Rock Art
Tourism NT

Highlights

Nitmiluk National Park

The traditional home of the Jawoyn people, this park is world-renowned for its 13 stunning gorges, carved from red sandstone over a period of 20 million years. Visitors can navigate the gorges in canoes, take a boat tour with a Jawoyn guide, swim in the pools or explore the 100 km network of walking tracks.

Never Never country

Jeannie Gunn wrote We of the Never Never (1908) after living at Elsey Station. Now you can visit a faithful replica of Gunn’s home on the property of Mataranka Homestead. Nearby in Elsey National Park visitors can enjoy the Mataranka thermal pool, which pumps out 20 million litres of water daily.

Keep River National Park

This remote park includes the traditional land of the Miriwoong and Kadjerong people and contains many important rock-art sites, including the accessible Nganalam site. A major attraction is the rugged sandstone formations, similar to the Bungle Bungles over the Western Australian border. There are designated camping areas and good walking tracks.

Lost City

Part of Litchfield National Park, the Lost City is an eerie landscape of freestanding sandstone pillars rising from the plains and suggesting a long forgotten civilisation. While there is a great walk amongst the towering formations, access is for experienced four-wheel drivers only, but there’s always the much more civilised option of a helicopter ride from Cape Crawford.

Eastern frontiers

The area adjoining the Gulf of Carpentaria is popular with four-wheel-drive travellers seeking new frontiers. The main settlement, Borroloola, is central for barramundi anglers and offers access to the
waters around Barranyi (North Island) National Park.

Focus On: Barramundi fishing

Barramundi, Australia’s premier native sport fish, is nowhere as prolific or accessible to anglers as it is in the Northern Territory. There is good barra fishing along both east and west coasts. The rugged west features tropical wetlands and a network of waterways. Popular spots include the Daly River (known for the size of its barramundi and its fishing lodges), Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge), and Victoria River via Timber Creek. The numerous eastern rivers are smaller, with minimal tides but very clear water. Top spots east are Borroloola on the McArthur River and Roper Bar on the Roper River.