Johns Hill Lookout Reserve Dog Off Leash Area

84A Ridge Road, Kallista VIC, 3791


Johns Hill reserve is named after a Welsh settler by the name of John Johns, who purchased a property on the ridge above Menzies Creek in 1878. By the beginning of the 20th Century, his butter and cheese was well known in the district.

This site and the land all around is the traditional home of the Wurundjeri Willam people, the custodians of this land for thousands of years. The traditional lands stretch from the Werribee River in the West to Mt Baw Baw in the Great Dividing Range to the east and as far as Mt William in the north. To the south, the Wurundjeri lands border on those of the Bunurong people, who lived around Port Phillip and Westernport Bays, at Mordialloc Creek.

The Johns Hill trigonometric station is 419.6 metres above sea level. Surveyors Jack Mitchell and Jack Sherwood installed the survey tablet on the Johns Hill site on 21 December, 1944, and the steel beacon was erected over the tablet in 1953.

Observations taken from the trig station were used in the preparation of the Two Inch to One Mile topographical maps of the area, produced by the former Department of Crown Lands and Survey. Observations were taken to the Mount Paradise, Mount Beenak, Kennedy's Hill, Woori Yallock and Forest Hill trig stations, and these trig stations are visible from Johns Hill on a clear day.

Because of its prominence, the Johns Hill trig station is still used today to ensure compatibility with satellite positioning systems across Australia.

Map of Off Leash Area:

(Off leash area is shaded blue)

Review:

An isolated area with sloping ground which is a trig station and provides some decent views to the nearby water reservoirs. There are two unshaded tables but no water tap. A rough track leads from the top down to the bottom of the hill and back up to the top again. The main area is cut grass but there are some trees along the edges set in long grass.