Cape Palmerston is a national park in the

Mackay Region The Mackay Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas with modern histories extending back as far as 1869. It has an estimat ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia.

Geography

The park is 748 km northwest of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. It is located within the boundaries of Koumala, part of the

local government area. It lies within the water catchment area of Plane Creek and the Central Mackay Coast bioregion. It contains a land area of 7,160 ha and has 28 km of coastline on each side of the Cape Palmerston—named by

Captain James Cook Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...

in 1770 after

Viscount Palmerston Viscount Palmerston was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. The title is derived from Palmerstown in Ireland, which was also known as Palmerston. The name is the origin of several place names in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and other former B ...

, a

Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty The Board of Admiralty (1628–1964) was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission. As that position was not always occupied, the purpose was to enable management of the day-to-day operational requi ...

. Within the park is the 344 m Mount Funnel. The park contains mangrove trees,

dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

, woodlands,

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

, and

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

. It is home to the threatened water mouse species, and hosts numerous birds. Three other rare or threatened species have been identified in the park. Birdwatching enthusiasts can enjoy the view of

ospreys The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It is ...

and sea eagles hovering over their heads, and white-breasted woodswallows in flowering grasstrees. Access is by

four-wheel drive A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case pr ...

vehicle. There are three camping areas. Permits are required and can be collected at a self-registration station.

References

National parks of Queensland Protected areas established in 1976 1976 establishments in Australia North Queensland {{Queensland-national-park-stub

Geography

See also

References