Spicers Gap is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

that is located west of

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 ...

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and was the original route 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 ...

in the area around Brisbane. Today it is included 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 ...

and is a popular destination for campers and bushwalkers. To the south of the gap is

Spicers Peak Spicers Peak ( Aboriginal: ''Binkinjoora'') is a mountain in Australia. It lies roughly 120 km west of Brisbane in the middle of the Main Range National Park. It is just south of Cunninghams Gap and Mount Mitchell. Its summit height is a ...

. To the west of the mountain pass is Spicers Gap State Forest. Both the state forest and national park are part of the

Gondwana Rainforests of Australia The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, formerly known as the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves, are the most extensive area of subtropical rainforest in the world. Collectively, the rainforests are a World Heritage Site with fifty separate res ...

. The crest of Spicers Gap is preserved as

Spicers Gap Road Conservation Park The Spicers Gap Road Conservation Park is a state park, protected Conservation park (Australia), conservation park located within the Main Range National Park in South East Queensland, south east Queensland, Australia. The park is part of the Mai ...

and is accessible via conventional vehicle from east and west, although in places the road is very rough, and the road through the Park is blocked to vehicles. On the steep passage to the Gap from the east, visitors pass a cemetery, Moss's Well and the site of a former hotel. Moss's Well was named after Edward Moss, a contractor who helped build the original road.

History

Spicers Gap is believed to have been a route for

indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

traders travelling between the inland and the coast. In 1828, Allan Cunningham established the route through the mountains now called

Cunninghams Gap Cunningham's Gap is a pass over the Great Dividing Range between the Darling Downs and the Fassifern Valley in Queensland, Australia. The Gap is the major route over the Main Range along the Great Dividing Range, between Warwick and Brisbane. ...

. Cunningham named Spicers Gap and Spicers Peak after Peter Beauclerk Spicer, Superintendent of convicts, but didn't suggest the pass should be used for transport. Stockman Henry Alphen discovered Spicers Gap 7 km south of Cunninghams Gap in 1847. The road through the pass was originally built by convicts during the 1850s and 1860s. This trail became an important

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

route from to the coast to the agricultural region known as 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 ...

. Spicers Gap Road used to carry supplies to and from the Darling Downs, is the best remaining example of sophisticated 19th century engineering in Queensland. An inn was built in the area to cater for travellers. After the railway to the Darling Downs via

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

was established the road was used less often. A good view to the north can be seen from Governors Chair Lookout, a short walk from the car park. Lord Kerr, Lord Scott, Sir Charles Fitzroy and Sir

George Bowen Sir George Ferguson Bowen ( zh, 寶雲; 2 November 1821 – 21 February 1899), was an Anglo-Irish author and colonial administrator whose appointments included postings to the Ionian Islands, Queensland, New Zealand, Victoria, Mauritius and H ...

all sat on the rock in the early 1850s.Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, ''Heritage Trails of the Great South East'', State of Queensland, 2000 p 32. .

References

{{Reflist South East Queensland Mountain passes of Australia Darling Downs Great Dividing Range Pre-Separation Queensland

History

See also

References