MT. NUGONG

	Lat / Long GDA	-37.227994, 147.897118
	Department	FCV...etc...DEECA
	Work Depot	Swifts Creek
	Region	Gippsland
	Grading	Primary
	Elevation (ASL)	1482m
	Height	18m
	Construction	Steel
	Cabin size	2.25m x 2.25m
	Public access to site	Yes
	In use since	1st one; 1954? - 19?? 2nd one: 19?? - 1974 Current one: 1976 -
	CFA Region	11 - Eastern

A Mr. Ahchow from Ensay North was a pioneering towerman for 20 years. He would travel with packhorse and spend the summer months at Mt. Nugong and the winter months at the family's farm at Ensay North. During his time at Mt. Nugong, he constructed a log and stone cabin on Bently Plains, 5km by road or 2.5km 'as the crow flies' from Mt. Nugong. The cabin is locally known as "Moscow Villa" and is equipped to accommodated approx. 20 people.
Nearby is an old steam engine know as "The Washington". It was used to haul timber up steep slopes with an array of flying foxes, steel cables and pulleys. All are still clearly visible today.
The old wooden tower blew down in a storm in 1974 and the current tower was built.
There used to be a small timber cabin at the tower with a fire place, water tank, drop toilet and a BBQ. (See 1989 thumbnail photo below)
Mt. Nugong lies above the snowline and is surrounded by snowgums. Views from the Gippsland Lakes (100km), Orbost, Bogong High Plains Mt. Hotham and Mt. Kosciusko can be obtained from Mt. Nugong.

Please click on thumbnails for enlargements

Original tower in 1952? Supplied by Noel Fraser

Mt. Nugong in 1958. Photo supplied by the Melbourne Walking Club (Robin Bailey)

Mt. Nugong second tower. Photo taken from Display Board at Moscow Villa by Andre Belterman in 2014

Athol Hodgson wrote an article on the Victoria's Forestry Heritage website about the building of the original tower. A transcript of the article can be found here. The link is no longer active.

Looking towards Swifts Creek Supplied by Dave Harvey	Looking towards Bairnsdale Supplied by Dave Harvey	Hut in 1989 Supplied by Rocky Marsden DSE	1998 supplied by David Turner DSE	2009 supplied by Matthew Brennan

Mt. Nugong was visited as part of the FLO end-of-fire-season-get-together in early May 2014. Photos supplied by Andre Belterman.