500°E / -35.883; 148.500
CountryAustralia
StateNew South Wales
LGA
Location
  • 90 km (56 mi) NW of Cooma
Established1839
Government
 • State electorate
 • Federal division
Elevation
1,400 m (4,600 ft)
Postcode
2630
Mean max temp12.7 °C (54.9 °F)
Mean min temp0.9 °C (33.6 °F)
Annual rainfall1,561.2 mm (61.46 in)

Kiandra is an abandoned gold mining town and the birthplace of Australian skiing. The town is situated in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council inside the Kosciuszko National Park. Its name is a corruption of Aboriginal 'Gianderra' for 'sharp stones for knives'. It was earlier called Gibson's Plains, named after a Dr. Gibson, a settler in the district in 1839. For a century (until the establishment of Cabramurra), Kiandra was Australia's highest town.

Kiandra lies approximately 90 kilometres (56 mi) north-west of Cooma on the Snowy Mountains Highway between Adaminaby and Talbingo. It sits at 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) above sea level and is situated on a high, treeless ridge on the banks of the Eucumbene River, which is snow-covered during winter and is subject to high winds. It lies in the Australian Alps montane grasslands bioregion according to Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia.

After decades of decline, restoration work on the remaining buildings at Kiandra took place from 2009 to 2020, including work on the historic Kiandra Courthouse Chalet and Wolgal Lodge fishing cottage being conducted by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and volunteers, enabling occasional amenities and limited accommodation at Kiandra.

The remaining buildings in the town were either destroyed or severely damaged during the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season.