Nanny Goat Hill Lookout sits in the heart of Cooma, a town established in 1849 that has since nicknamed itself the 'Gateway to the Snowy Mountains', due to increasing popularity with tourists as a rest stop, en route to the New South Wales snow fields during winter. Cooma is 116km south of Canberra, and 397 south-west of Sydney - it is the main town of the Monaro region. The name of this town is possibly derived from 'Coombah', an Aboriginal word that means 'big lake' or 'open country'.
Nanny Goat Hill Lookout is smack bang in the middle of the town of Cooma, and is part of the historic Lambie Town Walk. The walk was designed and constructed by the Goulburn Lands Office in 1985, and involves a 5km walk. Starting at the "Man from Snowy River" statue beside The Visitor's Centre and ending at St Patrick's Catholic Church, a Caledonian style church, the Lambie Town Walk takes participants through three Heritage Areas recognised by the National Trust - The Court House precinct (built in the 1860s), Lambie Street (the first commercial centre of Cooma), and Church Hill (with examples of nineteenth and twentieth century religious and educational buildings).
Perched on the rocks of the Nanny Goat Hill Lookout is a nanny goat sculpture - the sculpture was created by local artist, the late Chris Graham, who is also known for his leading role in the erection of the Mosaic Time Walk, a community project for the Bicentennial Year of 1988. I'm not sure whether the lookout was named after the sculpture, or the sculpture was created to fit with the name of the lookout (probably the latter), but either way, they're a perfect match complementing one another.
Nanny Goat Hill Lookout grants 360° views of the Cooma township and surrounding country. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, because I don't think descriptions of the view will do it justice. At lookouts, don't forget to turn around and look the other way too - sometimes, the view opposite to the where the lookout platform is facing provides equally stunning views.