Wonderful Wee Jasper
13 September 2026 / Words by Rod Nicholas. Photos by Rod Nicholas and Simon Trickett
We’ve been here to Wee Jasper, to sample the wares of the delightful little distillery, a few times already, and will probably go a few times more. Simply, it is one of our local region’s best drives. A mere 70 km, we leave our city far behind for the 60-minute journey.
The drive down Mountain Creek and Wee Jasper Roads threatens to drag the driver’s eyes to the scenery, but it demands attention. The roads are narrow and twisty, wildlife encounters are a constant threat (although there wasn’t much by way of roadkill on this trip), and the pothole status varies from year to year. This was a lean year for the potholes—the roads were in the best condition we’ve encountered for some years.
We travelled through picturesque farmland and forest, with a few good twisties for the brave driver, and gorgeous scenery for the passengers. Our late winter rains and the warmish weather has coated the countryside with a deep green, and the dams out in the paddocks are all full.
We did our best to zoom zoom along, enjoying the warmth of a beautiful sunny day, and exhibiting the best of safe and responsible driving. The roads were quiet for the trip out, and we were soon at our destination. Shannon from the Distillery greeted us warmly, having spied our little conga line as it came down the road and crossed the Goodradigbee River into the little village. Light snacks, a cocktail for a couple of the passengers and a time to chat had us all feeling rather mellow.
Most of us chose to return the way we came—back up the escarpment along the Wee Jasper Road to Mountain Creek Road. The traffic picked up, with an assortment of large vehicles hauling tinnies and trailers heading to campsites on the Burrinjuck Dam or the farms along the way, and a few more sightseers heading out to Wee Jasper.
Some sights on our trip:
The happy – scenery that doesn’t disappoint, especially as we round a sharp left while approaching the descent to the village, the road stretching enticingly and curving slightly right then left then right along the top of the ridge
The sad – Burrinjuck Dam is reputedly at 64% capacity, but you wouldn’t believe it from the village. The flats along the river are exposed and covered in vegetation, slowly drying to brown. The river beneath the Wee Jasper Bridge is only a few metres wide.
The sadder – a magpie, recently killed by a passing car, was surrounded by its mate and fledglings, no doubt in mourning.
The scary – careful and wary as I was as we twisted our way back up the escarpment (the road is narrow and steep, the guardrails non-existent, the rock wall to the right is unforgiving and the abrupt drop centimetres away from our left wheels is a good 50m), the giant 4WD and boat trailer were not that welcome as it barrelled its way around a blind corner—far too close to me for comfort.
But I no complain. It was a beautiful day—great weather, great roads, even better cars and a fantastic group of friends. And welcome to Roehl, whose tricked up Classic Red NA was out for (I think) its first run with us.
Thanks to all.
