Brown Hill Creek

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View of Brown Hill Creek

Brown Hill Creek, in South Australia, 34°59′S, 138°39′E, is one of several creeks (or streams) running in a generally west-north-west direction, draining the western watershed of the Mount Lofty Ranges.

The area around the mouth of Brown Hill Creek, where the suburb of Mitcham now exists, was known to the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains as Wirraparinga, meaning "creek and scrub place". After the proclamation of Adelaide on December 28, 1836, one of the earliest outlying communities to spring up was that of Mitcham, in 1840.

The dominating hill behind Mitcham is called Brown Hill, along with two other significant hills in the Adelaide hills face, Greenhill and Black Hill. It was grazed early on in the history of Adelaide's white settlement, and has since retained a cover of grass, with few trees or shrubs, thus appearing brown in summer, and green in winter. Perhaps this is where the name originates.

The creek valley behind the hill has contained some form of park for many years; a stone plaque declaring a "pleasure resort" from the early part of the 20th century still stands at the entrance to the valley. Today, there is a popular caravan park in the mouth of the valley, and a recreation reserve extending several kilometres up the main creek valley behind it. The upper reaches of the creek are utilised especially for market gardening, and also some pasture. In the 1870s, some of the upper gullies of the creek were considered as a possible location for a reservoir, to supply Adelaide's growing population with water. Thorndon Park reservoir was eventually built instead.

There is an old and very large hollow river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), known as the Monarch of the Glen, that survives today in the centre of the caravan park; its interior was partly burnt by adventurous Scouts many years ago, and it is now surrounded by a fence.