Nightcap Range

Location of the Nightcap Range in New South Wales

CountryAustralia region_type = StateRegionNew South WalesRange coordinates28°33′S 153°20′E / 28.550°S 153.333°E / -28.550; 153.333^[3]Parent rangeGreat Dividing Range

The Nightcap Range - map from OpenStreetMap. Area highlighted in green is the Nightcap National Park, also including the Whian Whian State Conservation Area.

The Nightcap Range is a mountain range located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, in the area between Lismore and the New South Wales-Queensland border. It includes Mount Burrell and Mount Nardi as well as containing the Nightcap National Park. The range is mainly covered with relict warm temperate rainforest and contains several rare and/or endemic species, most notably the Nightcap oak and the Minyon quandong.

Description

The range is a spur off the Great Dividing Range and extends generally southeast from Mount Burrell for about 25 kilometres (16 mi) to Peates Mountain.^[3] It is separated from the remainder of the Great Dividing Range by the Nimbin Gap. The Range forms the southern flank of the Mount Warning (Tweed) shield volcano and geologically, is formed from the Lismore Basalts which are then overlain successively by the Nimbin Rhyolites and finally the Blue Knob Basalts.^[4]^[5]

The highest peak in the range is Mount Burrell at 933 metres (3,061 ft) above sea level.^[1] Other major peaks are Mount Neville at 919 metres (3,015 ft), Mount Nardi at 812 metres (2,664 ft), Mount Matheson at 804 metres (2,638 ft), and Peates Mountain at 604 metres (1,982 ft).^[1] The name "Blue Knob" is applied to a prominence on the top of Mount Burrell (with "Sphinx Rock" another geological feature adjacent to the main elevated section); the names "Blue Knob" and "Mount Burrell" are also used for the names of settled areas (districts) at the base of the range.^[6]^[7]

Man made features

The summit of Mount Nardi is the site for several transmission towers which are used for FM radio, digital television and formerly, analogue TV and fixed wireless broadband internet transmissions,^[8]^[9]^[10] as well as some mobile phone services. The summit can be reached by a bitumen road via Nimbin which cost £32,000 to construct in tandem with the first tower in 1962 (the tower itself costing only £10,000^[11]) and is the starting point for several walking tracks including the Historic Nightcap walking track, which once was the principal route taken by travellers and postal workers between Lismore and Murwillumbah.^[12]

The range contains the Nightcap National Park^[13] and forms part of the catchment for Rocky Creek Dam which is located to the north of Lismore, and provides the drinking water supply for a large portion of the Northern Rivers area.

Notable flora

The range is the only known locality for the Nightcap oak, Eidothea hardeniana, a member of the Proteaceae, with a known population only around 100 wild plants, recognised and named in 2002.^[14] Much of its habitat was devastated by a bushfire on the range (the Mount Nardi bushfire) in November 2019.^[15] The range is also notable for containing the majority of known sites for the extremely restricted Minyon quandong, a medium sized tree in the Elaeocarpaceae, which had been recognised as a distinct species for some time but formally described only in 2008.^[16]

Derivation of locality names

According to the Richmond-Tweed Regional Library's "Place Names of the Tweed, Brunswick and Upper Richmond Regions", the name "Nightcap" is a corruption of "night camp", as used by the original surveyors of the range and subsequent travellers; beyond Nimbin, further along the old Murwillumbah to Lismore route through the mountains, the small settlement of Coffee Camp retains its original, similarly derived name unaltered. Mount Matheson is named for the Government Surveyor George Matheson who, with his assistant Arthur Gracie, surveyed the track over the Nightcap Range in the early 1870s. Mount Burrell (stated as originally spelled with a single "l") is possibly from the Aboriginal word "burrul", meaning "wallaby", while Mount Nardi (previously considered a portion of Mount Matheson) is named for Terania Shire Councillor Angelo Nardi who served from 1956 to 1961.^[17]

