Etna Lookout - QLD

This view looks over the open plains south west of Hughenden towards Mount Etna Station, with the Hughenden - Winton Road receding into the distance. The landscape is typified by extensive black soil pasturelands of several Flinders and Mitchell grass species that thrive on the red and black basalt below. The undulating landscape of the Mitchell Grass Downs features the kind of predominantly treeless plains that are evident from this lookout. Generally, the area features heavy, cracking, black/brown clay soils that are the result of both swamps and ancient alluvial deposits laid down in earlier geological eras. The heavy clay lying beneath these grasslands contracts, and is believed to be the main reason why there is little tree growth. The various grass species, however, are perfect for the Mitchell Grass Downs region as they have widespread root systems which make the grasses resistant to fire or prolonged drought. This kind of heavy, cracking soil is also ideal for a range of reptiles, grassland birds and small marsupials. Aboveground, there are few tree-dwelling birds or vertebrate species because there is so little shelter available; instead, it is the cracks and gaps in the heavy clay soil that provides a home for snakes, rare skinks and small carnivorous marsupials. During rainy periods, these cracks in the soil become waterlogged, ideal for the growth cycle of a large number of burrowing frogs.