Three hills above the inner north

ACT Parks records Mount Ainslie Nature Reserve at 637 hectares, adjoining Mount Majura Nature Reserve; the two protect a large, contiguous area of wooded country overlooking the city from the north-east. Mount Majura Nature Reserve is 502 hectares, and together the two form an extensive area of forested country above Canberra and the Majura Valley.

ACT Parks gives Black Mountain Nature Reserve as a 434-hectare protected area on the northern side of Lake Burley Griffin. Black Mountain is a prominent hill 812 metres above sea level topped by a 195-metre tower. The reserve was established in 1970, and the mountain is a landmark and a key feature in the design geometry of the national capital. Mount Majura Nature Reserve was established in 1993.

ACT Parks notes that many mature, hollow-bearing eucalypts survive in Mount Ainslie Nature Reserve, because its forests, unlike those of Black Mountain and Mount Majura, were never substantially cleared. The Canberra Ornithologists Group has monitored birds in the reserve since 2000. Bird monitoring on Mount Majura has run since 1998. Mount Ainslie Nature Reserve is protected under the Nature Conservation Act 2014.

The Inner North and City District has its own policy in the Territory Plan, and it applies to the land mapped as that district. The desired policy outcomes to be achieved for Inner North and City District include: keeping and improving the wooded links between Black Mountain and Lyneham Ridge, and the chain from Lake Burley Griffin out through Mount Ainslie and Mount Majura to Kenny, with crossings made friendly to wildlife where they are needed.

ACT Parks gives the Mount Ainslie summit walk as sealed and of moderate difficulty, with steep sections, steps and uneven ground; it starts at the car park on Treloar Crescent, at the back of the Australian War Memorial, and gives views of the city and the mountains, including the Tidbinbilla Range and Namadgi National Park. There is a car park at the lookout on the summit. Walking, cycling or driving up takes you to 842 metres above sea level, with a view over the bush capital, Lake Burley Griffin and the mountains of Namadgi beyond.

On Mount Majura, ACT Parks gives the summit as 888 metres, the highest hill in northern Canberra; the Casuarina Walking Trail goes over it, a moderate walk with steep sections and uneven ground, and gives wide views of northern Canberra.

On Black Mountain, ACT Parks gives the Forest Loop Walk, which circles the summit, starting and finishing at the parking area half-way up Black Mountain Drive, and is easy to moderate. The Little Black Mountain Walk is 5.2 km return, with 1.4 km each way to a 2.4 km circuit, through open forest with birds and spring flowers including orchids, and views over the parliamentary triangle and the inner northern suburbs. The track to the summit from Telstra Tower rises 150 vertical metres in 400 metres, takes about fifteen minutes, and asks for a reasonable level of fitness.

In Mount Ainslie Nature Reserve, dogs are allowed on-leash on a track or trail only. The same rule holds on Mount Majura. No dogs or horses are allowed in Black Mountain Nature Reserve. ACT Parks notes that fines can be imposed under the Domestic Animals Act 2000 or the Nature Conservation Act 2014 for taking a dog where it is prohibited or for not following the dog rules.

On Mount Majura, ACT Parks permits horse riding on marked equestrian trails only. On Mount Ainslie, cycling and mountain bike riding are permitted only on sealed roads, management trails and the Centenary Trail. On Mount Majura, cycling is permitted only on roads and management trails including the Centenary Trail, and the Majura Pines recreation area next door has dedicated trails for mountain bike riding. On Black Mountain, cycling is permitted only on management trails including the Centenary Trail.

Rock climbing and abseiling are not permitted in the Mount Ainslie quarry. Rock climbing and bouldering are not permitted in Black Mountain Nature Reserve.

On shared tracks, walkers give way to horses, cyclists give way to walkers and horses, and horse riders take care around other users. Stick to the tracks, to avoid getting lost and to limit your impact on the bush. Avoid forests and woodlands in very windy weather, because of falling trees and limbs. Respect heritage sites: take only photos and leave only footprints.

ACT Parks records that the eastern slopes of Mount Ainslie were used for military manoeuvres and live firing from the Second World War until the early 1960s; some unexploded ordnance has been cleared and more may remain, so stay on the tracks. Before a walk, tell someone your route, when you expect to be back, and what to do if you are late.

ACT Parks records Mount Ainslie as a significant Aboriginal women’s cultural place, and a landmark in the north of the ACT for groups travelling south into the mountains. The reserve protects more than thirty known Aboriginal heritage sites on the ACT Heritage Register, including surface stone artefact scatters and culturally modified trees. All Aboriginal places and objects in the ACT are protected under the Heritage Act 2004 and must not be disturbed.

ACT Parks records that Black Mountain Nature Reserve protects thirty-one Aboriginal cultural heritage sites listed on the ACT Heritage Register, including stone artefacts found singly and in scatters. Mount Majura is an important Ngunnawal access pathway and landmark from the Majura Valley, guiding groups travelling west into the mountains, by way of Corroboree Park, Haig Park and the Ginninderra Creek ceremonial site, and over the Murrumbidgee into the high country.

ACT Parks says James Ainslie, Campbell's overseer, brought 700 sheep to the Limestone Plains in 1826; Canberra Tracks says he camped on what is now Corroboree Park with Robert Campbell's sheep in 1825. The ACT Parks page records that stone from the Mount Ainslie volcanics was used as a building material by the early settlers and went into Saint John’s Church in Reid. It records a quarry worked in what is now the reserve from 1932 until 1939, mainly to make roads, with remnant tram tracks and machinery still to be seen.

ACT Parks records that photographs from the late 1800s show only scattered vegetation on Black Mountain. A timber inspector’s report in 1915 noted very few trees, and those of poor quality. Kurrajong seed from Queanbeyan was sown on Mount Majura in 1919, and a further 8,000 seeds in July 1920; grazing in the area stopped in 1985. Charles Weston planted the lower city-side slopes of Mount Ainslie and Black Mountain, and forty years later his mixed eucalyptus stands served as study plots for forestry students.

The ACT Parks safety page is direct: Do not enter parks, reserves or plantations: on days of extreme or catastrophic fire danger rating, on days of declared Total Fire Bans, or during bushfires. Before you go, check the weather conditions and look up the fire danger rating where you are heading.

The Mount Ainslie page says: Remember: be bushfire alert, because on total fire ban days some reserves may be closed.

If you are in a park when a fire starts, the Parks ACT safety page carries the official advice.

ACT Parks notes that Mount Ainslie Nature Reserve sits close to Mount Pleasant Nature Reserve and to the suburbs of Ainslie, Campbell and Hackett. Mount Pleasant Nature Reserve is a 57-hectare protected area east of central Canberra, not far from the head of Lake Burley Griffin, reached from Northcott Drive and from points in Campbell and Russell.

Its entry on the ACT Heritage Register records that the Duntroon Dairy, the ACT’s oldest standing building, stands within the reserve on the base of Mount Pleasant’s southern slopes; it was built around 1832 above the fertile Molonglo River floodplain to provide milk and butter for the people living on the estate, and dairying continued into the 1960s. Near the summit, Mount Pleasant Lookout looks over the reserve, Lake Burley Griffin and Jerrabomberra Wetlands Nature Reserve. Dogs are allowed on-leash on a track or trail only.