These National Parks are a trove of flora and fauna along with breathtaking scenic views.
For those that are lucky enough to be travelling around Oz fulltime or even if it’s just sneaky little weekend getaways from home, exploring these havens of wilderness is a must if you find yourself within cooee of one.
Listed here are our best picks covering all of Australia:
Kakadu National Park
Kakadu National Park is an enormous, biodiverse nature reserve in Australia’s Northern Territory. Kakadu, a world heritage site, isn’t just a national park but a living cultural land which is a link between the Aboriginal conservators and the realm they have tended for generations.
With terrain encompassing wetlands, rivers and sandstone escarpments, it’s home to some 2,000 plant species and abundant wildlife including birds, buffalo, turtles and saltwater crocs galore, not to mention the treasure trove of Aboriginal art sites dating to prehistoric times.
Lace up your boots and choose from more than 30 established walking trails throughout Kakadu and discover rainforests, thundering waterfalls, rocky gorges, serene swimming pools and the oldest Indigenous rock art in the world, learning about Aboriginal culture from the traditional owners, the Bininj / Mungguy people.
As much as the landscape is beautiful, the real magic of Kakadu is something intangible that will stay with you forever.
Freycinet National Park
Australia has so many incredible national parks but Freycinet, Tasmania, is definitely one of its best!
Located on the eastern coast of Tasmania, Freycinet National Park is famous for its crystal-clear water, pure white sands, pink granite mountain ranges and of course, the perfectly rounded coastal beach of Wineglass Bay. This is one of Tasmania’s most celebrated views and certainly a place worthy of a stop on any Tassie travel route.
Enjoy the short and long walks along the trails and sunbathe at the pretty beaches for hours. Relax in total bliss as your eyes soak in the blues of the turquoise oceans stretching for miles together.
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park may be remote, found on the edge of the red centre’s Western Desert region some 460km southwest of Alice Springs and 250km from the Stuart Highway, but it’s still Australia’s most popular attraction. And with good reason. The Park is most famous for the enormous monoliths it’s named after. Uluru and Kata Tjuta rise from the earth in all their red glory just 30 kilometres from each other.
If you are lucky enough to visit the Red Centre, take the time to soak up the natural beauty and rich culture of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. From mind-blowing rock formations to endless vistas, from soaring domes to unbelievable crevices and rock art paintings, the walking tracks littered throughout are the ideal way to discover the hidden features of the park.
After spending a few days here you’ll understand the appeal of its natural beauty and spirit…It’s magnetic.
Kosciuszko National Park
Kosciuszko National Park nestles into the high country of south-eastern New South Wales the Park is named after Mount Kosciuszko, which at 2,228 metres is Australia’s highest mountain. This is Australia’s alpine region, and the landscape includes a vast swathe of high tops, wild forested slopes and alpine streams
Kosciuszko is a true winter sports destination with the Main Range receiving reliable winter snowfalls. Outside of the snow season the same areas offer fantastic walking and mountain biking trails. There are heritage-listed huts to visit and camp at, caves to explore, waters to paddle and Snowy Mountains brumbies to spot.
Kosciuszko is home, unsurprisingly, to some of the best alpine hiking in Australia. The Park is a destination for all hikers wanting to explore Australia’s high peaks, and being so close together, can all be explored over a few days. The many walking tracks will take through the high country, over mountains as well as along the shores of the mountain streams, or even take your own off-track explorations.
Great Sandy National Park
Set to the north of Brisbane and sitting pretty in between Noosa Heads and Rainbow Beach, Great Sandy National Park offers some amazing scenery , it’s the perfect place to be introduced to the mesmerising landscape that characterises this part of Australia.
In Cooloola, Great Sandy National Park, you can experience the majesty of nature’s sculpture in sand. Massive dunes, towering cliffs of coloured sands and wide ocean beaches have been etched by wind and water. Tall forests, fragrant wildflower heaths and paperbark swamps decorate the sands. Water features abound, including surf, freshwater lakes, rivers.
There are a plentiful number of pretty hiking trails that weave through the rainforest scenery and along coastal paths. You can wander to historic highlights, like the Double Island Point lighthouse, or pack a tent and make the most of the adventurous Cooloola Wilderness Trail.