Gallery

Distant view of Mount Burrell, the westernmost portion of the Nightcap Range
The Nightcap Range in NSW, Australia, distant view from south-west
Telephoto view of the three transmission towers on Mount Nardi
Close-up view of the Mount Nardi transmission towers; from the front: the ABRN6 digital TV tower; the central tower (Telstra-2); the NRN8 (originally: RTN-8) original analogue TV tower
Sunrise over the summit of Mount Nardi from the south, showing the radio and digital television transmission towers
Communications towers on Mount Nardi, New South Wales, Australia: the ABRN-6 tower (digital TV + more)
Communications towers on Mount Nardi, New South Wales, Australia: the central tower (Telstra-2)
Communications towers on Mount Nardi, New South Wales, Australia: the central tower (Telstra-2) - detail
Communications towers on Mount Nardi, New South Wales, Australia: the NRN8 (originally: RTN-8) tower (former analogue TV + other current uses)
Protesters Falls
Rainforest at Protesters Falls, Nightcap NP
Rainbow through Minyon Falls
View at Minyon Falls, Nightcap NP

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "The Nightcap Range". The Hamlet of Rosebank. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
^ "Mount Burrell". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Nightcap Range". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
^ Big Volcano (Wollumbin) Visitor Guide: National Parks of the Tweed Volcano Region Archived 2020-02-02 at the Wayback Machine
^ Big Volcano (Wollumbin) Visitor Guide: The Lost World - Records in the Rocks Archived 2013-03-14 at the Wayback Machine
^ 2016 Census QuickStats: Blue Knob
^ 2016 Census QuickStats: Mount Burrell
^ "Mount Nardi FM transmitter info". fmscan.org. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
^ "Mt Nardi Digital TV Broadcast Site". ozdigitaltv.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
^ "Offline: Northern Rivers telco Linknet powers down Mt Nardi service". ABC North Coast NSW. 9 December 2014. Archived from the original on 31 July 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
^ trove.nla.gov.au: The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982) Wed 16 May 1962 Page 4: Country men solved problem that beat world experts
^ "Visit NSW: Historic Nightcap Walking Track". Archived from the original on 2019-12-16. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
^ "Map of Nightcap Range, NSW". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
^ Weston, P. H.; Kooyman, R. M. (2002). "Systematics of Eidothea (Proteaceae), with the description of a new species, E. hardeniana, from the Nightcap Range, north-eastern New South Wales". Telopea. 9 (4): 821–832. doi:10.7751/telopea20024022.
^ Shoebridge, Joanne; Marciniak, Catherine (18 January 2020). "Gondwana-era rainforest stand of nightcap oak devastated by unprecedented bushfire". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
^ Maynard, David; Crayn, Darren; Rossetto, Marco; Kooyman, Robert; Coode, Mark (2008). "Elaeocarpus sedentarius sp. nov. (Elaeocarpaceae)—morphometric analysis of a new, rare species from eastern Australia". Australian Systematic Botany. 21 (3). pp. 192–200 (196–199), Figs 3, 4. doi:10.1071/SB07031.
^ Richmond-Tweed Regional Library (1984). Place Names of the Tweed, Brunswick and Upper Richmond Regions.

External links

www.echo.net.au: Area burned in the November 2019 Mount Nardi bushfire, as at 18 November 2019 (original article here)

Mountains in New South Wales, Australia

Coastal mountain ranges
(not part of the
Great Dividing Range)

