Dalrymple is a national park in

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, 1108 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 ...

. The park has unique features such as ancient lava flows and the Burdekin River, the largest river in Queensland. This is the land of Gudjal Aboriginal people. Among the interesting animals can be found here, bridled nailtail wallaby,

greater glider The greater gliders are three species of large gliding marsupials in the genus ''Petauroides'', all of which are found in eastern Australia. Until 2020 they were considered to be one species, '' Petauroides volans''. In 2020 morphological and gen ...

and

koala The koala (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), sometimes inaccurately called the koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only Extant taxon, extant representative of the Family (biology), family ''Phascolar ...

. The elevation of the terrain is 275 metres above sea level.

History

Remains of the old town of Dalrymple can be seen on the west bank of the Burdekin River. Built in 1864, it was the first inland town in the former British colony of North Australia. With the discovery of gold on the Cape River in 1867 and the Gilbert River in 1869, the town grew from a simple tent camp to a thriving town with five hotels and numerous stores. In 1870, however, a flood destroyed large parts of the town, and this and further gold discoveries near Ravenswood and Charters Towers led to its decline. In 1901, 34 years after the town was founded, only a few relics, such as the cemetery, fences and old mine shafts, still bore witness to its existence.''Offizielle Website des Parks - Culture''

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) is a business division of the Department of Environment and Science within the Government of Queensland. The division’s primary concern is with the management and maintenance of Protected areas ...

, retrieved 7 October 2012''Dalrymple National Park - Management Plan 2011''

, retrieved 7 October 2012 (pdf, English; 632 kB)

Landscape

Dalrymple National Park was established to protect important geological formations that were created 2.4 million years ago. Basalt, limestone and sandstone can be found in the immediate vicinity. North of the Burdekin River, the 380-metre-high Mount Keelbottom rises 130 meters above the surrounding flatlands. To the southwest of the river are three lava flows, the youngest dating back to the eruption of the Toomba volcano 13,000 years ago, the two older layers dating back 1.3 million and 2.4 million years respectively. Some of the streams in the park, such as Fletcher and Lolworth Creek, have dug deep through the different layers of rock. In some places, basalt columns can be found on one bank of the creek, while 385-million-year-old coral limestone with numerous Devonian fossils can be found on the other.

References

National parks of Queensland North Queensland Protected areas established in 1990 1990 establishments in Australia {{Queensland-national-park-stub

History

Landscape

See also

References