Nowra businesses agreed to close at 11am on the day of the opening.

People flocked from districts on all sides of the mountains in their buggies and sulkies.

Coach operators provided a service but some of the parties walked the last leg of the journey.

With the Lands Minister unavailable, State Member for Allowrie and fellow trustee Mark F. Morton, performed the opening ceremony.

The speeches may have been lost on many of the 500 or more people however as they continued to enjoy their picnics on the reserve, armed with field glasses and telescopes to take in the views.

Roderick McGregor, a teacher at Cambewarra Public School from 1873 to 1886 was one of the first to recognise potential of the site as a lookout.

He was renowned for taking those interested to the peak where they used his telescope to advantage.

At the suggestion of the Shoalhaven Progress Association, trustees were appointed to look after the mountaintop reserve around 1903, but with no funding available, they soon became inactive.

Newspaperman Henry Rauch regularly raised the issue with Mark Morton, who secured a 150 pound grant and applied for another 100 pounds to clear and fence a portion of the 15 acres and erect a weather shed.

A Lands Department surveyor visited the side over a weekend in May 1909 and there was some liaison between the shire and the government.

One subject was the road to the summit, and although shire engineer Arthur Stilwell favoured the approcach from the north, council finally decided on the route from the south.

It was the cheaper option for council used day labour, not as steep, and would be more convenient for those travelling from Moss Vale to Nowra.

Shire president Henry Graham and Cr James Lumsden were each authorised to spend 20 pounds in clearing trees and parts of the lookout reserve.