MONTO, QUEENSLAND

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A small town that is the gateway to Cania Gorge National Park and one of the youngest towns in Capricornia (1924). The Monto Dairy Festival is held every Queens Birthday long weekend.
Location: 520 km from Brisbane via the Burnett Highway; 249 m above sea-level.
Origin of name: It is thought that the word 'Monto' is an Aboriginal word meaning 'plains with ridges on them'. The word 'cania' (Cania Gorge) is said to mean 'spear'.
Brief history: though the town only came into existence in 1924, sheep farmers had been grazing flocks here since 1848 when brothers Charles and Thomas Archer moved their sheep into the area. Around the 1870s the area was infested with speargrass which resulted in sheep being replaced by cattle. Today the local cattle industry is one of the most successful in Australia.
Gold was discovered in 1871 but yields were intermittent. Mining continued the early 1900s. Fossickers who work the area still find gold today. The introduction of close settlement farming after World War I led to the town being born to service the influx of new farmers.
Natural features: Cania Gorge National Park (The Big Foot walk; Doctor's Gully; Fern Tree Pool; Giant's Chair Lookout; Three Moon Creek; Dripping Rock; The Overhang; Dragon Cave; Bloodwood Cave; Russell Gully; Two Storey Cave; King Orchid Crevice); Kroombit Tops National Park; Kalpowar State Forest; Tellebang Mountain; Mulgidgie Plateau; Coominglah State Forest; Castle Mountain.
Built features: Lake Cania/Cania Dam; localities of Moonford, Mungungo, Bancroft, Kalpowar, Mulgildie, Abercorn.
Heritage features: Aboriginal rock art, Cania Gorge; Monal Gold Fields relics; 'Beautiful Betsy' crash site, Kroombit Tops (WWII B24 Liberator crashed February 1945); old Rawbelle townsite