Purnululu National Park

Purnululu National Park is a park in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. This far northeast part of the state is a long way from anywhere: the nearest town is Kununurra 300 km north. Purnululu is sometimes called "the Bungle Bungles" for its distinctive orange-and-grey rock domes, but these are just one locality in a very much larger park.

Understand

The Bungle Bungles

Purnululu derives from the Djaru Aboriginal term Bullmanlulu for this area. It's best known for the Bungle Bungle hills in the south of the park, the orange- and grey-striped beehive domes up to 250 m tall. The origin of that name is unclear but Billingjal is the Aboriginal name for the hills - it means "sand falling away" which is spot on, their surface is fragile. The north of the park doesn't have beehives but its surface is riven by deep canyons walled by bright sandstone.

History

About 360 million years ago a river flowed here into a broad plain, losing force and dropping its mineral-laden sand and gravel. In dry years the deposit was exposed to the air and its minerals rusted orange. In wet years a grey bacterial slime coated the deposit and kept out the air. Meanwhile Australia was colliding with tectonic plates to the north - this continues today, throwing up the volcanic ridge of Indonesia and triggering tsunamis. These ructions lifted the whole of Kimberley into a plateau, while the river deposits were compressed under later materials. Similar forces were at play in many parts of the world, creating distinctive red layers of Devonian sandstone. The difference is that elsewhere these are cemented by natural lime, especially from ancient shellfish, making a rock hard enough to use for building masonry. The Purnululu deposits lacked cement and remained loose. When later streams flowed, they quickly cut canyons and left the characteristic banded, beehive-shaped formations. Their surface is so friable that your fingers and boots will erode them, which is why you must stay on the marked trails, and not touch or climb on the rocks. Outlying formations are almost worn away while new ones are being born at the rim of the plateau.

In the Dreaming of the Gija Aboriginal people, ancestral spirit-creatures vied for control of this land and its waterholes; the losers huddle now as the Bungle Bungles. Europeans surveyed the area in the 19th century but were more interested in the land further north, which was ideal for western farming and within reach of a port. These upper catchments of the River Ord were again of interest in the 1950s when an irrigation scheme was conceived, but this too was constructed north downriver at Kununurra and Lake Argyle. It was only from the 1980s that Purnululu got onto the tourist map. It became a national park in 1987 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003.

Flora and fauna

Outlying domes are almost worn away, while new domes are born at the rim of the plateau

Much of the park consists of undulating, deep-red or yellow sandy plains scored by deep gullies, and overgrown with acacia and silver tree bushes, eucalyptus, spinifex and other grasses. Kapok bushes, Kimberley bauhinia, Kimberley heather and Grevillea species mix up the savannah with colour. You drive through 3 hours of this to reach the Visitor Centre, then another 2 hours to reach the Bungle Bungles, then beyond the end of the track it stretches away out to the shimmering horizon. It's a pristine, undeveloped landscape but in this respect not distinctive or unusual.

The plateau and domes are bare of vegetation, but have strips of green in the shady, watered canyons. Some of the plants here don't even have names yet, as they were so recently discovered. The fan palm (Livistona victoriae) is particularly eye-catching; it clings to walls and crevices in dangerously steep places, especially in the northwest. Some stand over 12 m high, while Mini Palms is a gorge carpeted with miniature specimens. Trees that cling to rocks with their roots include the rock fig, the milkwood tree and the dwarf tropical red box gum.

The park spans a boundary between tropical and arid zones, so species from both coexist: for instance the flat-toed kangaroo is tropical, the mountain kangaroo comes from stony dry climes, and the brown snake is adapted to both habitats. There are some 150 bird species, some distinctive such as spinifex pigeons and brightly coloured budgerigars. Others such as the nocturnal swallowtail, white-tipped pigeon, and brown-breasted fathead are well camouflaged against the rocks.

Climate

Kimberley has a monsoon climate, and the park is reliably accessible in the dry season May-Oct. Days average 30°C, dropping to 15°C at night. The park may be accessible April, Nov and Dec, depending on the rains. Once these set in, the swollen creeks make the tracks and hiking trails impassable, and the park closes.

1 Purnululu Visitor Centre, ☏ +61 8 9168 7300. Apr-Oct 8AM-noon, 1-4PM. Has information on the park and issues trail maps. It also sells cold drinks, ice, snacks and souvenirs. (updated Aug 2024)

Get in

Spring Creek Track branches off Great Northern Highway 250 km south of Kununurra. The unsealed, ungraded track is 53 km / 33 miles long and is only passable in the dry season by high-clearance 4WD vehicles. This brings you to the Ranger Station / Visitor Centre, reckon 3 hours, and you pay admission there. It's another 12 km to accommodation and an hour or two more to the main sights. Leave caravans in the rest area by the highway turnoff.

A day trip is just about possible but the park advise against. You'd finish by watching the sunset from the lookout then have to negotiate the return track for 3 hours in darkness to Spring Creek rest area.

There is no air service to the park. Fixed-wing aircraft make non-landing tours from Kununurra. Helicopter tours fly from Bellburn airstrip within the park; they no longer fly from Warmun.

Fees and permits

Purnululu charges the same standard fee as other national parks, see the WA parks website and Western Australia#See.

You may not bring dogs or other animals into the park.

