Allan Cunningham left Segenhoe Station in the Hunter Valley on 30th April 1827, and discovered the Darling Downs (along Glengallan Creek) on the 5th June. He climbed Mt. Dumaresq, and then entered the valley of Swan Creek (which he called Logan’s Vale). He established a camp on Swan Creek about 3.2km above Swanfels where he remained for six days.
On 11th June, he climbed to within about 2 miles of Spicer’s Peak, and was able to see through the hollows in the Dividing Range to the country east of the Range, taking bearings on Mt. Warning and Flinders Peak. He also noticed a gap in the Dividing Range to the north-east. He sent two men to examine this gap, and they returned with a favourable report as to the possibility of constructing a road through it. Cunningham then returned to Sydney, but when he visited Brisbane Town in 1828, his main ambition was to reach this gap and verify its suitability as a pass to the Downs.
Referencing
John Gladstone Steele (1983). The Explorers of the Moreton Bay District, 1770-1830. University of Queensland Press(Australia).