Gunlom Falls Waterfall Creek Falls | |
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![]() Spectacular natural infinity pool at the top of Gunlom Falls Kakadu | |
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Location | Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia |
Coordinates | 13°25′37″S132°25′01″E / 13.42694°S 132.41694°E [1] |
Type | Cascade |
Elevation | 168 metres (551 ft) AHD |
Total height | 60–85 metres (197–279 ft) |
Watercourse | Waterfall Creek |
The Gunlom Falls, formerly Waterfall Creek Falls, is a cascading waterfall on the Waterfall Creek located in the Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, Australia. The falls are also known as UDP Falls.
The falls descend from an elevation of 168 metres (551 ft) above sea level and range in height between 60–85 metres (197–279 ft) [2] and are located in the Mary River area in the southern part of Kakadu, less visited by tourists.
Depending on the time of the year, the Gunlom Falls range from a roaring waterfall to a gentle trickle falling down the cliffs. This plunge pool at the bottom of the falls is one of the most visited places in the Kakadu National Park and a popular swimming hole. [3]
A steep 15-minute climb leads to the top of the falls, with views over the southern region of the park. There is also a series of swimming holes at the top of the falls. The waterfall is approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) from the Kakadu Highway on a gravel road, just inside the southern entry to the park. During the wet season (December to April), access is restricted. There is also a campground located near the falls. [4]
The nearest accommodation is Cooinda Lodge, about two hours away in a vehicle, but there is a large public campground with hot showers and flushing toilets at the falls. [5]
As of September 2020 [update] , the walking track to the lookout and pools above the falls is closed at the request of the Jawoyn traditional owners. It was closed before mid-2019, due to an investigation by the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA) into Parks Australia under the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989 (NT). The traditional owners allege that, in the process of upgrading the track, Parks Australia may have damaged a sacred site near the track. [6] AAPA has filed charges against Parks Australia, which could lead to the authority being fined up to A$314,000. [7] The matter was due to go before the court on 30 April 2021, but a request made by Parks Australia resulted in an adjournment. Parts of Gunlom remain closed. [8] [9]
In 1986, the falls appeared in the movie Crocodile Dundee starring Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski. [10]
The Northern Territory is an Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Australia to the west, South Australia to the south, and Queensland to the east. To the north, the Northern Territory looks out to the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea and the Gulf of Carpentaria, including Western New Guinea and various other islands of the Indonesian archipelago.
Kakadu National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia, 171 km (106 mi) southeast of Darwin. It is a World Heritage Site. Kakadu is also gazetted as a locality, covering the same area as the national park, with 313 people recorded living there in the 2016 Australian census.
Litchfield National Park, covering approximately 1500 km2, is near the township of Batchelor, 100 km south-west of Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Each year the park attracts over 260,000 visitors.
Nitmiluk National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 244 km southeast of Darwin, and 23 km northeast of the town of Katherine, around a series of gorges on the Katherine River and Edith Falls. Previously named Katherine Gorge National Park, its northern edge borders Kakadu National Park. The gorges and the surrounding landscape have great ceremonial significance to the local Jawoyn people, who are custodians of Nitmiluk National Park. In the Jawoyn language, Nitmiluk means "place of the cicada dreaming".
Wooroonooran National Park is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1,367 km northwest of Brisbane, between Innisfail and Cairns.
Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock and officially gazetted as Uluru / Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone monolith. It outcrops near the centre of Australia in the southern part of the Northern Territory, 335 km (208 mi) south-west of Alice Springs.
Katherine is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is situated on the Katherine River, after which it is named, 320 kilometres (200 mi) southeast of Darwin. The fourth largest settlement in the Territory, it is known as the place where "The outback meets the tropics". Katherine had an urban population of 5,980 at the 2021 Australia Census.
Wadeye is a town in Australia's Northern Territory (NT). It was formerly known as Port Keats, a name originating from Port Keats Mission, which operated from 1935 until 1978. In the last few years, Port Keats was run as an Aboriginal reserve by the Northern Territory Government, before being renamed Wadeye when control was passed to the Kardu Numida Council.
Alligator Rivers is the name of an area in an Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory of Australia, containing three rivers, the East, West, and South Alligator Rivers. It is regarded as one of the richest biological regions in Australia, with part of the region in the Kakadu National Park. It is an Important Bird Area (IBA), lying to the east of the Adelaide and Mary River Floodplains IBA. It also contains mineral deposits, especially uranium, and the Ranger Uranium Mine is located there. The area is also rich in Australian Aboriginal art, with 1500 sites. The Kakadu National Park is one of the few World Heritage sites on the list because of both its natural and human heritage values. They were explored by Lieutenant Phillip Parker King in 1820, who named them in the mistaken belief that the crocodiles in the estuaries were alligators.
Jabiru is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Built in 1982, the town is completely surrounded by Kakadu National Park. At the 2016 census, Jabiru had a population of 1,081. It is named after the black-necked stork often seen in the wetlands and billabongs of Kakadu, which is commonly referred to in Australia as a Jabiru.
The Twin Falls is a cascade waterfall on the South Alligator River that descends over the Arnhem Land escarpment within the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia. In 1980, The Twin Falls area was listed on the now-defunct Register of the National Estate.
The Wangi Falls is a segmented waterfall on the Wangi Creek located within the Litchfield National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Kakadu National Park, located in the Northern Territory of Australia, possesses within its boundaries a number of large uranium deposits. The uranium is legally owned by the Australian Government, and is sold internationally, having a large effect on the Australian economy. The mining has been controversial, due to the widespread publicity regarding the potential danger of nuclear power and uranium mining, as well as because of objections by some Indigenous groups. This controversy is significant because it involves a number of important political issues in Australia: Native Title, the environment, and Federal-State-Territory relations.
The Jim Jim Falls is a plunge waterfall on the Jim Jim Creek that descends over the Arnhem Land escarpment within the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Jim Jim Falls area is registered on the Australian National Heritage List.
An Australian Aboriginal sacred site is a place deemed significant and meaningful by Aboriginal Australians based on their beliefs. It may include any feature in the landscape, and in coastal areas, these may lie underwater. The site's status is derived from an association with some aspect of social and cultural tradition, which is related to ancestral beings, collectively known as Dreamtime, who created both physical and social aspects of the world. The site may have its access restricted based on gender, clan or other Aboriginal grouping, or other factors.
George Jiří Chaloupka OAM, FAHA was an expert on Indigenous Australian rock art. He identified and documented thousands of rock art sites, and was a passionate advocate for Aboriginal Australian art, as longest continuing art tradition in the world. He is especially known for the much-debated assignation of a four-phase style sequence to rock art in Arnhem Land, and the term "Dynamic Figures", which he assigned to rock art described by him in Mirrar country of western Arnhem Land.
Timber Creek, traditionally known as Makalamayi, is an isolated small town on the banks of the Victoria River in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Victoria Highway passes through the town, which is the only significant settlement between the Western Australia border and the town of Katherine to the east. Timber Creek is approximately 600 kilometres (370 mi) south of Darwin, in an area known for its scenic escarpments and boab trees.
The Ngormburr, also known as Murumburr and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory.
The COVID-19 pandemic in the Northern Territory is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
The Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA) is an independent statutory authority established under the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989. Its function is to protect Aboriginal sacred sites within the Northern Territory of Australia.