Get around

As with the access track, you need high clearance 4WD to reach the sights and trailheads.

See

• Conservation Park is what you drive through between Great Northern Highway and the Visitor Centre. This is a 50 km buffer zone around the national park.
• Kungkalanayi Lookout is 2.5 km north of the Visitor Centre. The track from the Centre brings you to Three Ways T-junction, take the left / north fork. The lookout is a 500 m walk from the parking area and commands a 360° panorama of the Bungle Bungle range, aflame with colour at sunset. Stay on the northbound track for Kurrajong Campground and Echidna Chasm. Return to Three Ways for the southbound track to the Lodges, Walardi Campground, airstrip and the Domes.
• Kurrajong Trail is a 1.2 km loop though the bush around Kurrajong campground.
• 1 Echidna Chasm is a 180 m deep gorge lined with Livistona Palms. Park at Bloodwoods (formerly called Frogholes), and it's a 1 km trail to get in, which becomes a scramble over boulders. Aim to be here between 11AM and 1PM, when the overhead sun penetrates the chasm and sets the rocks aglow.
• Mini Palms Gorge is 2 km southwest of Bloodwoods car park, a canyon floor filled with bonsai-sized palms that somehow survive the seasonal floods. Follow the trail, which becomes a scramble over boulders, to the two viewing platforms. You may not walk into the gorge as this would damage the palms.
• Osmand Lookout is a 1 km hike from Bloodwoods, ascending north of Echidna chasm.
• 2 Piccaninny is the parking area and trailhead for what you've really come to see.
• The Domes - Purnululu's iconic sandstone beehives - start 300 m west of Piccaninny by an easy trail.
• Cathedral Gorge is reached after 1 km on a trail north from Piccaninny. It's hemmed in by canyon walls then opens into a natural amphitheatre, carved out by a long-ago river eddy.
• Piccaninny Creek Lookout has great views over the Bungle Bungles. Start out on the Cathedral Gorge trail, but instead of entering the gorge bear right onto the dry creek bed. Ascend south to reach the lookout 1.4 km out.
• The Window is 2 km from the car park. Stay in Piccaninny creek bed trending northeast instead of turning south to the lookout. This natural hole through the rocks is dramatic at sunset.
• Whip Snake Gorge is a side canyon: continue past The Window to enter this, altogether a 10 km return hike.
• 3 Piccaninny Crater can really only be seen from the air, or from space if your budget allows. It's 7 km in diameter and was formed by meteor impact 360 million years ago. It doesn't look like that from the ground as it's so eroded, and it's reckoned the present land surface is 1-2 km below the original crater floor.

Do

Echidna Chasm

• 1 Bellburn Airstrip is the start point for helicopter tours of the park by Helispirit.
• Hike: the park information leaflet suggests several trails beyond those mentioned above. You may not leave the designated trails.

Buy

The only shop of any kind in the park is at the visitor centre.

Eat and drink

• Bring lots of water. The creek water is okay for splashing in but is not potable.
• The visitor centre sells snacks and other quick eateries, which are expensive even by Kimberley standards.
• Savannah Lodge serves dinner and breakfast to non-residents with notice, and has a bar.

Sleep

Booking essential, else you might be turned back at the ranger station.

• 1 Bungle Bungle Wilderness Lodge, ☏ +61 1300 336 932. Safari-style glamping tents with meals. Half-board double $600. (updated Aug 2024)
• Bungle Bungle Savannah Lodge (200 m south of Wilderness Lodge), ☏ +61 8 9168 2213. Great reviews for these comfy timber cabins with a pool, bar and meals. (updated Aug 2024)
• Walardi Campground, ☏ +61 8 9168 7300. Basic campground with water and pit toilets. It's 1 km north of Wilderness Lodge but along a separate track. Adult $15 per adult, conc $12.50, child $4.50. (updated Aug 2024)
• 2 Kurrajong Campground, ☏ +61 8 9168 7300. A large campground with 106 campsites, near Echidna Chasm. No dogs. Adult $15 per adult, conc $12.50, child $4.50. (updated Aug 2024)
• Backcountry camping is not permitted, camp only in the two designated campgrounds.

Spring Creek

This is on the Great Northern Highway at the turnoff for the park. Very few facilities, but you can leave a caravan / trailer here while you venture into the park.

• 3 Spring Creek Rest Stop is 200 m south of the turn-off. It has free camping (24 hour limit), toilets and a dump point. Some highway noise.
• Bungle Bungle Caravan Park 1 km down the park access lane is closed in 2024.
• 4 Leycester's Rest is another rest area by the Ord River bridge 5 km south of the turn-off. It has free camping and is named for Rochford Leycester Devenish-Meares, who died in a road accident here, aged 13.

Stay safe

The Window

You're safe enough on the marked trails, bring plenty of water. The park may close for safety if the temperature soars much over 40°C or if wildfires break out.

Connect

As of Aug 2024, the park has a patchy signal from Optus, and the two lodges have Wifi. There's no signal on the access track.

Go next

• Warmun on the highway north has accommodation at its roadhouse and a thriving Aboriginal art scene.
• Wyndham on the north coast is the terminus of the Great Northern Highway.
• Kununurra is the foundation block of the Ord River irrigation scheme, so it's a lush area with accommodation and leisure facilities.
• Derby and Broome are the closest places westbound with visitor facilities.