Mount Cargill
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Mount Cargill is a 680 metre high volcanic outcrop which dominates the skyline of northern Dunedin, New Zealand. It is situated some 15 kilometres north of the city centre.
The peak is named for Captain William Cargill, an early leader of the Province of Otago. It is one of the youngest parts of the massive extinct shield volcano of which the Otago Harbour is the crater, and was formed some 10 million years ago.
Mount Cargill is topped by Dunedin's tallest structure, the 105 metre Mount Cargill television transmitter, which was completed in 1970.
From the summit, views can be obtained of the entire Dunedin urban area, as well as a considerable stretch of open countryside and much of Otago's coastline, from Shag Point near Palmerston to Nugget Point in The Catlins. Particularly notable is the view of the Otago Peninsula and Otago Harbour, the entire length of which can be seen from the summit.
To the northeast of Mount Cargill's peak are several smaller peaks including Mount Zion, Mount Holmes and (most notably) Buttar's Peak.
Maori legend tells of the mountain showing the profile of a prominent warrior, and indeed Buttar's Peak and Mount Cargill between them do form the outline of a reclining figure, with Buttar's Peak being the head and Mount Cargill the body.
A rough road provides vehicular access to the summit, and several walking tracks also lead to the top, notably a four kilometre walk from Bethune's Gully in North East Valley at the northern end of Dunedin's urban area. The tracks pass two significant points of interest. One of these is a prominent formation of columnar jointed basalt known as the Organ Pipes. The other is the small temperate cloud forest which dominates the vegetation of the upper slopes. Though not a true cloud forest, in that it is not tropical, it bears many of the hallmarks of true cloud forest, with abundant moss and fern cover under thick low canopy.
The cloud forest is protected within a 1.8 square kilometre reserve, which includes the peak of the mountain as well as several secondary peaks. Although the tracks are easy - if steep - care should be taken by walkers, as the weather conditions on Mount Cargill are notoriously unpredictable and can change very rapidly.
