Cunninghams Gap Decent
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Cunninghams Gap - QLD 

Pass,Gap 
Point of Interest
PlaceID16365
iMapPlot Reference Image
Latitude28.04955º S 28º 02' 58.38" S
Longitude152.394º E 152º 23' 38.39" E
Altitude795m
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 Location of Cunninghams Gap

From Aratula, 16.96kms SW (20.3kms, 14mins driving) Driving Directions
From Yangan, 24.39kms NE (44.7kms, 44mins driving) Driving Directions
From Warrill View, 33.22kms SW (40.4kms, 28mins driving) Driving Directions
From Killarney, 33.55kms N (67.3kms, 1hr 14mins driving) Driving Directions
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 Description of Cunninghams Gap

On 25 August 1828 Allan Cunningham was the first European to find and explore Cunningham's Gap. He named the guardian peaks of the Gap as Mount Mitchell (after Sir Thomas Mitchell, Surveyor-General) and Mount Cordeaux (after William Cordeaux, Mitchell's assistant). Cunningham's discovery seemed to solve the problem of finding a shorter route between Moreton Bay Colony and the newly discovered Darling Downs.
However, the route proposed by Cunningham proved too steep to negotiate easily, with drays and their contents having to be lowered by ropes over a cliff line. An alternative route was found in 1847, when stockman Henry Alphen was credited with discovering an easier route through a gap, 7km to the south. It is thought that Aboriginal people used this gap in the range as a trade route between the east and west. Cunningham had noted the gap 20 years earlier but had not suggested its use for transport. Alan Cunningham named Spicer's Gap and peak after Peter Spicer, Superintendent of convicts, because he identified the peak while looking for escaped convicts from the Moreton Bay penal settlement.
Peacocks at Cunninghams Gap
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Spicer's Gap became the first safe and trafficable route between the port at Moreton Bay and the Darling Downs. Bullock teams would pull drays laden with wool to port and return with supplies for the Darling Downs settlers. Early road construction techniques can be seen along the old road in Spicer's Gap Conservation Park. An inn used by travellers flourished for a short time opposite the present Spicer's Gap camping area. It took from the late 1850s to the mid 1860s to build a major road through Spicer's Gap. By 1871, use of the road declined as the railway then linked Warwick to Moreton Bay via Toowoomba. A more direct route across the range was constructed at Cunningham's Gap and was opened in 1927 and later sealed in the 1940s.
Today, it is a major interstate highway with more than million vehicles passing through each year.

 Weather & Climate for Cunninghams Gap

Closest Weather Station

Warwick at 22:30 04 Jul EST
Distance from Cunninghams Gap 33.63km SW
TemperatureFeels LikeRel. HumidityDew PointPressureRainfallWind DirectionWind SpeedGusts
6.0°C 2.7°C 79% 2.7°C 1017.6hPa 0.0mm WSW 9km/h
5knots
15km/h
8knots

Closest Climatic Station

Warwick
Distance from Cunninghams Gap 33.63km SW
 JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec
Mean Max. °C 30.229.828.025.3 21.018.718.119.9 23.725.827.429.4
Mean Min. °C 16.917.115.011.2 6.84.62.83.0 7.110.513.415.7
Mean Rain mm 85.259.554.725.4 39.834.028.522.1 32.174.894.2103.4

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 Places within 5km of Cunninghams Gap

Mount Cordeaux - QLD [1.01km]  
Mountain,Peak,Hill 
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Mount Mitchell - QLD [1.18km]  
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Bellbird Rest Area - QLD [1.52km]  
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The Rest Area is 1.7Klm S.E from the top of Cunninghams Gap , the Entry and exit is very narrow and would be unsuitable for Caravans, Camper Trailers would be OK . There is also a walking track from this site
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Spicers Gap State Forest - QLD [3.41km]  
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