Cunninghams 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, that runs rough ...

between the Darling Downs and the

Fassifern Valley Fassifern Valley is a valley of the Scenic Rim in South East Queensland. Towns found in the valley include Harrisville, Kalbar, Roadvale, Warril View and Aratula. Fassifern Valley is known as a carrot-producing area, as well as for growin ...

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. 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. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

and

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 ...

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

, 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, known in Cherokee as Attakulla, is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in mainland eastern North America. It is located near Burnsville in Yancey County, North Carolina in the Black Mountain subra ...

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

. It is located in Tregony in the Southern Downs Region immediately beside the boundary to Tarome in the

Scenic Rim Region The Scenic Rim Region is a local government area in West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the early 1900s and b ...

local government area. The highway itself is a scenic drive although steep with an 8-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 Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

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

Yuggera The Jagera people, also written Yagarr, Yaggera, and other variants, are the Australian Aboriginal people who spoke the Yuggera language. The Yuggera language which encompassed a number of dialects was spoken by the traditional owners of the te ...

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 right hand side of the Gap whereas the highway today runs on the lefthand side from

Aratula Aratula is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Aratula had a population of 532 people. Geography Aratula is approximately by road southwest of Ipswich. The Cunningham Highway ente ...

. On 3 July 1909, Cunninghams Gap was declared a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

. 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 KCMG KC (22 April 18676 November 1936) was an Australian politician. He held ministerial office under four prime ministers between 1905 and 1925, and subsequently served as Speaker of the House of Representatives fr ...

. 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

. The road was plagued by problems during this early embryonic stage with the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland 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

Cunninghams Gap is part of the Cunningham Highway, 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