Officers noticed a man driving at highspeed west on the Sturt Highway about 1am on Thursday.

Riverina Police District Superintendent Bob Noble said highway patrol engaged in a pursuit that reached up to 170km/h.

"Police will allege in addition to excessively high speed, the driver engaged in other dangerous manoeuvres including overtaking vehicles in an unsafe manner," he said.

"At a point near McGeochs Road, that vehicle turned right and headed in towards farmland.

"Police continued to chase at a safe distance, and that vehicle has then unknowingly come across a creek and gone 10 metres down a ravine and crashed."

Superintendent Noble said officers continued to search for the man who escaped on foot.

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With the dog unit's help, police searched the area for several hours, but the driver was not found.

"Several hours later, police had another search of the area and found that male in a shed," Superintendent Noble said.

"He was certainly very cold when he was apprehended. Apparently, he had been hiding in the creek."

Superintendent Noble said the incident could have ended in a fatality as the driver was going at high speeds along a dark country road.

"It's only one lane in each direction, and it's a fairly windy road in some spots," he said.

"It's extremely reckless and potentially fatal. We are still in the school holiday period where a lot of people are travelling home, even at night."

The 20-year-old man from Tumbarumba has been charged with multiple offences, including police pursuit not stop, driving in a dangerous manner and malicious damage to property.

He is due to appear before the court on March 10.