Mount Mee

We travelled from our camp in Brisbane heading north via Mount Mee. Just out of this small town in the hilly hinterland we stopped at a lovely lookout.

Here's the story from a sign.
Mt Mee forms part of the D'Aguilar Range and stands approximately 500 metres above the plains below. The area is steeped in history and was originally believed to he visited by up to three Aboriginal groups who spoke different dialects of the Wacca language. Mt Mee was all timber when the first Europeans arrived in the 1870's. Two Aborigines, "Pompey" and "Nudlar" are known to have shown Jonathan Litherland

the massive stands of Red Cedar and that brought Jonathan and his brother Harry hack to begin cutting this timber and carting it by bullock team to Caboolture. The Litherland brothers forged a track down Mt Mee in the late 1870's along a route which roughly follows Pedwell, Tidwell, Top Yard and Jackson Roads. Settlement followed the arrival of the timber getters, Jonathan Litherland and his family were one of the early European settler families to take up residence in

the northern D'Aguilar Range area in the 1870's. The land in front of, and below this lookout is part of their original holding

Dahmongah, an aboriginal word meaning flying squirrel or flying possum, was the original name for this area. The Dahmongah Provisional School (2.5km South) opened in February 1884 and a nearby Post Office was known as Dahmongah.

The name of the school, which still operates today, was changed to Mt Mee in 1899 and the name of the area soon followed. Mt Mee is probably a derivation of the Aboriginal name for a view or lookout, mia mia. The old dairy formerly on this site was also known as Mia Mia Dairy.

The early Europeans came for the abundant timber, first the highly prized Red Cedar (Toona australis) and also the White Beach (Gmelina leichhardtii) and fater Hoop Pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) and Various eucalypts including Tallowood, Iron Bark and Blue Gum. Many of the timber-getters became champion axemen, competing and winning all over Australia. Timber from the area was used in the construction of St. Stephens Cathedral (Brisbane), the Hornibrook Bridge Highway (a 3km wooden bridge linking Brisbane to Redcliffe) and Mackay's (NQ) harbour wharves. Of course, the local church, community hall and many homes used Mt Mee timber too.

Bullock teams followed the timber-getters. They were used to haul huge logs off the mountain to the sawmills. In 1909, a branch railway line was built between Caboolture and Woodford and a sawmill opened at D'Aguilar. A road, which became known as "The Cutting" was built on the northern side of the mountain. The road to D'Aguilar still follows this route. As bullockies transported countless thousands of those hard won logs below, they named the various landmarks "The Cutting", "Blue Rock Corner", "The Dogs' Waterhole", "Long Bend" & "Red Bend". Descendants of those hardy bullocky pioneer families still reside in this area.

In time the land was opened up to various forms of agriculture including dairy, with many dairies supplying milk, cream and butter to the city. Cattle now graze on lush pastures where forest giant once stood.

Large tracts of forest can still be seen at Mt Mee State Forest, access via Sellin Road (5km South). The State Forest was the site of the last sawmill to operate on the mountain. The site offers a day picnic area and self guided walks at Gantry Park as well as overnight camping deeper in the forest. Camping permits are available from on-site RangersRead more