Litchfield National Park

Litchfield National Park is a great place to visit.
The 1500-sq-km Litchfield is famous for its beautiful waterfalls, sandstone pillars of the Lost City and the gigantic mounds of magnetic termites.
But the park also contains excellent examples of most of the vegetation types of the Top End of the Northern Territory.

Great way to visit Litchfield from Darwin:

DAY TRIP FROM DARWIN

FOUR-DAY KAKADU, KATHERINE AND LITCHFIELD FROM DARWIN








Vegetation: Grevilleas, Banksia Flowers and Gum Trees
Litchfield National Park lies on a sandstone plateau covered by tropical woodlands with banksias, grevilleas, Darwin Stringybark (Eucalyptus tetrodonata) and Darwin Wollybutt (Eucalyptus miniata). Floodplains support many plant species and in the gorges created by waterfalls grow monsoon rainforests.


Wangi Falls by Trevor_Page via Flickr.com

Animals and Birds in Litchfield National Park
Animals that are found in the park include agile wallabies, northern brushtail possums, sugar gliders, dingos and black flying foxes. Litchfield also has a rich birdlife with many species of parrots, cockatoos and honeyeaters, dollarbirds, rainbow bee-eaters, jabirus and magpie geese.


Magnetic termite mounds. by loop_oh via Flickr.com

Cathedral and Magnetic Termite Mounds
Magnetic termites build their mounds thin and facing roughly east-west, to avoid exposure to the hot midday sun, and cathedral termites build them huge, up to 6m high. There is a field of magnetic termite mounds about 17km drive from the park entrance.


Termite mounds by mikecogh via Flickr.com

Florence Falls and Buley Rockhole
Further sout heast along the main drive is the turnoff to Florence Falls and Buley Rockhole, both nice swimming spots. There is a short 3km walk (Florence Creek Walk) between them, if you want to walk it, it is recommended that you park at Florence Falls as parking is restricted at Buley. Another, shorter walk – the 1km Shady Creek Walk that starts at Florence Falls picnic area takes you to the tropical woodland and cool monsoon forests. You can camp both at Florence Falls and Buley Rockhole.


Florence Falls. by Trevor_Page via Flickr.com

Tolmer Falls and Greenant Creek
Further south-east is Tolmer Falls, and the 1.6km Tolmer Falls Walk which goes along the Tolmer Creek to the sandstone country typical to the Top End. Because of a rare species of bats living here, swimming is not permitted. South-east from Tolmer Falls is Greenant Creek and a 2.7km walk that climbs up to Tjaetaba Falls Lookout. There is no camping at Tolmer Falls or Greenant Creek.


Buley Rockholes. by brewbooks via Flickr.com

Wangi Falls and Walker Creek
North-east from here are Wangi Falls, and a 1.6km walking track which takes you through monsoon forests to a viewing platform at the base of the falls and then to the top of the escarpment above the falls. North of Wangi Falls, along the same drive, is a 3.5km walk up to Walker Creek, great for a cool swim. There are camping sites both at Wangi Falls and Walker Creek.


Wangi Falls. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy.

Lost City, Sandy Creek and Surprise Creek
The rest of the places in the Litchfield National Park are reached by unsealed roads. In the southern parts of the park, gravel roads take you to the Lost City, Sandy Creek and Surprise Creek. At the Sandy Creek there is a 3.4hrs walking track that passes a hillside with cycads before it goes to a pool nice for a swim. The Lost City consists of  eroded sandstone pillars - some of Australia's strange rock formations.


The Lost City. by SplaTT via Flickr.com

Tours and Where to Stay in Litchfield National Park
There are one day tours that take you here from Darwin, as well as four day tours that combine Litchfield, Kakadu National Park and Katherine. A place to stay is the Latitude 1308 Safari Tents and Cabins north of Wangi Falls. You can also camp in the bush but all bushcamping has to be booked with Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory. If you want to walk the 39-km Circuit Tabletop Track, you may want to get the map and more information from the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory.


The Lost City. by SplaTT via Flickr.com

Here's a map of Litchfield National Park, where I have tagged the places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.

 
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