Kilcoy Queensland

Seventy-five kilometres north-west of Caboolture on the D’Aguilar Highway, Kilcoy lies just north of Lake Somerset at the base of the Conondale Range in Queensland. The area was opened up in 1841 by Scottish migrants who cleared land on the upper reaches of the Sandy and Kilcoy creeks to run beef and dairy cattle. Timber felling and milling was also important in the early development of the town, which was established in the 1890s. Kilcoy is noted for its well-preserved Queenslander homes and their immaculate garden surrounds. You can sip the fruit of the grape at local wineries, while the Jimna State Forest summons the 4WD pack. The spectacular Glasshouse Mountains and Maleny, business centre for the Blackall Range communities are a short drive away. The range villages have become popular weekend retreats for Brisbanites and perennial targets for browsers on the antique, craft and collectible trail.

Kilcoy is a small farming town (pop. 1,000) and the administrative centre of the Kilcoy Shire LGA in South East Queensland, Australia. The township lies on the D'Aguilar Highway, 94 km north west of the state capital, Brisbane, and just to the north of Lake Somerset. Kilcoy Shire covers an area of over 1442 square kilometres with a population of approximately 3200 (2001). Most residents of Kilcoy are employed servicing the surrounding pastoral area.

Kilcoy claims to be the home of the mythical Yowie, Australia's equivalent of Bigfoot or the Yeti, which is said to live in the hills around Kilcoy in Queensland. There is a large wooden statue of the creature in town. The last reported Yowie sighting in Kilcoy was in December 1979.

Scottish migrants opened up the area in the early 1840s and cleared land to run beef and dairy cattle. The first settler was Sir Evan Mackenzie, who named his landholding 'Kilcoy' after his family estate in Scotland. Timber felling and milling was also important in the early development of Kilcoy, which was founded in the 1890s.

The town itself was originally named 'Hopetown' but renamed 'Kilcoy' after the mail kept getting lost.