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Mount Majura


At 890 metres, Mt Majura is the highest peak in suburban Canberra. Mount Majura Nature Reserve is part of the Canberra Nature Park, a series of remnant bush areas of mainly hills and ridges that frame suburban Canberra. The reserve is located in north Canberra and has access from Hackett, Watson and the Federal Highway. Around the peaks of Mt Majura and neighbouring Mt Ainslie, you can also see the evidence of the region s fiery volcanic past. There you can find the remains of volcanic ash flow and pumice fragments.

Close to Canberra city centre, Mount Majura is a popular spot for walking. Offering attractive views and an abundance of wildlife, attractions at Mount Majura include nature trails, parrots, cockatoos and tranquil picnic spots.

Casuarina Walking Trail: The 3.8 km long walking trail takes you through various types of woodland and open forest with splendid views from the Mount Majura ridge. It takes about 2 hours to complete the loop walk and at a moderate level the track is suitable for families. Click on this map to view the track, access points and car parking.

Location: MacKenzie Street, Hackett, Canberra.



Brief history

Aboriginals settled in the Canberra region around 21,000 years ago. Their presence indicates that there was sufficient food and material resources to support them, and trading with both inland groups and coastal groups extended their range of resources.

Mt Majura is covered in a hard rock called chert , which protrudes from the soil surface. Chert forms sharp shards when broken and was often used by Aboriginal people to make tools. The Ngunnawal people are currently documenting some of their knowledge of land use practices in and around the ACT region so that it can be shared with the Canberra community.

In 1825, the first squatters and sheep graziers appeared in the Canberra region, attracted by the area s naturally treeless grassy plains, the presence of water, good drainage and source of timber on the hills. By the 1830s, the Campbell family had established the Duntroon  property on the Majura foothills. It is thought that Robert Campbell named Mt Majura after a place he had visited in India.

The region continued to attract early settler families and by the 1860s, the Darmody family arrived in the area and purchased lease holdings on Mt Majura for one pound per acre. A parish map of the Mt Majura area from 1911, shows that the Darmody family owned the majority of the Mt Majura land with a smaller holding still held by the Campbells.

Today, the forested ridges and the grassy woodlands of the lower west slopes of Mt Majura are preserved in the Mt Majura Nature Reserve. The reserve covers an area of approximately 481 hectares of remnant vegetation and is one of over 30 reserves in and around suburban Canberra that form Canberra Nature Park. Gazetted in 1993, Canberra Nature Park provides habitat for a wide range of wildlife, including many threatened species, whilst also providing opportunities for recreation. It is managed by the ACT Parks and Conservation Service.




Casuarina Walking Trail



Mt Majura Vineyard

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