| Blackall | |
|---|---|
 Looking west from Gympie Road, Nambour, 1910. Looking west down Gympie Road, Nambour, to lightly cleared rural land and the Blackall Ranges. | |
| Geography | |
 | |
| Country | Australia |
| State | Queensland |
| Region | South East Queensland |
| Range coordinates | 26°42′S 152°53′E / 26.700°S 152.883°E |
| Geology | |
| Rock age | Oligocene |
The Blackall Range is a mountain range in South East Queensland, Australia. The first European explorer in the area was Ludwig Leichhardt.[1] It was named after Samuel Blackall, the second Governor of Queensland.
The Blackall Range dominates the hinterland area of the Sunshine Coast, west of Nambour. Maleny, Mapleton, Montville and Flaxton are the main settlements located on the range. The Stanley River rises from the southern slopes. Baroon Pocket Dam is a reservoir on Obi Obi Creek which drains the north west slopes of the range.
Mary Cairncross Reserve marks the site of the first settler's house on the Blackall Range. Curramore Sanctuary, Mapleton Falls National Park and Kondalilla National Park are also located on the range. A number of lookouts on the range provide views towards the coast.[citation needed] One of these is located at Howells Knob, a mountain which rises 561 m above sea level.[2]
Timber resources in the area attracted timber-cutters in 1860s.[3] The last logging on the range occurred in 1939. The Blackall and Bunya Mountains ranges are the only two locations where the bunya pine species of tree is found naturally.[4]
Activities by community groups with the support of the Queensland Government succeeded in recognising the range with iconic status, meaning the area is given greater environmental protection.[5] In mid-2008, iconic status was confirmed, making the Blackall Range the third such declaration in Queensland after Noosa and Port Douglas.[6]
- ^ "Maleny". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Digital. 12 March 2008. Archived from the original on 20 April 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2008.
- ^ "Guide to Maleny in Queensland". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Digital. 25 November 2008. Archived from the original on 12 November 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (2000). Heritage Trails of the Great South East. State of Queensland. p. 130. ISBN 0-7345-1008-X.
- ^ "Bunya Mountains Gathering". Queensland Museum. Archived from the original on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- ^ "Blackall Range push for iconic status". Archived from the original on 24 April 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2008.
- ^ Alan Lander (20 June 2008). "Blackall Range achieves iconic status". Sunshine Coast News. APN News & Media Ltd. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2009.