Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park
- Introduction
- Fact file
- A look at the past
- Aboriginal culture
- Natural features
- Native plants
- Wildlife
- NQIS (07) 3227 8185
- Park ranger (07) 4748 5572
- QPWS Mt Isa (07) 4744 7888
- WATCH for the jet spray of archerfi sh as they attempt to catch insects
- SEE Aboriginal rock art on the Wild Dog Dreaming track and look out for freshwater crocodiles in the waters of the lower gorge
- HIRE a canoe and paddle up the emerald-green waters of Lawn Hill Creek
- LEARN about the extraordinary fossils at Riversleigh D Site on the self-guided trail
Introduction
In Queensland’s arid far north-west lies a place of such unexpected and arresting beauty that its remoteness appears to be no impediment to travellers. Lawn Hill Gorge, with its multicoloured sandstone cliffs towering over a palm-fringed, emerald-green river, is the oasis-like centrepiece of Boodjamulla National Park. Formerly known as Lawn Hill National Park, Boodjamulla is one of Queensland’s largest parks and one of the most scenic, with creeks and waterholes lined with lush tropical vegetation. Essentially a wilderness area, much of the park is inaccessible to visitors except for the magnifi cent gorge and its immediate surrounds. The Riversleigh section to the south-east protects internationally significant fossil deposits. If possible avoid visiting the park in the wet season from October to March. Heavy rains can cause dramatic rises in creek levels and you may fi nd yourself stranded for several days. This is a remote area with limited communication and you must be self-sufficient and carry an excess of fuel, food and water.
Fact file
Access
From Burketown or Mt Isa, to Lawn Hill Gorge, is via unsealed roads that can be extremely rough in dry conditions and impassable after rain; 4WD recommended; 2WD and van access is best via Cloncurry and Gregory Downs
Best Season
April to October; summer is hot and wet
Location
340 km north-west of Mt Isa (to Lawn Hill Gorge); 220 km south-west of Burketown; 425 km north-west of Cloncurry; Riversleigh is 51 km from the gorge
Park Information
Permits
Camping permit and fees apply; bookings essential April to October
Size
388 334 ha
Where to Stay
Adels Grove (07) 4748 5502
Burketown (07) 4745 5111
A look at the past
The park has a long pastoral history. The Gulf region has been home to vast cattle stations since the mid-1800s, with the most famous of the area’s cattle kings being pastoralist and explorer Frank Hann, and more recently Brazilian-born Sebastiao Maia. In the late 1800s, Hann’s huge 9000-square-kilometre property was known as the Lawn Hill Riversleigh Pastoral Holding Company. After a run of very bad seasons, Hann walked off the station and overlanded to Western Australia in search of more suitable country. His wanderings in the interior and north-west of that state are legendary and many outback features in Western Australia bear his name.In 1976 Maia took over the lease of Lawn Hill station. Having grown to 11 000 square kilometres, it was one of the largest cattle stations in Queensland. In 1984, Maia surrendered 12 200 hectares of his Lawn Hill holding to the government for a national park. In 1992 the park was extended to include Riversleigh World Heritage Area.
Aboriginal culture
Boodjamulla is an area rich in Aboriginal culture and the original inhabitants have left an impressive legacy in the form of mussel middens, stone relics and rock art. The Waanyi people have lived in the gorge area for at least 17 000 years and know this place as Boodjamulla, or the country of the rainbow serpent. The serpent created the land and, to keep his skin wet, also formed the permanent springs that flow into the creek. In the past, the people lived in rock shelters during the wet months and camped along the watercourses during the dry season. They travelled short distances in canoes crafted from paperbark, the men hunting and fishing and the women collecting edible plants and fruit. Lawn Hill Gorge is considered a sacred place, used by the Indigenous people for ceremonial and celebratory purposes only. Today, the Waanyi help manage the park.
Natural features
Boodjamulla National Park lies on the ancient sandstone plateau of the Constance Range, its escarpment rising 100 metres above the surrounding grass-covered plains. This is the eastern extremity of the Barkly Tablelands. Into the escarpment, the Lawn Hill Creek has carved a spectacular 60-metre-high ravine. Lawn Hill Gorge, with its permanent spring-fed creek and lush vegetation, is an extraordinary sight in this vast landscape of parched plains. In the south-east, the beautiful Gregory River, which winds through the Riversleigh section of the park, and the O’Shannassy River, also fl ow year-round. The highland plains to the north-west of the gorge are a remote wilderness area, inaccessible by public roads. The World Heritage-listed Riversleigh Fossil Mammal Site protects an environment dating back 25 million years. Preserved in limestone outcrops are mammalian fossils – including creatures such as giant snakes and carnivorous kangaroos – making this one of the richest fossil deposits in the world.
Native plants
This undulating plateau country is covered with tropical semiarid eucalypt woodlands, dominated typically by bloodwood and spinifex. Hardy acacias, grevilleas, native gardenia and turkey bush are also able to survive in the sandstone terrain and rocky hillsides. Fringing the waterways is wet riverine forest of pandanus, cluster figs, Leichhardt pine (Nauclea orientalis), tall Livistona palms and large paperbarks. The creek supports a range of aquatic plants such as waterlilies, ferns, mosses, sedges and bulrushes. Mitchell grass thrives on the plains.