Mid North Coast	Middle Brother (554 m or 1,818 ft) South Brother (487 m or 1,598 ft) North Brother (476 m or 1,562 ft)
Allyn, Barrington & Mount Royal	Brumlow Tops (1,586 m or 5,203 ft) Polblue (1,575 m or 5,167 ft) Barrington (1,555 m or 5,102 ft) Careys Peak (1,544 m or 5,066 ft) Eremeren Point (1,537 m or 5,043 ft) Royal (1,185 m or 3,888 ft) Allyn (1,125 m or 3,691 ft) Cabrebald (1,000 m or 3,281 ft) Ben Bullen Gunama Lumeah
Gibraltar and Sugarloaf	Summit (1,170 m or 3,839 ft) Sugarloaf (412 m or 1,352 ft) Bulahdelah Manning
Blue Mountains	Coricudgy (1,255 m or 4,117 ft) unnamed peak (1,189 m or 3,901 ft) Pomany (1,109 m or 3,638 ft) Piddington (1,094 m or 3,589 ft) Boyce (1,093 m or 3,586 ft) York (1,061 m or 3,481 ft) Victoria (1,059 m or 3,474 ft) Banks (1,049 m or 3,442 ft) Tomah (1,016 m or 3,333 ft) Wilson (1,008 m or 3,307 ft) Kings Tableland (1,000 m or 3,281 ft) Narrow Neck Plateau (1,000 m or 3,281 ft) Bell (998 m or 3,274 ft) Castle Cliff (986 m or 3,235 ft) Solitary (950 m or 3,117 ft) Hay (944 m or 3,097 ft) Podgers (890 m or 2,920 ft) Irvine (850 m or 2,789 ft) Debert (840 m or 2,756 ft) Camp Cave (800 m or 2,625 ft) Warrigal (760 m or 2,493 ft) Notts (750 m or 2,461 ft) Harris (736 m or 2,415 ft) Centre (620 m or 2,034 ft) Hall (617 m or 2,024 ft) Gibson (608 m or 1,995 ft) Scorpion (558 m or 1,831 ft) Linda Rock (599 m or 1,965 ft) Cookem (569 m or 1,867 ft) Gospers Bedford Cameron Coriaday Erskine Mistake Monundilla Whaite Wirraba Pearces Wedding Cake
Illawarra	Bells (803 m or 2,635 ft) Knights Hill (709 m or 2,326 ft) Noorinan (663 m or 2,175 ft) Saddleback (600 m or 1,969 ft) Wanyambilli Hill (564 m or 1,850 ft) Kembla (534 m or 1,752 ft) Burelli (531 m or 1,742 ft) Kembla West (512 m or 1,680 ft) Brisbane (469 m or 1,539 ft) Keira (464 m or 1,522 ft) Warra (464 m or 1,522 ft) Brokers Nose (440 m or 1,444 ft) Nebo (252 m or 827 ft)
The Budawangs	Budawang (1,129 m or 3,704 ft) Currockbilly (1,087 m or 3,566 ft) Wog Wog (893 m or 2,930 ft) Cole (876 m or 2,874 ft) Sturgiss (858 m or 2,815 ft) Fosters (857 m or 2,812 ft) Barneys Hill (855 m or 2,805 ft) The Castle (831 m or 2,726 ft) Shrouded Gods (809 m or 2,654 ft) Donjon (786 m or 2,579 ft) Clyde (781 m or 2,562 ft) Quiltys (775 m or 2,543 ft) Wirritin (674 m or 2,211 ft) Pigeon House / Didthul (720 m or 2,362 ft) Bushwalker (640 m or 2,100 ft) Byangee (500 m or 1,640 ft) Coolangatta Tarn

Great Dividing Range

Tweed

Warning (1,156 m or 3,793 ft)
Bar (1,130 m or 3,707 ft)
Glenugie (316 m or 1,037 ft)
Chincogan (260 m or 853 ft)
Gladstone
Goobergooberyam
Moombil

McPherson and Nightcap

Barney (1,359 m or 4,459 ft)
Burrell 933 m or 3,061 ft)
Neville (919 m or 3,015 ft)
Nardi (812 m or 2,664 ft)
Matheson (804 m or 2,638 ft)
Peates (604 m or 1,982 ft)

Mid North Coast

Banda Banda (1,258 m or 4,127 ft)

Nandewar

Kaputar (1,489 m or 4,885 ft)
Dowe (1,457 m or 4,780 ft)
Mount Coryah (1,409 m or 4,623 ft)
Lindesay (1,373 m or 4,505 ft)
Grattai (1,301 m or 4,268 ft)
Bushy (1,260 m or 4,134 ft)
Round (1,250 m or 4,101 ft)
Yulludunida (1,225 m or 4,019 ft)
Castle Top (1,120 m or 3,675 ft)
Gins (1,120 m or 3,675 ft)
Ningadhun (1,013 m or 3,323 ft)

Liverpool and Watagan

unnamed (1,300 m or 4,265 ft)
Pandoras Pass (788 m or 2,585 ft)
Warrawolong (641 m or 2,103 ft)

