Spicers Gap is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

that is located west of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, 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, that runs rough ...

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, Southern Downs Region, southwest of Brisbane. It is part of the World Heritage Site Gondwana Rainforests of Australia (formerly k ...

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 app ...

. 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 protected conservation park located within the Main Range National Park in south east Queensland, Australia. The park is part of the Main Range group World Heritage Site Gondwana Rainforests of Austr ...

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 or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

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

Cunninghams Gap Cunninghams 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 National Park, Main Range along the Great Dividing Range, between ...

. Cunningham named Spicers Gap and Spicers Peak after

Peter Beauclerk Spicer Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, 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 movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, an ...

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 generall ...

Spicers Gap Road Spicers Gap Road is a heritage-listed road at Spicers Gap Road Conservation Park (in the Main Range National Park), Tregony, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1859 to 1865. It is also known as Spicers Gap Road C ...

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 in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

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 (; 2 November 1821 – 21 February 1899), was an Irish author and colonial administrator whose appointments included postings to the Ionian Islands, Queensland, New Zealand, Victoria, Mauritius and Hong Kong.R. B. Joy ...

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