World Art Utopia

Craig’s Hut

Craig's Hut, a weathered timber slab hut with an iron roof, lit up at night under long star trails on Mount Stirling in Victoria's high country, Australia.
Artwork FileMount Stirling, Australia

Craig’s Hut

SeenJul 2026

Built for The Man from Snowy River · Clear Hills, Mount Stirling, Victoria, Australia

Photo: Sean Lanigan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0), as published on Street Art Utopia (The Movie Ended, the Set Stayed (10 Photos), 31 October 2026).

Craig’s Hut on Clear Hills near Mount Stirling was built as a set for The Man from Snowy River and never sheltered real stockmen. The hut was destroyed by the Great Divide Fire in 2006, rebuilt, and reopened to the public in January 2008. Source Source Source Checked

Seen Jul 2026 — The newest dated evidence is the Buller Huts Trail’s Craig’s Hut page, last updated July 2026, which describes the reconstruction standing at Clear Hills; it is a report, not a dated photograph. The newest dated photograph found is a Wikimedia Commons image taken on 10 April 2016. Source Source Reported

💡 4 things to know

  1. A prop with no floorThe original hut was a camera-facing film-set shell, not a working hut, and it had no floor. Source Source Checked
  2. The fire took a replacementAccording to the Buller Huts Trail, the 2006 fire destroyed a replacement hut built in February 1993, not the original 1981 set. Mountain Huts Australia describes the burnt hut as the third version on the site. We lean to the Buller Huts Trail account, which cites four-wheel-drive club records and the Victorian High Country Huts Association. Source Source Conflicting
  3. Used for more filmsMountain Huts Australia says the hut was used again in the sequel and, between the two films, in Cool Change. Source Reported
  4. Rebuilt in heavy hardwoodThe hut was reconstructed in 2007 using heavy hardwoods, including ironbark and red gum, with government funding, contractors and volunteers involved. Source Reported

📍 Where it is

Clear Hills in Mansfield State Forest, north-east of Mount Stirling, on Taungurung Country, about 19 km from Telephone Box Junction via the unsealed Mount Stirling Circuit Road. The last stretch is a 4WD-only track (Clear Hills Track); 2WD visitors park at the Day Visitor Area and walk. Vehicle access closes seasonally in winter. Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 1981

    Temporary film set built

  2. 1993

    Volunteers build sturdier replacement (February)

  3. 200611 Dec

    Burnt down by wildfire

  4. 2008

    Rebuilt hut reopens (January)

  5. 201610 Apr

    Night photo of rebuilt hut

  6. 2026

    Trail guide describes hut today (July)

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.

🗞️ In the sources

Buller Huts TrailJuly 2026

“The fire removed the 1993 replacement structure rather than the original 1981 film set, which had already been replaced more than a decade earlier.”

Read the source →

Explore Outdoors VictoriaDecember 2025

“Although Craig’s Hut was never a refuge for stockmen (real life ones that is) or timber workers, it is one of our most iconic huts.”

Read the source →

✅ The facts

Built for
The Man from Snowy River (released 1982) Source Source Source Checked
Original set built
1981 (Buller Huts Trail, Mountain Huts Australia); 1982 (Explore Outdoors Victoria); “1981–82” (Visit Melbourne). We lean to 1981, the production year. Source Source Source Source Conflicting
First replacement
February 1993, a volunteer rebuild led by four-wheel-drive clubs Source Reported
Destroyed
11 December 2006, Great Divide Fire Source Source Source Checked
Current hut
Reconstructed in 2007, reopened in January 2008 Source Source Checked
Elevation
About 1,440 m Source Reported

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 31 October 2026. How we verify art