The Banjo Paterson High Country Trail (hereafter called the Trail) links the High Country places in which Paterson had either lived, or about which he had written in his poetry.  It offers a taste of High Country heritage in the verses of Paterson’s poetry in the locations that inspired him.  It takes visitors off better-known High Country roads to lesser-known destinations such as Wee Jasper.  

The Banjo Paterson High Country Trail offers the visitor an entirely different High Country experience.  It can be combined with winter and particularly summer sports. 

Depending on interest, level of fitness, preparation and available time, it could be linked to parts of the 56km High Country Hike Trail, a number of other special interest High Country Trails and a plethora of other walking tracks such as the Mount Kosciuszko Summit walk, the Main Range Track, the Cascades Walking Track and the Major Clews Hut Walking Track.

The Trail’s map is illustrated with photographs and / or illustrative motifs highlighting each location, including a couple of lines or verse of the poem relevant to that site.  It is QR coded to the website, providing the High Country context of the poems and giving insights into the man behind his verse.

Visitors can either visit some or all the locations on the trail.  Most will visit sites by car and a few, choosing to pay tribute to Paterson’s equestrian interests and First World War service, might ride between some of the sites. The Banjo Paterson High Country Trail is for all ages and all abilities.  

As the Trail is a low environmental impact trail, there are no information boards marking the locations. There is little or no connectivity in some areas and visitors are encouraged to take a brochure and/or save PDFs from the website to their devices for reference.

Many of Banjo Paterson’s High Country poems were published in The Bulletin often known as the  ‘Bushman’s Bible’. Founded by J F Archibald in 1880 the Bulletin was a weekly covering politics, business, literary reviews, poetry, fiction and humour.  As one of Australia’s most enduring magazines, it was a catalyst and platform for Paterson’s High Country poetry.  When The Bulletin ceased publication in 2008, it was left to festivals like the Man from Snow River Bush Festival, bush poets and Trails like the Banjo Paterson High Country Trail to ensure that these wonderful verses remain as part of our heritage and High Country identity.

Many visitors might choose to begin the Trail with a verse or two of Paterson’s poem ‘Those Names (1890).  Paterson might have written it during an early visit to the Upper Murray or after one of his other High Country visits:

Those Names 

The shearers sat in the firelight, hearty and hale and strong,

After the hard day's shearing, passing the joke along:

The 'ringer' that shore a hundred, as they never were shorn before,

And the novice who, toiling bravely, had tommy-hawked half a score,

The tarboy, the cook, and the slushy, the sweeper that swept the board,

The picker-up, and the penner, with the rest of the shearing horde.

There were men from the inland stations where the skies like a furnace glow,

And men from the Snowy River, the land of the frozen snow;

There were swarthy Queensland drovers who reckoned all land by miles,

And farmers' sons from the Murray, where many a vineyard smiles.

They started at telling stories when they wearied of cards and games,

And to give these stories a flavour they threw in some local names,

And a man from the bleak Monaro, away on the tableland,

He fixed his eyes on the ceiling, and he started to play his hand.

He told them of Adjintoothbong, where the pine-clad mountains freeze,

And the weight of the snow in summer breaks branches off the trees,

And, as he warmed to the business, he let them have it strong—

Nimitybelle, Conargo, Wheeo, Bongongolong;

He lingered over them fondly, because they recalled to mind

A thought of the old bush homestead, and the girl that he left behind.

Then the shearers all sat silent till a man in the corner rose;

Said he, “I've travelled a-plenty but never heard names like those.

'Out in the western districts, out on the Castlereagh

'Most of the names are easy—short for a man to say.

You’ve heard of Mungrybambone and Gundabluey pine,

Quombboth, Girilambone, and Terramungamine,

Quambone, Eunonyhareenyha, Wee Waa, and Buntijo –“

But the rest of the shearers stopped him, “For the sake of your jaw, go slow,

If you reckon those names are short ones where such names prevail,

Just try and remember some long ones before you begin the tale.”

And the man from the western district, though never a word he said,

Just winked with his dexter eyelid, and then he retired to bed.

The Bulletin, 20 September 1890