Danggu (Geikie) Gorge 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 ...

, (

great-circle distance The great-circle distance, orthodromic distance, or spherical distance is the distance between two points on a sphere, measured along the great-circle arc between them. This arc is the shortest path between the two points on the surface of the ...

) 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 ...

and approximately east of Broome by road. it is closed owing to damage caused by flooding of the Fitzroy River in 2023.

Dan͟ggu Geikie Gorge

Dan͟ggu Geikie Gorge (), formerly Geikie Gorge, is a feature of the

Napier Range The Napier Ranges are located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The range is south of and runs parallel to the Wunaamin-Miliwundi Ranges (formerly King Leopold Ranges). The majority of the Kimberley is composed of sandstone but th ...

located within the National Park, from Fitzroy Crossing. It is believed to be one of the best-known and most easily accessed gorges in the region. Along with Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge, Geikie Gorge is part of an ancient

barrier reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

that developed during the

Devonian Period The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era during the Phanerozoic eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian period at million years ago ( Ma), to the beginning of the succeeding C ...

. The walls of the gorge are high. The gorge was created by the flowing waters of the Fitzroy River, which still flows through the region.

Freshwater crocodile The freshwater crocodile (''Crocodylus johnstoni)'', also known Common name, commonly as the Australian freshwater crocodile, Johnstone's crocodile, and the freshie, is a species of crocodile native to the northern regions of Australia. Unlike ...

s, Leichhardt's sawfish and coach-whip stingrays inhabit the river. The level of the river in the

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...

can rise by up to , and the flood level can be clearly seen on the walls where the abrasive action of the floodwaters on the

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

has scoured the surface white.

Geology

The limestone was originally a

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

formed not by

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

s but by

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

and lime-secreting organisms that are now extinct. The reef was formed in the

Devonian period The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era during the Phanerozoic eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian period at million years ago ( Ma), to the beginning of the succeeding C ...

when the receding waters allowed the organisms to build a reef up to thick. The remains of the reef now stand as the

range that wind across the countryside up to above the plains.

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s from the Devonian can be found within the limestone strata.

History

The gorge was originally named in honour of Sir

Archibald Geikie Sir Archibald Geikie (28 December 1835 – November 1924) was a Scottish geologist and writer. Early life Geikie was born in Edinburgh in 1835, the eldest son of Isabella Thom and her husband James Stuart Geikie, a musician and music critic. ...

, the Director General of Geological Survey for Great Britain and Ireland when it was named in 1883. Known by local Bunuba people as Darngku or as it is more usually spelt, Danggu, the gorge was later (sometime before June 2019) renamed Dan͟ggu Geikie Gorge. ''Danggu'' means "the area where the water is very deep under the cave" in the Bunuba language. In 2023, many of the park's facilities were damaged by heavy flooding when the Fitzroy River rose , and the river itself was changed permanently in some places. The park had to be closed, and a recovery plan has been undertaken, with hopes to reopen the park sometime in 2024.

Park access and facilities

Danggu Geikie Gorge National Park is part of the Balili (Devonian Reef) Conservation Park. It lies around (

) northeast of

and approximately east of Broome by road. The park is one of the most accessible in the Kimberley as it is only from Fitzroy Crossing and is serviced by a sealed road. No camping is allowed in the park and visitors can only enter during the day. The park has picnic shelters, barbecue areas, toilets and water available. A walk trail exists along the western base of the

gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...

walls; although the terrain is rough and uneven it does offer an excellent view. The eastern side of the gorge is closed to visitors as it is a nature preserve. Tour boats also operate in the gorge and a boat ramp is available for the public to use. Hours of use of the boat ramp are restricted to outside of boat tour times. However, , the park is closed owing to flood damage sustained in 2023.

Flora and fauna

The river water sustains an abundance of life, including

barramundi The barramundi (''Lates calcarifer''), Asian sea bass, or giant sea perch (also known as dangri, apahap or siakap) is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Carangiformes. The species is widely distributed in the I ...

sawfish Sawfish, also known as carpenter sharks, are a family of very large rays characterized by a long, narrow, flattened rostrum, or nose extension, lined with sharp transverse teeth, arranged in a way that resembles a saw. They are among the lar ...

and

freshwater crocodile The freshwater crocodile (''Crocodylus johnstoni)'', also known Common name, commonly as the Australian freshwater crocodile, Johnstone's crocodile, and the freshie, is a species of crocodile native to the northern regions of Australia. Unlike ...

s, all of which can be found in the gorge. The vegetation that fringes the river bank includes river gums, freshwater

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with about 578 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Common names include pandan, screw palm and screw pine. The genus is classified ...

, cadjeput and native figs. Dense banks of reeds are also found along the banks. The flora provides a suitable habitat for a range of fauna, including fruit bats, lilac-crowned wren,

reed warbler The ''Acrocephalus'' warblers are small, insectivorous passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Acrocephalus''. Formerly in the paraphyletic Old World warbler assemblage, they are now separated as the namesake of the marsh and tree warbler famil ...

and the great bowerbird.

References