MT. HICKEY


Lat / Long GDA -37.176686, 145.152744
Department FCV...etc...DEECA
Work Depot Broadford
Region North East
Grading Primary
Elevation (ASL) 805m
Height 18m
Construction Steel
Cabin size 2.2m x 2.6m
Public access to site Yes
In use since 1947 - 1976? (original)
1977? - (current)
CFA Region 12 - North Eastern
Mt. Hickey is situated in the Mt. Tallarook Ranges and is sometimes called Mt. Tallarook

The original wooden tower was replaced with the current steel tower in 1976.
This tower had a new cabin installed in 2000 and then again in 2013
Information and photos supplied by Phil Searle, a veteran in the job

Please click on thumbnails for enlargements

View from
tower 		Inside
(old) cabin 		The Original
Mt. Hicky in 1975-76

In a memorandum dated 12th February 1970 is a mentioning of the cabin being completely beyond repair.
"The cabin on Mt. Hicky has no apparent means of fastening to the top girts, but a combination of 4" (100mm) nails, iron brackets, coach bolts and skew nails all must contribute to the reason why the cabin is still on the tower. Knee braces in opposite corners have stopped the cabin from rocking, so I can only assume that the cabin wrecked itself by bouncing up and down prior to the towerman managing to fix it to the tower".
The recommendation was to prefabricate a well designed timber cabin and then to be erected on the tower for a cost of approx. $1150.
The memo also states: "To strip the legs of the remaining sapwood, replace a few structural braces, strengthen and repair landings and handrails plus a general tightening of bolts and coating with creosote, can be carried out for an estimated cost of $350".

Please click on thumbnails for enlargements

The 2 photos left, are of the original wooden tower. The b/w photo (1952) was supplied by the Melbourne Walking Club via Robin Bailey.
The color photo (1971) was supplied by the Melbourne Bushwalking Inc. Both photos are used with permission.

3 photos of the 2000 cabin replacement
were supplied by Tony Scicluna and
used with permission.
Old cabin down New cabin arrives New cabin
nearly in place

For screenshot of a May 2002 article in the Free Press, please click here

The tower was visited as part of the FLO end-of-year-get-together in early May 2010.

2009, supplied by Richard Webb Photo (Sep 2013) supplied by the Ian Michie in July 2019.
It shows the new ladder installed, but before
the new cabin was installed.

The 2 photos left, of the 2013 cabin replacement, were supplied by Phil Searle and used with permission. Phil is the long-time FLO at Mt Hickey.
For the drawings of the cabin in pdf format, please click here

In Dec 2016 the Hume Region (NE) recognised a few of their FLOs for their long and dedicated service. Phil Searle, the Mt. Hickey FLO, was one of them with 35 years service; well done Phil.
A copy of the article can be found here

These 1960s photos were supplied by Trevor Vienet in April 2026. On the veranda of the fire watcher's hut is Lenny Knight.
The Friends of Disappointment Facebook page had a post about Mt. Hickey in January 2026 with some great information and comments about the tower. The FB post can be found here.

The tower was visited as part of the FLO end-of-year-get-together in early May 2026. Photo was supplied by Paul Jones.

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