There’s a good chance that you probably know of one or two enjoyable driving roads, perhaps you even have a favourite driving road, but every now and again, you discover an absolute gem of a driving road, the kind of road that, when you get to the end, you want to turn around and drive it again, for no other reason than it was just so enjoyable, well, that’s the kind of road The Omeo Highway is.
The Omeo Highway is an Australian road that connects the North East region of Victoria to the East Gippsland coastal region.
If you live in OZ, no matter what kind of sports car you own, or what kind of motorcycle you ride, this is the road for you. In fact, this particular stretch of road would be fantastic to use for a Targa style tarmac rally event, and to find out why, you only need to take a drive along the road, you’ll see in an instant what we mean.
The red arrows placed at various points on the map above indicate the most enjoyable driving sections, but in reality, the entire alpine loop is an excellent drive, it is just that some parts are better than others. We decided to drive the loop in an anti clockwise direction.
Not all that long ago, the Omeo Hwy was mainly an unsealed, unforgiving stretch of gravel road that traversed the valley between Tallangatta, Mitta Mitta, and Omeo, the road basically follows the river valley, the scenery as you would expect, is simply breathtaking and probably more enjoyable for the passenger, because the driver wont have much time to admire the scenery due to the concentration required to guide and navigate your speed steed though the beautifully made banked and radiused corners which also sweep left & right through dips, followed by short straights, there are also short climbs that make this smooth stretch of road one of the best driving roads you could ever find.
The Omeo Highway consists of a 157km stretch of scenic road that connects the north-east of Victoria to Gippsland. The road begins approx 5 km east of Tallangatta, and winds its way south above the floodplain of the Mitta River to Eskdale and Mitta Mitta. The highway follows the valley southwards to Glen Wills, Shanon Vale, Anglers rest, and ends at Omeo where it joins the Great Alpine Road. Glimpses of the Snowy Creek can be seen for many kilometers as you drive towards Mitta Mitta.
Turning right at Omeo will take you onto the GAR (Great Alpine Road) route which climbs back past Cobungra Station, Dinner Plain to Mt Hotham, then the road descends down into the head waters of the Ovens Valley to Harrietville, which is also one of Australia’s great scenic Alpine drives.
The Northeast of Victoria is truly blessed with some amazing driving roads, and if you are a snow bunny, then no doubt the ski fields will get your attention in the winter months.
Turning left at Omeo, the route heads south along the GAR through more magnificent country to the Gippsland coastal region. This route is also a magnificent drive, especially through the Tambo River Valley, yes, there are no shortage of roads in the NE for the sports driver, particularly in a lotus because they are a joy to drive quickly on well made, twisty winding roads, straight roads are considered to be a total yawn in a lotus elan.
The Omeo highway is a major asset to the Mitta Mitta Valley, providing valuable transport links as well as bringing people and increased tourism through the small townships, and lately since its development, through a commitment from the The State Government of Victoria to upgrade the road, the Omeo Highway, Victoria’s first gazetted highway has at last been sealed.
The Omeo Highway has not been slow to make it’s claim as the most scenic drive in Victoria, and for part of the way, (Mitta end) the clear & sparkling Snowy Creek is but a few metres away, but back towards Omeo the road follows the nine mile creek, which in turn becomes the Mitta Mitta river, which wends and winds it’s way through the mountain country, and eventually feeds into the top end of the Dartmouth Dam.
Car clubs, motorcycle groups, sports car drivers can often be seen midweek on the road, as well as on weekends enjoying one of the best stretches of driving roads in Victoria.
At the Mitta Mitta pub lunch stop, we were in for a real surprise when we entered the Laurel Hotel the current owners (local couple Sal and Tom Simpson) have given the pub a total makeover, extensive renovations were completed just prior to Christmas 2013, the rustic country flavour and interior design are a credit to the local trades people who were involved in the project, you could almost liken the reno work to a well executed piece of artwork, where, the more you look, the more amazing things you find that are so interesting to look at.
In a laid back location like the Mitta pub, time can really disappear over lunch, our small group enjoyed a tasty, sumptuous lunch which extended to a little over one and a half hours, and why not, when you are blessed with a day of perfect weather, and it’s such a relaxing place to boot, that’s a good enough excuse for anyone to enjoy a slow lunch. Maybe that’s what they call stopping to smell the roses.
The rustic outdoor area is a magnet for locals and tourists alike, we lobbed in on a Tuesday, and were surprised at how busy the place was.
Within a stones throw down the back of the pub and across the lawns you’ll find the cold and crystal clear Mitt Mitta River, in the summer the water is damned at the ford to create a fantastic swimming hole, it is the perfect place to relax on a hot summers day. And just like the river, the country side in this region is picture post card perfect.
But all to soon it was time to fire the lotus cars up and depart from this most welcoming and relaxing pub, but we’ll be back again one day for sure. Next, it was time to head for a little place called Tangamgbalanga, yes, try and say that name place after few to many beers. (Not while you are driving).
After leaving Mitta Mitta we come to the end of the Omeo Highway as we turn left onto Lockharts Gap road, which is another great section of road, providing you don’t meet a (Mobile Chicane) AKA, a four wheel drive towing a caravan, or a slow moving truck, or perhaps a farmer on a large tractor with haymaking equipment attached.
Remember you are in the bush, and you’ll strike all kinds of unexpected things to deal with on rural roads , and if you drive in the early morning, watch out for Kangaroo’s and Wombats, they can make a real mess of your sporty car.
As the after noon shadows began to grow long, we could feel another coffee stop coming on, so where better to pull up than the extremely popular tourist destination of Yackandandah, here you’ll find; antiques, craft, woodwork, nic nac shops, coffee shops, bakeries, and more, stop here and enjoy the slow pace of a small country village, stay a night if you wish, Yackandandah is in the middle of the great gold fields area of the north east region, and just a few more kilometres up the road is Beechworth which is another very popular old gold rush town.
At the end of a long days drive, we felt a little tired, but pretty stoked at the driving fun we all had, we agreed it was a good call to do the drive mid week, definitely the best time to enjoy the great roads, so after leaving Yack, we headed back through Beechworth and finally to home, total distance of about 380Km of pure driving fun.
If you have not had the chance to drive these roads, then put them on your “bucket list” for the next season of warm weather, forget about it once the snow season begins, because it just wont be the same.
So enjoy, take care, and share the roads.