Cradle Mountain – Lake St Clair National Park
Iconic Cradle Mountain is a place of exceptional natural beauty in the heart of the Tasmanian Wilderness Worls heritage Area. From moss-covered ancient rainforests and deep river gorges to snow-covered mountain peaks, wild alpine moorlands and glacial lakes, the park is revered for its diverse and breath-taking landscapes.
Wildlife is in abundance in this spectacular national park, giving opportunity to meet Tasmanian devils, quolls, platypus, echidna, wombats and the highly inquisitive black currawong.
The Park offers a world-class system of walking tracks to explore that ranges from very short easy strolls to the legendary Overland Track a 6 day hike through Tasmania’s alpine heart. Even if hiking boots and backpacks aren’t your thing, you will find it hard to resist the lure of the well-formed tracks that lead you to surprising discoveries. Whichever way you look at it, the magic of Cradle Mountain is bound to captivate.
Daintree National Park
Daintree National Park borders The Great Barrier Reef and is comprised of two sections— Mossman Gorge and Cape Tribulation. The crystal-clear waters of the Mossman River cascade over granite boulders in Mossman Gorge while Cape Tribulation features rainforest-clad mountains that sweep down to long sandy beaches.
The Daintree Rainforest is believed to be one of the oldest in the world with unique plants and animals found nowhere else, a Paradise for bird-watchers and nature-lovers a like
If you like the sound of rambling through ancient rainforests, wandering along palm-fringed beaches and clambering around tropical islands, not to mention, spotting impressive wildlife, then this is the Park for you. There are many great walks in the Daintree Cape Tribulation area ranging from easy breezy walks to longer more adventurous tracks that will take you days to conquer.
Nambung National Park
Home to the famous Pinnacles Desert, a 2 hours’ drive north of Perth, Nambung National Park is one of Western Australia’s most unique natural attractions. The Pinnacles of Nambung National Park are natural limestone pillars rising from the shifting yellows sands, dating back 25,000-30,000 years.
While the fascinating structures themselves are the main attraction here, the Pinnacles Desert and Nambung National Park is also known for its beautiful beaches at Kangaroo Point and Hangover Bay, coastal dune systems and low heathland rich in flowering plants.
Wildlife is not abundant, but it is there if you look hard or are just lucky enough to spot something. Kangaroos and emus are the most commonly seen animals, with black cockatoos, bobtails, dingos, possum, red fox, and sand goannas being other possible sightings.
Meandering about the pinnacles and the serene lunar-like ecosystem is all part of the adventure in this part of Western Australia. The majority of hiking is easy because the terrain is fairly flat and easy to navigate. Much of the hiking is freely amongst the pinnacles.
Port Campbell National Park
Port Campbell National Park situated along the Victorias Great Ocean Road, taking in 1,750 hectares of lush greenery and wild seascapes. The Park is world famous for its extraordinary collection of wave-sculpted rock formations carved out by the wild Southern Ocean and also the Twelve Apostles.
Loch Ard Gorge, site of a 19th century shipwreck ‘Loch Ard’, as well as the Island Archway and London Bridge are other highlights. The Island Archway collapsed in 2009, highlighting the fragile and ever-changing nature of Victoria’s coastline.
The Great Ocean Road gives you a great introduction to Shipwreck Coast, as its affectionately known, allowing you to get an overview of the scenery on display, or better yet, take a hike up to the cliff tops and walk around the grasslands soaking in sights of the stunning flora and fauna of southern Australia
Karijini National Park
Karijini National Park is an iconic, unspoiled nature-based destination offering a unique and diverse landscape and an unforgettable West Australian outback experience. It is famous for its spectacular gorges, towering sheer sided chasms up to 100 metres deep, dramatic waterfalls, creeks, waterholes and colours ranging from rocks that are pindan red-orange to deep blue-purple and jade green water.
This is an ancient part of the Earth. The slow process of erosion has carved the shape of the land out of rocks that are 2.5 billion years old to form this intriguing landscape and complex ecology. Karijini National Park protects many different wildlife habitats, landscapes, plants and animals of the Pilbara region.
There is also an amazing network of walking trails, ranging from easy to challenging, that wind through some of Australia’s most awesome scenery.
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