The wooden statue of the Yowie at Kilcoy

Kilcoy (including Woodford)
Rural service centre made famous by its claim to the home of the mythical Yowie.
Located 94 km northwest of Brisbane via the D'Aguilar Highway, 50 km west of Caboolture and 125 m above sea level, Kilcoy is a small and unassuming country town with a population a little over 1000 most of whom are employed servicing the surrounding pastoral area.

The first settler in the region was Sir Evan Mackenzie who arrived in 1841 and named his landholding 'Kilcoy' after his family estate in Scotland.

Mackenzie did not remain long on the property. He sold it in 1854 to Captain Louis Hope who built the Kilcoy Station Homestead (it is on private property and not open to the public) which is located 6 km northeast of Kilcoy and is listed by the National Trust.

About 20 km east of Kilcoy, along the road to Caboolture, is Woodford which now hosts one of Australia's largest music festivals: the Woodford Folk Festival, held each year between December 27 and New Year's Day.

Things to see:  

The Yowie
Kilcoy's rather dubious major attraction is a crude wooden statue of a very well endowed male yowie. It is worth noting that at regular intervals local humorists (and people who have been outraged) will come along and emasculate The Yowie so that he is penis-less quite regularly.

The shire's tourist brochure describes the yowie with a nice mixture of fact and humour (you can choose which is which): 'Reputed to be half-man half-beast, the Yowie is Australia's equivalent of the Himalayan Yetie or America's Big Foot and it appears in Aboriginal folk lore dating back thousands of years.

'Official statistics show that over 3 000 sightings were reported throughout Australia between 1975 and 1979.

'Several local timber cutters and farmers claim to have seen the creature in the hills around Kilcoy or have heard of it through legends that have been around for generations.

'Print and electronic media made much of the latest reported sighting in Kilcoy in December 1979. Two Brisbane school boys claim the monster stood just 20 metres from them while they were on a pig shooting expedition 4 km north of the town.

'They described the beast as being about 3 metres tall with a 'Kangaroo appearance' and covered in chocolate coloured hair. They said it took giant 'thumping' strides which could be heard for hundreds of metres.

'Following this incident the Shire Council commissioned a Birchwood statue to be carved and the artist's interpretation of the boy's description now stands tall in all his naked masculinity in Yowie Park beside the D'Aguilar Highway in Kilcoy.

'Visitors from around the world now pause in Yowie Park to picnic, photograph and ponder about the giant monster while others set off on a mammoth YOWIE HUNT!!!'

Somerset Dam
To the south of the town is the Somerset Dam which was started in 1935. It was first used to supplement Brisbane's water supply in 1943 and it was completed in 1959. It has a catchment area of 340 sq km and an area of 8 100 hectares. It extends 56 km upstream from the dam wall. The drive from Kilcoy to Esk around the foreshores of Lake Somerset is really delightful. There are many excellent viewing points and picnic places around the edge of the dam. See Esk for more details. There is also an attractive drive which can be taken by crossing over the river south of Somerset Dam and heading towards Wivenhoe.

Woodford and the Woodford Folk Festival
Located 21 km east of Kilcoy, along the road to Caboolture, is Woodford. Just out of town, on Woodrow Road, is the site which hosts one of Australia's largest music and lifestyle festivals. Held each year from December 27 to January 1, it attracts around 85,000 people and includes several hundred acts at 20 different venues, along with films, dance, street theatre, workshops, drum-ups, an indigenous programme, a truly spectacular closing ceremony on New Year's Eve, as well as hundreds of stalls selling food, clothing, crafts, musical instruments, and all things alternative (see www.woodfordfolkfestival.com).

The Australian Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Society is located in Margaret St, Woodford, tel: (07) 5496 1976.

	Motels
	Kilcoy Gardens Motor Inn CnrHope & Ethel Sts Kilcoy QLD 4515 Telephone: (07) 5497 1100 Facsimile: (07) 5497 1177 Rating: ***1/2
	Kilcoy Motel 6 William St Kilcoy QLD 4515 Telephone: (07) 5497 1433 Rating: ***1/2
	Hotels
	Exchange Hotel William St Kilcoy QLD 4515 Telephone: (07) 5497 1331
	Stanley Hotel 46 Mary St Kilcoy QLD 4515 Telephone: (07) 5497 1037
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Klah Rural Retreat 30 Greenhills Crt Kilcoy QLD 4515 Telephone: (07) 5498 1027 Facsimile: (07) 5498 1027 Rating: ****
	Cottages & Cabins
	Hunting Lodge Estate Winery Cabins 703 Mt Kilcoy Rd Kilcoy QLD 4515 Telephone: (07) 5498 1234 or 0418 725 102 Facsimile: (07) 5498 1025
	Restaurants
	Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant 46 Mary St Kilcoy QLD 4515 Telephone: (07) 5497 1711