Dandenong Ranges

Mount Corhanwarrabul summit from the northern face of One Tree Hill

The etymology of the Dandenongs is a complicated one. Two names have been used to refer to the ranges; Corhanwarrabul and Dandenong, both derived from the Woiwurrung language of the Wurundjeri people.

It is thought that the name Dandenong was applied to the ranges due to being the origin of the Dandenong Creek; however, the original name for Dandenong Creek was Narra Narrawong. The origin of the name Dandenong is unknown, as is its meaning or correct spelling with other variations include; Tanjenong, Tangynon and Bangeong. In any case, both names relate to watercourses rather than mountains or ranges, as indicated by the ong ending. Given that the name Dandenong may not apply to anything in the immediate area, the relevance of the name Corhanwarrabul becomes apparent. Carhanwarrabul (pronounced either "corhan-warrabul" with a silent "h", or "cor-hana-warrabul") was the original name for one of the two main summits, perhaps both or perhaps the entire range. The name applied to the main summits and was in continued use up until around 1900, when the name Dandenong appeared. At any rate, Corhanwarrabul remains the most relevant name for the ranges to date.

Sherbrooke Forest

Olinda Forest, west of Olinda Falls

The range is the remains of an extinct volcano last active 373 million years ago.[1] It consists predominantly of Devonian dacite and rhyodacite.

The topography consists of a series of ridges dissected by deeply cut streams. Sheltered gullies in the south of the range are home to temperate rain forest, fern gullies and Mountain Ash forest Eucalyptus regnans, whereas the drier ridges and exposed northern slopes are covered by dry sclerophyll forest of stringybarks and box. The entire range is highly prone to bushfires, the most recent of which have been the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires, the 1997 Dandenong Ranges bushfires and small fires during the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.

A number of watercourses originate in the Dandenongs, these include:

• Cardinia Creek
• Clematis Creek
• Dandenong Creek
• Emerald Creek
• Ferny Creek
• Mast Gully Creek
• Menzies Creek
• Monbulk Creek
• Muddy Creek
• Olinda Creek
• Sassafras Creek
• Sherbrooke Creek
• Stringy Bark Creek
• Wandin Yallock Creek
• Woori Yallock Creek

Summits

Mount Corhanwarrabul summit, 2005

Sortable table

Summit Name	Height (m)	Comments	Location	Source[lower-alpha 1]
Mount Dandenong	630	Tallest peak of the Dandenongs	Observatory Road, Mt Dandenong	DANDENONG ECC J survey mark
Mount Corhanwarrabul	612	Burkes lookout and location of transmission towers	Burkes Lookout Reserve, Eyre Road, Mt Dandenong	contour data
Olinda summit	592	No official name. Labelled Mt Olinda in older tourist maps.	Range Road, Olinda	contour data
Sassafras peak	538	No recorded name.	Cooloongatta Road, Sassafras	contour data
Dunns Hill	562	Location of a number of radio and telephone towers.	One Tree Hill Road, Ferny Creek	contour data
One Tree Hill	500		Lord Somers Road, Ferny Creek	contour data
Tremont Hill	395	No official name.	Tremont Hill Track, Tremont	contour data
Chandlers Hill	405		Chandlers Track, Tremont	contour data
Johns Hill	419		Johns Hill Reserve, Ridge Road, Kallista	JOHNS HILL ECC 1986 survey mark
Black Hill	374		Black Hill Reserve, Two Bays Crescent, Selby	contour data
Upwey Hill	278		Belmont Street, Upwey	contour data
Lewis Hill	298		Queens Road, Silvan	contour data
Nobelius Hill	320		Ambrose Street, Emerald	contour data
Mount Morton	275		Chaundy Road, Belgrave South	MORTON ECC A survey mark

1. Survey mark and counter data has been accessed from the State of Victoria Land and Survey Spatial Information[2]

The Dandenong Ranges climate is generally mild and wet, with daily temperature variation generally low, often as low as 1 degree in the winter months. Rainfall is fairly uniform through the year, tending to peak between April and October with lower rainfall during the months of January and February. The mean annual rainfall is between 1000 and 1500 mm, increasing with elevation and from west to east.[3] The elevation means that temperatures are typically 2 to 5 °C cooler than the lower suburbs of Melbourne to the west , with temperatures typically lowering by 1 °C for every 150 m of elevation. Due to the elevation, fog is common in winter months.

As a result of its elevation, snow typically falls one or two times a year at higher elevations, mostly between the months of June and October. A rare summer snow occurred on Christmas Day 2006 . The local region has experienced substantial warming in recent decades and heavy snowfalls which were once common have become rare. The last significant snowfall to affect the Dandenong Ranges was on August 10, 2008, when as much 15 cm (5.9 in) fell at the highest elevations.

A Bureau of Meteorology weather station sits at an elevation of 513 m in the Ferny Creek Reserve in the southern part of the Dandenong Ranges. This weather station replaced one that was previously located on the summit of Dunns Hill.

