In May 1907, Professor W. C. Kernot informed a somewhat startled audience at the Royal Geographic Society in Melbourne that less than 40 miles away was a mountain ``higher than any point in England, Wales or Ireland" whose existence was ``absolutely unknown to the public of Melbourne".

He claimed the mountain was not shown on any map of Victoria, even though it was much higher than Mounts Macedon and Dandenong.

Professor Kernot was referring to Mount Donna Buang at Warburton. He himself had climbed to the summit but it was not easy for anyone to follow suit as the mountain was covered with dense ash forest.

Following logging tracks, the easiest way to walk in a forest only took you to the lower slopes. Logs cut on the higher slopes were roped to a pair of wheels and rumbling down to the mill on a series of inclines or timber tracks.

A track from Warbuerton was blazed in 1911, and the round trip took about seven hours.

Tourist trips to the mountain began in earnest from 1912 for foot and horse traffic, when bridle paths were cut from Warburton, Healesville and Marysville.

Warburton was a two-hour train journey from Spencer Street, so a day trip to the top was possible if you hired a horse in the township to ride to the summit. A primitive timber lookout at the top gave spectacular views as far to the Victorian Alps in one direction and Port Phillip Bay in the other.

In 1912, a new Marysville to Donna Buang Horse Track was cut via Acheron Gap, Mt Ritchie, Mt Stricklanhd, and Keppell's Lookout. This track passed along the O'Shannassry watershed and a waterfall on Deep Creek cascading to a depth of 220 ft.

In the 1920s, there was a further boost to tourism when motorized vehicles were able to make the journey and it became a popular day trip destination for the citizens of Melbourne.