Drysdale River (or Drysdale River National Park) is a national park in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, northeast of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. The park lies about south of Kalumburu and west of Wyndham. The park is the largest and least accessible in the Kimberley, with no public road leading to it and no

airstrip An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

within its boundaries. Access to the park is gained via the track from Carson River Station from the Kalumburu Road. Permission must be obtained from the Kalumburu Aboriginal Corporation prior to entering the park. There are no visitor facilities or marked walk trails in the park. Rangers do not patrol the park and no food, fuel or mechanical services exist within the park or at Carson River Station. The park is a good example of untouched Kimberley, wilderness featuring open woodland, gorges, cliffs, and the pools,

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

s and creeks of the

Drysdale River The Drysdale River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river rises in the Caroline Ranges, flows in a northerly direction and discharges into Napier Broome Bay near Kalumburu. The river contains several permanent pool ...

. The park is home to two large waterfalls, Morgan Falls and Solea Falls, with numerous smaller falls along the course of the river. The area provides habitat for many rare plants and animals. Almost 600 species of plants are known to exist within the park. About 30 of these plants are aquatic and swamp varieties that inhabit the permanent pools found along the Drysdale and Carson Rivers. About 25 species of

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

also inhabit the area, two of which are not found elsewhere. Species such as fan palms, kalumbaru gums and paperbarks are also found along the watercourses. A variety of fauna also exist within the park, including over 100 species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

sugar glider The sugar glider (''Petaurus breviceps'') is a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum. The common name refers to its predilection for sugary foods such as sap and nectar and its ability to glide through the air, much lik ...

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

, and salt water crocodiles. The

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

of the area that the river flows through are the Ngarinjin, Miwa and Wilawila peoples. The first European to visit the area was CA Burrowes, a surveyor with a squatting company, in 1886. Both Brockman and Crossland visited the area in separate expeditions in 1901. The first vehicular track was constructed through the region during an expedition and survey in 1954; it ran from Gibb River Station to Kalumburu. The park was gazetted in September 1974, using the boundaries recommended by the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

committee on National Parks in 1955.

References

{{authority control National parks of Western Australia Kimberley (Western Australia) Protected areas established in 1974 1974 establishments in Australia Kimberley tropical savanna

See also

References