Ancient Ranges and Kimberley Gorges at Wunaamin

Overview

Wunaamin Conservation Park stretches across a broad sweep of the western Kimberley, about 200 kilometres east of Derby along the Gibb River Road. It covers the country north of the road, running from the Devonian reef country of the Napier Range and the Wunaamin Miliwundi ranges in the west across to the Durack, Saw and Cockburn ranges in the east. This is a big, rugged landscape of escarpments, rocky ridges, creek systems and deeply cut gorges.

The park sits on the south-western edge of the Kimberley Plateau and protects country shaped over immense geological time. The ranges here are around 560 million years old, giving the park a stark, weathered character that feels very different from the coast or the savanna plains further out.

Highlights

The main appeal of Wunaamin Conservation Park is its dramatic range country. Long craggy ridges, layered sandstone, granite escarpments and narrow gorge systems give the park a strong sense of scale, especially where creeks have cut down through the ranges to form permanent pools and waterfalls.

One of the most distinctive scenic elements is the contrast between the hard rocky country and the pockets of water and shade tucked into the gorges. Following the wet season, water pours out of the ranges in broad cascades, while in the dry the same creek lines settle into clear pools beneath cliffs and ledges. Across the park, the scenery shifts between open woodland, rocky hills and sudden breaks in the country where the escarpments fall away.

Best Time to Visit

The most comfortable time to visit is during the Kimberley dry season, when days are generally clear and warm and nights are noticeably cooler. In this part of Western Australia, that usually means the months from late autumn through spring rather than the summer wet season.

This is also when the park’s gorges and range views are at their easiest to appreciate. Early in the dry, waterfalls and creeks still carry the energy of the wet, while later in the season the cooler mornings and evenings make the rocky country more pleasant to spend time in.

Plants and Animals

Wunaamin Conservation Park supports a mix of open woodland, rocky hills, creek lines and riparian habitat, so the wildlife changes from one part of the park to another. Mammals recorded here include sugar gliders, northern quolls, northern brown bandicoots, short-eared rock-wallabies, agile wallabies and antilopine wallaroos.

The rocky outcrops are especially important for the rock ringtail possum, a little-known species that lives among the ranges rather than in trees. Birdlife is also a strong feature of the park, with bush birds common through the woodlands and species such as brolgas seen in open grasslands. Along Bell Creek, purple-crowned fairy-wrens have been recorded in riparian habitat.

Culture and Heritage

Wunaamin Conservation Park is on Wilinggin country. The traditional connection to this place is expressed through the law of the Wanjina Wunggurr, with deep links between ancestral beings, permanent waterholes and the wider country of the ranges.

The park’s current name reflects that continuing cultural connection. Wunaamin is one of a group of Western Australian park names adopted from Traditional Owner languages, restoring Aboriginal place names to country that has long carried them.