Snow in Sassafras, Victoria, Australia, August 10, 2008

Around 240,000 people live in and around the Dandenong Ranges, depending on the definition. The following settlements are located in the Dandenongs themselves (72,500~):

• Belgrave—3929[5]
• Belgrave Heights—1,500
• Belgrave South—1,500
• Clematis—3,800
• Emerald—6,000
• Ferny Creek—1,500
• Ferntree Gully - 10,000
• Kallista—1,000
• Kalorama—1,100
• Kilsyth—10,000
• Menzies Creek—1,300
• Monbulk—2,700
• Montrose—6, 500
• Mount Dandenong—1,300
• Olinda—1,500
• Sassafras—1,000
• Selby—1,400
• Tecoma—2,200
• The Patch—800
• Upper Ferntree Gully—4,000
• Upwey—6,800

Some settlements located on and around the plateau to the east of the ranges are sometimes included (14,200~):

• Cockatoo—4,500
• Gembrook—1,600
• Macclesfield—1,600
• Seville—2,000
• Seville East—600
• Silvan—1,900
• Wandin East—500
• Wandin North—1,600

Settlements in the southern and western foothills are also sometimes included (180,500~):

• Western Foothills
• The Basin—4,100
• Boronia—20,500
• Mount Evelyn—9,100
• Southern Foothills
• Endeavour Hills—24,000
• Narre Warren—26,000
• Berwick—47,000
• Narre Warren North—7,700
• Harkaway—849
• Beaconsfield Upper—2,861

The Monbulk Creek Trestle Bridge, part of the Puffing Billy Railway

The ranges are located near the boundary between the Wurundjeri and Bunurong nations' territories. The two nations were part of the Kulin alliance and were most often on friendly terms. The mountain range, however, was not often frequented by either nations people as mountainous areas were often considered one of many resting places for various spirits.

In 1938, the aircraft Kyeema crashed on the western face of Mount Corhanwarrabul due to heavy fog and poor navigation. Eighteen people died.[6]

• Scenic drives—popular for many years on the abundance of winding roads throughout the ranges
• Picnics—dedicated picnic areas can be found in Fern Tree Gully Picnic Ground or at One Tree Hill or in Sherbrooke Forest. Emerald Lake Park has a variety of pretty picnic spots with electric barbecues, sheltered areas and water activities. This park with landscaped gardens adjoins the historic Nobelius Heritage Park
• The various coffee shops and restaurants, bed and breakfasts, craft shops, antique shops and gardens
• Puffing Billy Railway—a narrow-gauge heritage steam railway, from Belgrave, through to Emerald, Cockatoo and ending at Gembrook
• Lookouts & views—There are several locations throughout the ranges that offer excellent views on both sides of the range. On a clear day, features as far as Mount Macedon, the You Yangs and Port Phillip can be seen simultaneously
• Walking & hiking—various tracks and trails are available at a variety of lengths and difficulties. For example; Four Brothers Rocks near Gembrook, Wright Forest near Cockatoo; The Eastern Dandenong Ranges Trail, which runs through Emerald, Cockatoo to Gembrook has a variety of open scenery and dappled woodland trails and at various stages follows the Puffing Billy railway line

Sherbrooke Falls, Sherbrooke

• Cycling—the Dandenong Ranges is one of Melbourne's most popular cycling areas. Popular road cycling climbs include the "1 in 20" on the Mountain Highway, "The Wall", a steeper route between Monbulk and Olinda, and the also-steep "Devil's Elbow", heading north from Upper Ferntree Gully along the Mount Dandenong Tourist Road to Ferny Creek . Also popular for picturesque and leisurely family bike rides is the Eastern Dandenong Ranges Trail, which runs through Emerald, Cockatoo to Gembrook

Due to the climate of the region, the type of vegetation and the topography, the Dandenong Ranges periodically experience bushfires. Some of the recent occurrences included:

• 1851—Black Thursday
• 1898
• 1905
• 1913
• 1926
• 1939
• 1962
• 1968
• 1983—Ash Wednesday, 27 deaths in the Dandenong ranges
• 1997—3 deaths in the ranges
• 2009—Black Saturday, no deaths in the ranges

The Dandenong Ranges, viewed from Heidelberg looking east over Doncaster Hill, through smoke haze after the Black Saturday bushfires

• 
  The 1000 steps
• 
  Puffing Billy on the Trestle Bridge
• 
  View of Melbourne from the summit of Mount Dandenong
• 
  View of Melbourne from the summit of Mount Dandenong
• 
  Mount Dandenong as seen from Kilsyth
• 
  Transmission towers on the summit of Mount Corhanwarrabul
• 
  Transmission towers. Note that the upper parts of the tower in the background are guyed.
• 
  Channel 10 transmission tower
• 
  Channel 9 transmission tower
• 
  Channel 7 transmission tower
• 
  The Silvan Reservoir looking east from Kalorama

• Dandenong Ranges National Park
• 1938 Kyeema crash
• Horatio Jones house

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Dandenong Ranges.

• Eastern Dandenong Ranges
• Blue Dandenongs
• Parks Victoria
• Info sourced from Knox Historical Society on place names in the area
• The dandenongs in colour

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dandenong Ranges.