The Freemans Lookout Section of the Lower Beechmont Conservation Area is located at the northern end of the Beechmont Range, which is a prominent spur of the McPherson Range. It is a prominent natural element in the central hinterland area of the Gold Coast and is visible from a number of key locations along the coast, serving to form an important green backdrop for the City. Its position in the landscape offers panoramic views of the Gold Coast, extending east to the coastal lowlands and the Pacific Ocean, north to Mount Tamborine and west to Canungra.
With an area of 95.16 hectares, Freemans Lookout is a significant conservation reserve that forms part of a cluster of GCCC managed reserves known as the Lower Beechmont-Mount Nathan management cluster. The reserve reaches an elevation of over 540 metres above sea level and forms part of the upper catchment of Clagiraba Creek and the Coomera River. It is located at the central-western boundary of the Gold Coast Local Government Area and forms part of the broader Lower Beechmont Conservation Area.
Freemans Lookout is situated within the Canungra to Coombabah habitat corridor, and also links Mount Tamborine and Springbrook. Freemans Lookout is part of a system of parks and reserves which connects one of the most important wildlife corridors in the city extending from Canungra, east to Nerang Forest Reserve, and ultimately connecting to the coast via the Coombabah Lakelands Conservation Area. It is also an important biological corridor linking the reserves of Mount Tamborine to Hinze Dam and Springbrook, and for the migration of wildlife to the Lamington National Park forests. The reserve contributes to preserving the native biodiversity of the region – it protects important vegetation associations and plant species, provides habitat for a range of resident and migratory fauna, and is important for local species requiring large expanses of continuous, intact habitat.
The reserve is home to at least 12 rare or threatened plants and animals. Flora surveys have identified five Regional Ecosystems on-site including dry sclerophyll forest, through to wet sclerophyll forest and gully vine forest, and one threatened species – the Rare Richmond Birdwing Vine (Pararistolochia praevenosa). Fauna surveys within the Lower Beechmont Conservation Area have identified around 200 terrestrial species, with 42 of these recorded within Freemans Lookout – including the Vulnerable Richmond Birdwing Butterfly (Ornithoptera richmondia) and the Rare Grey Goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae).
The underlying geology of this area is classified as Neranleigh-Fernvale metasediments - metamorphosed sedimentary rocks derived from ancient marine sediments subjected to large scale compression, folding and uplift. This is the predominant geological unit throughout the central area of Gold Coast City. The composition of the underlying rock varies with location, and may incorporate arenite, mudstone, shale, chert, jasper, basic metavolcanics, pillow lava and conglomerate. The corresponding soil association for the site is comprised of Red, Brown, Yellow and Grey Kurosols (associated with hard rock areas), Red Ferrosol (related to the presence of volcanic rock layers or chert) and Tenosols (associated with resistant quartzitic rocks).
Overall the landform can be described steep to moderately steep hill-slopes supporting tall dry to moist eucalypt open forest. The reserve generally slopes from east to west, rising from an elevation of 100 metres at the north-east corner to a maximum of 545 metres at its highest point in the south-west. The majority of the site has been designated with a Moderate-High Slope Instability Hazard, with several historical landslips having been recorded in the north and east. However in currently accessible areas – restricted to a management trail/easement near the western boundary - the Slope Instability Hazard rating is Low.
From the parking area, a walking track runs approximately 740 metres north to the cache location. Once you have found the cache, it is well worth walking the further 100m to the end of the trail where the view is quite spectacular.