Lawn Hill, also called Boodjamulla National Park, is one of the remotest and most beautiful outback national parks in Queensland. After hours of driving along dusty dirt roads and endless dry country of Gulf Savannah, it’s great to arrive in this green oasis. The Lawn Hill Gorge is a beautiful place to kayak, and around it are some excellent bushwalks with views over the gorge and surrounding landscape. Here is some information about this national park, and in the end of the page is accommodation and a map.
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Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Geology of Lawn Hill National Park When it comes to geology, Lawn Hill is one of the most interesting national parks in Queensland. Lawn Hill Creek has carved a deep gorge into ancient sandstone. Brown sandstone in the eastern parts of the gorge dates back to the times of stromatolites, the oldest known life forms in the fossil record. Grey limestone in upper parts of the gorge holds fossils from the much-later ‘Cambrian explosion’, which saw the sudden development of many animal species. Lawn Hill Creek is fed by freshwater springs from the limestone plateau to the west. As its turbulent, calcium-rich waters tumble through The Cascades, they leave an impressive deposit - growing at a rate of 2.5 cm per year, these are some of the most extensive formations in Australia of the rough, porous rock known as tufa.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Plants of Lawn Hill National Park Lawn Hill National Park also covers some different habitats. Open woodlands support spinifex, turkey bush and native gardenia, while Mitchell grass, whitewood and western bloodwood cover the open grasslands. Eucalypts, acacias and grevilleas grow on the ancient sandstone hills of Constance Range. Island Stack, the highest hill in the park, rewards a steep climb with beautiful views of the gorge.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Animals of Lawn Hill National Park Lawn Hill is a great place to watch Australian animals. In the afternoon, kangaroos, wallabies and echidnas begin to move around. Common reptiles include freshwater turtles and crocodiles, olive pythons (Liasis olivaceus) and the little ta-ta lizard (Amphibolurus gilberti) that stands perfectly still as it poses for a photo. Birdwatching is also great, with red crimson finches (Neochmia phaeton), galahs (Eolophus roseicapillus) and large red-tailed black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus banksii) and blue-winged kookaburras (Dacelo leachii), which are found only in northern Australia. They are more colourful and slightly smaller than their more common relatives, Laughing Kookaburras.
History of Lawn Hill National Park Lawn Hill is the land of Waanyi Aboriginal people, known as Boodjamulla, who lived here for a long time and left behind some shell middens and some good examples on Aboriginal rock painting that you can discover on the Wild Dog Dreaming bushwalk. Later, in the 1800s, pastoral pioneers turned Lawn Hill into a cattle station, and so it remained until 1984, when it was declared a national park.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Northern Bushwalks There are 20km of bushwalks in the park today. Just north of the central picnic area is a short walk (2km return) to the Cascades, where you can discover the tufa rock and have a dip in the cool water. Not far from it is Island Stack (4km return) – the steepest walk in the park, but the views from the top of it are great. There is a walk around the top (1.7km circuit) with different views of the area and the gorge. Further north is Wild Dog Dreaming (4.5km return), which takes you to some Aboriginal rock painting shelters as was mentioned above.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Constance Range Walk Another great walk in this northern side of the park is the walk to Constance Range (4km return). It goes up to the hill top of the range where you have some great views of the surrounding are and the road that leads to the park entrance.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Southern Bushwalks There are two walks south of the central picnic area. A shorter, 3.8km return walk goes to the beautiful Indarri Falls, and a longer, 7km return walk goes all the way to the upper gorge through some different vegetation, and on the top of the cliffs there are some best views of the Lawn Hill gorge.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Canoeing the Lawn Hill Gorge But the best way to discover the Lawn Hill Gorge is by canoe. There is a canoe hire not far from the central picnic ground, and a canoe trip along the gorge on the emerald green water between the red rock walls is just great. Freshwater turtles are basking on the rocks, and if you are lucky, you can see some freshwater crocodiles.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Riversleigh Fossil Field - Ancient Megafauna If you are into fossils, south of Lawn Hill Gorge is a different section of this national park. It’s the internationally renown Riversleigh Fossil Field, one of the richest and most extensive fossil deposits in the world. Thanks to the calcium carbonate in the limestone outcrops, the fossils of ancient megafauna such as marsupial lions, carnivorous kangaroos and huge pythons have perfectly preserved and some are as old as 25 million years.
Where to Camp and How to Get to Lawn Hill National Park There is a national parks camping ground in the Lawn Hill National Park, but you have to book with the EPA, and the campers numbers are limited. Would that camping ground be booked out, you can stay at Adels Grove Camping Park 30km away from the park. It’s a great camping ground and there is also other kind of accommodation, a restaurant and a shop. You can drive to Lawn Hill from Camooweal or Mount Isa, but the road is not sealed all the way. The best road goes from Cloncurry to Burke and Wills Junction and Gregory Downs, but the last part of it, after Gregory Downs, is still unsealed.
Here's an Australian outback map showing the Lawn Hill area. 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.
Visit to my Granma Home.
Hi my name is Dianne R Callope, I am a grandaughter of Jessica Shadfoth, who is a decendednt of Lawn Hill. I was doing my certificate of Aboriginal & Torres ...
NOTE: This website is written in British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all correct in the language used in Australia.
