Hartmann Park Crows Nest Qld 

Parking at the eastern end of William St.

Picnic area

Shelter, Toilets, BBQ, Picnic tables,

Walks

There is a short walk within the park. Applegum Walk connects to Bullockys Rest.

Geology

Sandstone shelf  – the walk passes over a shelf of sandstone rock which offers some magnificent landscape and geological features.

Soil variety – there is an interesting variety of soils, from loose sand, alluvial clays to hard sandstone rock, allowing for a diverse range of native species to flourish.

Human influence has been minimised along the track and on the northern side of the creek, allowing for a largely undisturbed natural ecosystem to thrive along the walk.

DINGO MOUNTAIN PARK

In early 2018, Crows Nest Community Solutions Ltd (CNCS), a related company to Progressive Community Crows Nest Ltd (PCCN) and a registered charity, acquired 45 hectares (110 acres) of private land on the eastern outskirts of Crows Nest. The land is between Dingo Mountain Road and Three Mile Road, and includes Dingo Mountain, which has been almost untouched by man both before and after European settlement. It is separated from the town by Bald Hills Creek and Crows Nest Creek.

Since then CNCS has also acquired a lease over the Police Paddock from the Qld Government.

Dingo Mountain Park is neighbour to other conservation areas: Hartman Park to the west, and the Bungaree section of Crows Nest National Park north of the Police Paddock.

The total reserve area is approximately 56 hectares.

Dingo Mountain

The contour map shows Dingo Mountain 585 metres above sea level, with the lowest land along Bald Hills Creek, dropping from 520 m down to 510 m along Crows Nest Creek where it meets Old Womans Hut Creek and enters Bungaree.
History

Pre-settlement

Aborigines from the east traversed the park on their way to the triennial Bunya Feasts in the Bunya Mountains, when trading took place between tribes, marriages were arranged, and disputes settled. In language, the track over the range was Dumba-Kunga-Mi.

Early settlement

In 1848 James Canning Pearce had a pastoral run in the area. No record exists of why he used the name Crows Nest for the run.

Timber-getters were attracted to the area, but little logging took place in the park area.

The town of Crows Nest was surveyed in 1887.

The lower areas of the park were used for grazing and cropping, and a free-range piggery was established. The pigs were fed with whey piped down from the butter factory in Crows Nest.

The Toowoomba Field Naturalists Club has records of visits to the area over the last 30 years.

Plants

Dingo Hill preserves a large area of a unique ecosystem type which occurs only on sandstone near Crows Nest. The remnant vegetation includes Eucalyptus fibrosa (Broad-leaved Ironbark) and monitivaga (Blackbutt) woodland.

The vulnerable shrub Leonema obtusifolium occurs in the park.
(Regional Eco Systems present in the park include 12-9-10.19 and 12.9-10.20.)

Animals

Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) listed as vulnerable in Queensland have been recorded. Other species include Greater Glider, Sugar Glider, Feathertail Glider and Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby.

Geology

The underlying rock is sandstone. Dingo Mountain is visited annually by geology students from the University of Southern Queensland

Cultural

An aboriginal bora ring has been reported in the area, but has not been located.

Future Plans

Currently, CNCS is preparing long term vegetation and landscape enhancement plans with key stakeholders. A key outcome of this process will be the establishment of an ongoing, community based support group

Margaret Lloyd Environment Park

Margaret Lloyd Environment Park, Wilkes Road, Hampton Qld

The Park

The Margaret Lloyd Environment Park conserves this small area of tall open forest, characteristic of the vegetation on the Great Dividing Range in the Hampton District. This park straddles the top of the Range and is included in the catchments of both the Brisbane River and Murray Darling River systems.

The  park is named in honour of the conservation values of one of the district’s pioneer residents.

Dark green of trees stretching to azure sky.
Living beauty of our lovely world,
Cool shady retreat for furry animals, bright birds, and shelter for man and beast.
The blazing sun pours heat from a clear sky giving life.
Margaret Lloyd 1998

Margaret Lloyd

Margaret (6/10/1910 – 7/6/2009) was the daughter of dairy farmers Paul and Maud Doig. She was born in Crows Nest, educated at Merritts Creek and Geham State Schools, and Brisbane Girls Grammar School.

