Nightcap Range


The Nightcap Range is a mountain range located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. The range is a spur off the Great Dividing Range and extends generally southeast from Mount Burrell for about to Peates Mountain. It is separated from the remainder of the Great Dividing Range by the Nimbin Gap. The Range forms the southern flank of the Mount Warning shield volcano and geologically, is formed from the Lismore Basalts which are then overlain successively by the Nimbin Rhyolites and finally the Blue Knob Basalts.
The highest peak in the range is Mount Burrell at above sea level. Other major peaks are Mount Neville at, Mount Nardi at, Mount Matheson at, and Peates Mountain at. The name "Blue Knob" is applied to a prominence on the top of Mount Burrell ; the names "Blue Knob" and "Mount Burrell" are also used for the names of settled areas at the base of the range.
The summit of Mount Nardi is the site for several transmission towers which are used for FM radio, digital television and formerly, analogue TV and fixed wireless broadband internet transmissions, as well as some mobile phone services. The summit can be reached by a bitumen road via Nimbin which cost £32,000 to construct in tandem with the first tower in 1962 and is the starting point for several walking tracks including the Historic Nightcap walking track, which once was the principal route taken by travellers and postal workers between Lismore and Murwillumbah.
The range contains the Nightcap National Park and forms part of the catchment for Rocky Creek Dam which is located to the north of Lismore, and provides the drinking water supply for a large portion of the Northern Rivers area.
The range is the only known locality for the nightcap oak, Eidothea hardeniana, a member of the Proteaceae, with a known population only around 100 wild plants, recognised and named only in 2002. Much of its habitat was devastated by a bushfire on the range in November 2019.

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