The views from the summit are impressive: east to Red Hill and Isaacs Ridge, north to Scrivener Dam and Mt Painter and the Belconnen hills, northeast beyond the Captain Cook memorial water jet towards Mount Ainslie and Mount Majura, and west over Cooleman Ridge to the Brindabellas.
While the fire damaged or destroyed many of the hill’s trees, it also stimulated growth, particularly of eucalypts and casuarinas, and parts of the lower slopes are now heavily timbered.
The grasslands and timbered slopes provide habitat for a large number of small to medium-sized birds common to the Canberra region.
Oakey Hill has a resident population of eastern grey kangaroos and provides a corridor for fauna travelling through the Canberra Nature Reserve.
A low ridge extends southwards to Mt Taylor (856 metres above sea level) and this separates the Woden Valley from Weston Creek.
The rocks on Oakey Hill are remnants of volcano activity in the Middle Silurian period and are part of the Deakin Volcanics, the series of lava flows that cover much of the southern half of Canberra.
This galvanised local residents who, together with Environment ACT rangers, explored options for ongoing practical conservation work.
Since the bushfires, many fire-adapted species such as casuarina (Allocasuarina verticillata) and the native black cypress pine (Callitris endlicheri) have recovered strongly.