New England and Moonbi

Round (1,585 m or 5,200 ft)
Point Lookout (1,564 m or 5,131 ft)
Ben Lomond (1,512 m or 4,961 ft)
Grundy (1,463 m or 4,800 ft)
Barren (1,437 m or 4,715 ft)
Hyland (1,434 m or 4,705 ft)
Duval (1,393 m or 4,570 ft)
Black Jack (1,300 m or 4,265 ft)
Gulligal (1,230 m or 4,035 ft)
Oaky (1,070 m or 3,510 ft)
Cooee (1,020 m or 3,346 ft)
Flaggy (984 m or 3,228 ft)
Big Billy (884 m or 2,900 ft)
Dorrigo (762 m or 2,500 ft)
Burning (520 m or 1,706 ft)
Yarrowyck

Central Tablelands

Canobolas (1,395 m or 4,577 ft)
Shooters Hill (1,394 m or 4,573 ft)
Bindo (1,363 m or 4,472 ft)
Trickett (1,362 m or 4,469 ft)
Blaxland (901 m or 2,956 ft)
Hopeless (1,056 m or 3,465 ft)

The Brindabellas and Scabby

Bimberi (1,913 m or 6,276 ft)
Gingera (1,857 m or 6,093 ft)
Kelly (1,829 m or 6,001 ft)
Ginini (1,762 m or 5,781 ft)
Franklin (1,646 m or 5,400 ft)
Aggie (1,421 m or 4,662 ft)
Coree (1,421 m or 4,662 ft)
Bramina (1,392 m or 4,567 ft)
Bulls Head (1,375 m or 4,511 ft)
Black Bottle (1,356 m or 4,449 ft)
Lickhole (1,188 m or 3,898 ft)
Brindabella (972 m or 3,189 ft)

Monaro

Big Badja (1,363 m or 4,472 ft)
Brown (1,243 m or 4,078 ft)
Gibraltar (Bungendore) (887 m or 2,910 ft)
Gibraltar Hill

Snowies

Main

Kosciuszko (2,228 m or 7,310 ft)
Townsend (2,209 m or 7,247 ft)
unnamed peak on Etheridge Ridge (2,180 m or 7,152 ft)
Alice Rawson Peak (2,160 m or 7,087 ft)
Byatts Camp (2,159 m or 7,083 ft)
Carruthers (2,145 m or 7,037 ft)
Abbott Peak (2,145 m or 7,037 ft)
Mount Northcote (2,131 m or 6,991 ft)
Muellers Peak (2,120 m or 6,955 ft)
Clark (2,100 m or 6,890 ft)
Lee (2,100 m or 6,890 ft)
Gungartan (2,068 m or 6,785 ft)
Tate (2,068 m or 6,785 ft)
Jagungal (2,061 m or 6,762 ft)
Perisher (2,054 m or 6,739 ft)
Stilwell (2,040 m or 6,693 ft)
Watsons Crags (2,020 m or 6,627 ft)
Back Perisher (2,014 m or 6,608 ft)
Anton (2,000 m or 6,562 ft)
Anderson (1,997 m or 6,552 ft)
Blue Cow (1,994 m or 6,542 ft)
The Granite Peaks (1,980 m or 6,496 ft)
Dicky Cooper Bogong (1,980 m or 6,496 ft)
Gills Knobs (1,940 m or 6,365 ft)
Guthega Peak (1,924 m or 6,312 ft)
Blue Calf (1,905 m or 6,250 ft)
Sentinel (1,900 m or 6,234 ft)
Mount Piper (1,830 m or 6,004 ft)
Round (1,756 m or 5,761 ft)

Ramshead

Rams Head (2,190 m or 7,185 ft)
Twynam (2,178 m or 7,146 ft)
Rams Head North (2,177 m or 7,142 ft)
Little Twynam (2,120 m or 6,955 ft)

Other mountains in the GDR

Yengo (668 m or 2,192 ft)

Inland mountain ranges

Barrier	Lewis Peak (297 m or 974 ft)
Warrumbungles	Exmouth (1,206 m or 3,957 ft) Woorut (1,165 m or 3,822 ft) Needle
Other inland mountains	Grenfell Gibralter Hill