She became a teacher, beginning her career as a pupil teacher at Geham State School, after which she was transferred from the district.

She returned in August 1971 to live at Hampton and concluded her teaching career at Crows Nest State School.

Margaret had a passion for the environment and fought to have this area declared a park, free from development.

Birds

Habitat: Tall open forest infested with lantana and privet. It is currently being cleaned up by the TRCbushlands park staff.
Birds that have been reported in this location include Speckled Warbler, Brown Thornbill, Golden Whistler, Silvereye.

Centenary Park

The Village Square. Centenary Park, Crows Nest Qld

Located in the heart of the Crows Nest business district, this park features various precincts including a central grassed forum, gallery walk and arbour, memorial precinct, Jimmy Crow precinct, children’s play precinct, and performance space.

It is a Magical Park. Download the App to your phone to find a digital fantasy land. 

The park includes barbecue, picnic facilities and toilets. 

Whispering Seats

If you sit on one end of the curving sandstone and timber seats within the park and speak really softly to your friend who is sitting on the other end of the seat they will be able to hear what you say (as long as there is no one in between). This is a little secret design feature of the seats which relies on the precise set-out of the circumference of the wall.

Free Council WiFi is available, also Telstra Air. Centenary Park is used widely for community events. 

Origin of a Name?

An apocryphal story is that Crows Nest is named after an aboriginal man called Jimmy Crow, who lived in a hollow tree near the present police station. Timber hauling bullock teams would stop in this area overnight and Jimmy Crow used to give them directions. There is a statue of Jimmy Crow in the Park.

Another version is that it was used as a camping place by teamsters and travellers. It is said that they would agree to meet “under the crows nest in the old Applegum tree”. 

It is more likely that the name was derived from a pastoral run name used by James Canning Pearce in 1848. No record exists of why Pearce used the name Crows Nest for the original pastoral run.

Perserverance Reserve

This six hectare Reserve is on the corner of Palmtree Rd and Perseverance Hall Rd, Perseverance Reserve, Palmtree, Qld.

The entrance is located along Perseverance Hall Rd, over the creek, just before it joins Palmtree Rd (and opposite an orchard of netted Persimmons).  There is also an entrance about 100 m along from the corner in Palmtree Rd.

Ravensbourne Landcare (Contact 07 4697 8047) have done much rehabilitation work and have spent some time surveying flora and fauna. 

Ravensbourne Nature Refuge

Esk-Hampton Rd, on the east side of the Somerset Region boundary:
-27.33472, 152.20111

Access is from Esk-Hampton Rd at Somerset Region boundary. Turn south (opposite Somerset Region sign) up a dirt track. Go through the fence at the locked gate and walk down the fire trail.

Habitat: Tall open eucalypt forest on basalt soil. Blackbutt, Stringybark, Tallowwood with Sheoaks, Wattles; grading downhill into low open woodland with heath understorey (Banksias, Grass Trees), on sandy soil. Drainage lines have Bangalow Palms and other rainforest species.

Birds

Ravensbourne Nature Refuge is Site E4 on the East Bird Trail of the Crows Nest District.

Birds that have been seen on this location include Wonga Pigeon, Glossy Black-Cockatoo, Variegated Fairywren, White-browed Scrubwren, Red-browed Finch and Silvereye.

Significant natural resources and values

This 300 hectare area was declared as a Nature Refuge in 1997 because it supports

• a significant area of blackbutt (Eucalyptus pilularis); and
• examples of most of the eucalypts occurring in the Moreton Basin, including the broadleaved spotted gum (Corymbia henryi) and Queensland white stringy-bark (Eucalyptus tindaliae) that are endemic to the Moreton Basin; and 
•  a forested corridor connecting Ravensbourne National Park and Deongwar State Forest.

Management intent and use

The nature refuge will be managed, under the conservation agreement between the land-holder and the Minister

• to prevent any commercial activity in the nature refuge; and 
• in accordance with the management principles of a national park.