Wildlife
Lawn Hill’s spring water and surrounding vegetation attract an abundance of native animals, such as kangaroos, wallabies and short-beaked echidnas. Here, too, you may see the rock ringtail possum, which prefers the shelter of rocks to the tree hollows favoured by other possum species. Boodjamulla is the most easterly range of this creature, which is most common around the East and South Alligator rivers of the Northern Territory and the Kimberley in Western Australia. The possum is nocturnal, venturing out at night when you might catch its very bright eyeshine in the glare of a spotlight. It has been recorded in the park feeding on the nuts and blossoms of the wingnut tree (Terminalia canescens). The park’s birdlife is varied and prolific, with more than 140 recorded species including rare purple-crowned fairy-wrens, white-browed robins, crimson finches, double-barred finches, great bowerbirds, rainbow and varied lorikeets and red-winged parrots. Nectar-eating birds such as honeyeaters abound, with species including the banded, yellow-tinted and rufous-throated. Waterbirds drawn to Lawn Hill Creek include great egrets and cormorants, while the darter, with its snake-like kinked neck, is often sighted drying its outstretched wings in the sun. Non-venomous olive pythons and the small ‘arm-waving’ Gilbert’s dragon (also known as the tata lizard because of its arm gestures) are among the reptiles that reside in the rocky habitats of the area. The creek is home to red-bellied short-necked turtles, northern snapping turtles, frogs, and fish with extraordinary names such as bony bream, long toms, black-striped grunters and sooty grunters. A jet spray shooting out of the creek will be a spotted archerfish spitting for its supper, as it attempts to knock insects down onto the surface of the water. Freshwater crocodiles also live in the creek and swimmers need to be wary despite the general assumption that these creatures are harmless. They can be aggressive if disturbed when mating or guarding their young (see guidelines for being crocodile-wise, page 345).
Featured Activities in the National Park
Introduction
The major attractions of Boodjamulla are camping, bushwalking, canoeing and wildlife-watching. Visitors may swim in the middle and upper sections of the gorge but these waters are also inhabited by freshwater crocodiles (see crocodile warning above). While generally considered to be harmless these creatures are best left alone. Fishing is not permitted in Lawn Hill Creek.
Bushwalking
There are 20 kilometres of walking tracks through the park, with several short and long trails in the Lawn Hill Gorge section. Both Rainbow Dreaming track (100 metres return, 10 minutes), accessible by canoe, and Wild Dog Dreaming track (4.5 km return, 1½ hours, easy) lead to Aboriginal rock-art shelters. The Wild Dog Dreaming track leads through the lower gorge where you are likely to see freshwater crocodiles. Island Stack track (4 km return, 2 hours, difficult), best tackled in the early morning to avoid the heat of the day, has a steep climb and descent but rewards with marvellous views from the top of the plateau. The Cascades Track (2 km return, 1 hour, easy) leads to pools and the chance to swim, and observe the interesting tufa formations (porous masses of mineral calcium carbonate deposited around the springs and, over time, forming natural dams). Indarri Falls track (3.8-km circuit, 1½ hours, medium difficulty), which has a steep descent, leads to a waterfall. Returning along the creek line watch out for birds – crimson finches and fairy-wrens are often flitting about the water’s edge. The longest of the trails is the Upper Gorge track (7 km return, 3½ hours, difficult), which has excellent views over the gorge; fit bushwalkers are advised to make an early-morning start on this hike. Away from the gorge, Constance Range track (4 km return, 3 hours, medium difficulty) offers beautiful views, which are at their best at sunrise or sunset (take a torch).
Canoeing/kayaking/boating/sailing
Hire a canoe near the campsite or take your own for a paddle through the emerald-green waters of Duwadarri Waterhole in the upper reaches of Lawn Hill Gorge, a distance of up to 6 kilometres return. This is an exhilarating yet peaceful way to study the flora and fauna of the gorge environment. Canoeing is not permitted in the Cascades area or at the Lower Gorge.
Fishing
At the Riversleigh section of the park, fishing is allowed in the Gregory River and anglers can try for barramundi, perch, cod, catfish and more; bag and size limits apply. Contact Queensland Fisheries (07) 3404 6999, 13 2523 or visit their website (www.dpi.qld.gov.au/fishweb) for details. Visitors are not allowed to fish in the waters of Lawn Hill Creek.
Fossil fields
The fossil fi elds of Riversleigh, still within the park, are one hour’s drive south of Lawn Hill Gorge. At Riversleigh’s D Site there is an information shelter, toilets and a short, self-guided interpretive trail (800-metre loop, 2 hours, easy). You will not see a great deal here, apart from some indistinguishable pieces of bone fragment protruding from the limestone rocks, and nothing should be disturbed or taken from the site. For a better understanding of the mammal and marsupial fossil discoveries here you can take a guided tour (regular tours depart from Adels Grove). If possible, a visit to the Riversleigh Fossils Interpretive Centre in Mount Isa is worthwhile (see feature).
Campsites
Miymba camping area (bush camping)
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