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About Mount Arapiles
Mount Arapiles is a spectacular feature, rising sharply from the Wimmera plains to form part of the Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park.The park includes Mitre Rock, adjacent to Mount Arapiles and the Tooan block.The 5,060 hectare park is valuable for nature conservation, with about 14% of the State's flora species represented in the Mount Arapiles section alone.
For thousands of years, an Aboriginal clan inhabited the area around what is currently known as Mount Arapiles but they were displaced by European settlement. Some of their descendents still live in the area, and there are a number of archeological sites. Explorer Major Sir Thomas Mitchell was the first European to see Mount Arapiles. On the 23rd July 1836, he climbed to the summit and named it after a hill of the same name in Spain.
Most of the Arapiles plateau is covered by low, open forest of Long-leaved Box in association with some Buloke and White Cypress Pine. Below the plateau, yellow gum woodland is found. Throughout the park, wildflowers present a colourful display during spring. About 500 species of native plants occur in the park, including several such as Rock Wattle and Skeleton Fork-fern which are rare or endangered.