Mt Monster Conservation Park

Coming home from Nairne the other day I decided to take a detour via the Mt Monster Conservation Park.  Mt Monster is just a couple of kilometres off the Riddoch Highway about 12 kilometres south of Keith, totalling some 93 hectares of land donated by a couple of pioneering families who lived in the area.  I grew up on a property another 5 or so kilometres south of here on our family farm.  Consequently, we had travelled close to the park many, many times but had only climbed it a couple of times that I can remember.

 

 

The park area contains a number of granite outcrops, the main one being the main point of interest.  The summit is just 93 metres above sea level and is referred to as ‘The Trig Point’ as it contains a trig stand and is the highest point for quite some distance around.  From the summit it is possible to get a 360 degree view of the farming land around the park.

 

 

Directly to the south, if you know just where to look, the property that I grew up on and later worked on for 14 years can be seen off in the distance.

 

 

The drive in to the picnic area is a one-way track with the entrance part way across the northern boundary.  The Trig Point is a short 10 to 15 minute walk from the picnic area, up through the scrub.  A little way up this track is the starting point for the ‘Gwen Ellis Walking Trail‘.

 

 

This trail circles around the summit, through the surrounding scrub land and taking in several other key points within the park.  The walk takes 30 to 40 minutes, unless you are like me and take the time for plenty of photographs!

 

 

Taking this trail in an anti-clockwise direction, the first feature you come to is Joyce’s Plateau, around sign post 2.  This little area is so named in honour of Joyce Buddle, a daughter of the pioneering family who donated 80 ha for the park.  Continuing on around the trail one comes across the various plant species that are growing in the area.

 

 

The next few sign posts indicate some of the numerous plant species found in the area, including pink and blue gums, various mallees, broombush, and smaller species such as Rock Fern, lichens and some native orchids.

 

 

At sign post 8 one can look out to the south west and see the “Maroona South” property, the property from which I believe the original 80 ha of the park came from.

 

 

The southern rock face of Mt Monster.

 

 

 

 

Further around at sign post 11 is Gwen’s Lookout.  This spot is named as a tribute to Gwen Ellis, a daughter of Malcolm and Mercy Crooks, pioneers of the area who started clearing land south of  here in 1909.

 

 

At sign post 12 is Mina’s Lookout and from here you can look out over the former “Landsdowne” property.  Here too, you come to the other 13 ha of the park donated by Ray and the late Mina Davis.  Continuing the trail full circle one comes through an area prolific with wattle (Acacia paradoxa) which has regenerated well after a fire that swept through Mt Monster in January of 1961.

 

 

The park also contains what used to be the Little Mount Monster.  This is situated closer to the northern boundary of the park but is almost non-existent these days because much of it has been blasted and crushed for road material.  This area can be seen by a short diversion off the main track as you exit the park near the north-west corner.

 

OK, so this blog post has taken quite some time to put together, but I trust that you find it interesting.

 

David