Cunningham's Gap is a pass over the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...

between the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally ...

and the

Fassifern Valley Fassifern Valley is a valley of the Scenic Rim in South East Queensland. Towns found in the valley include Harrisville, Queensland, Harrisville, Kalbar, Queensland, Kalbar, Roadvale, Queensland, Roadvale, Warrill View, Queensland, Warril View ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. The Gap is the major route over the Main Range along the

, between

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. The

Cunningham Highway The Cunningham Highway is a National Highway (Australia), national highway located in South East Queensland, south-eastern Queensland, Australia. The highway links the Darling Downs region with the urbanised outskirts of Ipswich, Queensland, I ...

was built to provide road transport between the two regions. It is situated in

Main Range National Park The Main Range is a mountain range and national park in Queensland, Australia, located predominantly in Tregony, Queensland, Tregony, Southern Downs Region, southwest of Brisbane. It is part of the World Heritage Site Gondwana Rainforests of Au ...

, between the peaks of

Mount Cordeaux Mount Cordeaux is a mountain near Brisbane, Australia and rises 1,135 m. It lies to the immediate north of Cunninghams Gap in the Main Range National Park. It is known to the Aboriginal People as Niamboyoo, however, the meaning is unknown. It ...

and

Mount Mitchell Mount Mitchell (''Attakulla'' in Cherokee) is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in mainland North America east of the Mississippi River. It is located near Burnsville in Yancey County, North Carolina in the B ...

. On a clear day the pass forms a distinct break in Main Range's profile as seen from

. It is located in

Tregony Tregony (), sometimes in the past Tregoney, is a village and former civil parishes in England, civil parish, now in the parish of Tregony with Cuby, in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies on the River Fal. In the village there is a post o ...

in the

Southern Downs Region The Southern Downs Region is a local government area (LGA) in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. The region runs along the state's southern boundary with New South Wales and was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of War ...

immediately beside the boundary to Tarome in the

Scenic Rim Region The Scenic Rim Region is a local government areas of Queensland, local government area (LGA) in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, South East Queensland, Australia, and is located approximately 80 kilometres due south of Brisban ...

local government area. The highway itself is a scenic drive although steep with an eight degree grade on the descent.

History

The Indigenous name for the location is Cappoong, though the meaning is unknown."Some Native Names", The Brisbane Courier, 3 June 1930, p.12 The local

Indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

have a legend about the creation of the gap. In the

dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology, Australian Aboriginal mythology. It was originally u ...

, the

Yuggera The Jagera people, also written Yagarr, Yaggera, Yuggera, and other variants, are the Australian First Nations people who speak the Yuggera language. The Yuggera language which encompasses a number of dialects was spoken by the traditional own ...

people rounded up all the kangaroos in the area and fenced them into the valley west of Minto Crags (Whinpullin) to prevent other tribes from catching them. However, an old woman set them free. As they stampeded across the Great Dividing Range they tore a gap between

(''Coonyin-nirra'') and

(''Niamboyoo''). In 1827, Allan Cunningham set out from the upper

Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...

, to explore west of the Dividing Range, exploring the Darling Downs; returning in 1828 from Brisbane to explore Cunninghams Gap. He was aware of the economic benefits that a link between the coast and pastoral lands to the west would provide. Cunningham travelled on the righthand side of the Gap whereas the highway today runs on the lefthand side from Aratula. On 3 July 1909, Cunningham's Gap was declared a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

. This new park, which originally consisted of 3,100 acres, was located on the western side of the range and included Gap Creek. Walking tracks were constructed in the 1930s and 1950s. On 11 June 1927, the 100-year anniversary of Allan Cunningham's exploration of the Darling Downs, the new road through Cunningham's Gap was officially opened by the local Member of Parliament, Sir

Littleton Groom Sir Littleton Ernest Groom Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG King's Counsel, KC (22 April 18676 November 1936) was an Australian politician. He held ministerial office under four prime ministers between 1905 and 19 ...

. Although the road, which was built entirely by volunteers, was officially open, travelling along this new route was inadvisable, especially on the portion west of Aratula. The road was plagued by problems during this early embryonic stage with the

Royal Automobile Club of Queensland The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland Limited (RACQ) is a mutual organisation and Queensland's largest club (by membership), providing services including roadside assistance, insurance, banking and travel to its approximately 1.7 million m ...

announcing that the road was closed, less than one month after it was officially opened. The new sealed road through the gap was eventually opened in November 1949.

Recent

Cunningham's Gap is part of the

, a federally funded highway managed by the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. Between December 2010 and March 2011, the Gap experienced over two metres of rainfall and it sustained an enormous amount of damage. The cost of repairing this seven kilometre stretch of road is projected to be $40 million. Work is being undertaken by the Department of Transport and Main Roads in partnership with engineering firm Coffey.

References

External links

{{coord, -28.050, 152.385, type:pass_region:AU, display=title Southern Downs Region Mountain passes of Australia Scenic Rim Region Transport in Queensland Great Dividing Range Pre-Separation Queensland

History

Recent

See also

References

External links