Karijini National Park

KARIJINI NATIONAL PARK

Plunging gorges and cascading waterfalls, rich red ochre soil and cool waterholes best describe the Karijini.

Karijini (formerly Hamersley Range) National Park is the second largest national park in WA. A party led by explorer FT Gregory explored the area in 1861. He named the Hamersley Range, on which the park is centred, after his friend Edward Hamersley. Karijini National Park protects many different wildlife habitats, landscapes, plants and animals of the Pilbara. Wildflowers vary with the seasons. In the cooler months the land is covered with yellow-flowering cassias and wattles, northern bluebells and purple mulla-mulla. After rain many plants bloom profusely.

It is also home to a variety of birds, red kangaroos and euros, rock-wallabies, echidnas and several bat species. Geckos, goannas, dragons, legless lizards, pythons and other snakes are abundant. Huge termite mounds are a feature of the landscape and the rock piles of the rare pebble mound mouse may be found in spinifex country.In the north of Karijini National Park, small creeks hidden in the rolling hillsides-dry for most of the year-suddenly plunge into sheer-sided chasms up to 100 metres deep. These are the Park's famous gorges. They are spectacular but can be extremely dangerous. These canyons offer adventurers some amazing scenery, exhilarating hikes and swimming in breathtaking crystal clear waterholes. In Dales Gorge, a stream, pools, waterfalls, and ferns contrast with the red, terraced cliffs weathered by centuries of exposure. The occasional snappy gum can be seen perched on rocky ledges. But every gorge is different, and each one is worth a visit. At Oxer Lookout, the junction of Weano, Red, Hancock and Joffre Gorges, tiers of banded rock tower over a pool at the bottom of the gorge. To explore these gorges you must be fit and prepared to submerge in near-freezing water, follow narrow paths and cling to rock ledges.

 

The Park is the traditional home of the Banyjima, Kurrama and Innawonga Aboriginal people. The Banyjima name for the Hamersley Range is Karijini. Evidence of their early occupation dates back more than 20,000 years. During that period, Aboriginal land management practices such as 'fire stick farming', resulting in a diversity of vegetation types and stages of succession, have helped determine the nature of the plants and animals found in the park today.

Our adventures which include Karijini are: