Much harder to find are reminders of the ancient residence of the Dja Dja Wurrong people and signifiers of the presence of Chinese gold-seekers who stayed to maintain a large market garden on a site where Lake Daylesford has since been constructed. Silently surrounding the town, the extensive Wombat state forest reminds visitors that the neo-English landscape was carved out of magnificent old growth forest. Legend has it that massive old eucalypts were cut down and burnt atop Wombat Hill to make room for the botanical gardens that include some magnificent specimens of pines and conifers collected from around the globe into this museum of trees. While some of these specimens have been listed with the National Trust, logging of old growth areas in the Wombat forest has only recently been stopped.