Karijini (formerly Hamersley Range) National Park is renowned for its
spectacular mountains, gorges, water- courses and plateaux. It's the second largest national
park in Western Australia and one of the most
spectacular of Australia's parks. Situated just north of the Tropic of Capricorn, about
1.435 km north of Perth on the Great Northern Highway,
and 60 Km from Tom Price. The park's climate is tropical semi-desert, a highly variable,
mainly summer rainfall of 250–350 mm, often associated with thunderstorms and
cyclones, is accompanied by temperatures frequently topping 40 degrees Celsius. The ideal
times to visit the park are late autumn, winter and early spring (from June to October).
Winter days are warm and clear, but nights are cold and sometimes frosty. Karijini
National Park protects many different wildlife habitats, landscapes, plants and animals of
the Pilbara. Wildflowers vary with the seasons.
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. The park boasts 50
varieties of Acacia, Eucalypts and Melaeluca in its gorges, 133 types of bird and 92
species of amphibians and reptiles. The rock that makes up the park's famous gorges was
part of the sea floor 2,500 million years ago, when the only forms of life on Earth were
bacteria and algae. The main attractions of the park are the gorges that cut deep into the Pilbara’s
north-facing escarpment, small creeks hidden in the rolling hillsides, dry for most of the
year, suddenly plunge into sheer-sided chasms up to 100 metres deep. They are spectacular
but can be extremely dangerous. Every gorge is different, and each one is worth a visit.
In Dales Gorge, a stream, pools, waterfalls, and
ferns contrast with the red, terraced cliffs weathered by centuries of exposure. 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.
A road of the park, Karijini National
Park, Western Australia.
Sunset at the Bush Camp in Karijini
National Park.
Map of the Karijini National Park area.
Map of the Karijini National Park,
Pilbara, Western Australia.
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