Come for the cache, stay for the view!
Note: Seems like some people are making a steep arrival into GZ. There is an entrance to the track next to the utility buildings at the top of the hill, as well as the ones from the bottom (check the waypoints). Be careful!
This cache is a micro that has been placed along one of the walking tracks around Eildon Hill. The easiest access is by driving up to the top of the hill and parking along the outside of the reservoir and taking the walking track down on the western side, next to the utilities building. You can also access the walking track via track entrances on Constition Road, or Paling Avenue. At the top of the hill you will find the lookout, which gives excellent views of the city and is popular among the locals.
Please be sure to place the cache back correctly and in the same spot, and be careful in wet weather. You may require some tweezers to remove the log, depending how it has been placed back in.
Eildon Hill
The traditional owners of this land, the Turrbal-speaking people used the hills as a vantage point to view tribal movements and later, the activities of the white settlers.
The area became known as Eildon Hill, named after the hills near Melrose in the border country between England and Scotland. In legend, these ancient hills held caverns where King Arthur and his knights lay sleeping and from their peaks more than forty spots famed in history and song could be seen.
The hills and surrounding land were first purchased in 1859 in the name of Sarah Sophia Bartley, the wife of Nehemiah Bartley, colonial wanderer, merchant & author. Bartley bought much of the hilly land around Brisbane in early Crown Land Sales.
In 1882 Rev. George Wight purchased almost 17 acres of Bartlely's land, including the summit, to add to the 47 acres he had purchased in 1858, a Congregational minister & journalist had established a preaching station and meeting place in a slab hut. In 1863, he erected a residence "Eildon House" on the site which later became the Wilson Ophthalmic Hostel and a Youth Detention Centre. Much of Wight's extensive holding was subdivided and offered for sale, first as the Eildon Hill Estate in 1885, and the remainder as the Eildon Tower Estate in 1887. To attract sales a timber tower was erected on the estate to allow visitors to fully appreciate the extensive views from the hilltop.
Plans to use it as a reservoir seem to date back as far as 1907. Finally it was excavated and the reservoir opened in 1929. Recent upgrades completed by the council in September 2021 installed new walking tails and made further improvements to the site for the community to enjoy.
