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Karijini National Park is an Australian national park centred in the Hamersley Ranges of the Pilbara region in the northwestern section of Western Australia. The park is located north of the Tropic of Capricorn, 1,055 kilometres (656 mi) from the state's capital city, Perth. Formerly known as Hamersley Range National Park, the park was officially renamed in 1991.[4]

Karijini National Park Western Australia
IUCN category II (national park)
Dales Gorge
Karijini National Park
Nearest town or city	Tom Price
Coordinates	22°29′46″S 118°23′50″E
Population	39 (SAL 2021)[1]
Established	1969
Area	6,274.22 km2 (2,422.5 sq mi)[2]
Visitation	166,000 (in 2009)[3]
Managing authorities	Department of Parks and Wildlife (Western Australia)
Website	Karijini National Park
See also	List of protected areas of Western Australia

At 627,422 hectares (1,550,390 acres), Karijini is the second largest national park in Western Australia (behind Karlamilyi National Park).

The park is physically split into a northern and a southern half by a corridor containing the Hamersley & Robe River railway and the Marandoo iron ore mine.[5]

The park is served by the Solomon Airport, located 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the west.

History

The park is the traditional home of the Banyjima, Kurrama and Innawonga Aboriginal people. The Banyjima name for the Hamersley Range is Karijini ("Hilly Place" in English). Evidence of their early occupation dates back more than 20,000 years. During that period, Aboriginal land management practices, such as "fire-stick farming", resulted in a diversity of vegetation types and stages of succession that helped determine the nature of the plants and animals found in the park today.[6]

A party led by explorer F.T. Gregory explored the area in 1861. He named the Hamersley Range, on which the park is centred, after his friend Edward Hamersley.

Climate

The park is located in the Pilbara region, and is mostly tropical semi-arid climate. In summer, thunderstorms and cyclones are common, bringing 250–350 mm of rain annually.[7] Temperatures on summer days frequently exceed 40 degrees Celsius, while winter nights can bring frost.

Geology

Several gorges that flow north out of the park—including Dales, Kalamina, Wittenoom and Yampire Gorges—provide notable displays of the rock layers:[8][9]

• Banded iron formation – Brockman iron formation[10][11]
• Dolomite – Wittenoom dolomite[12][13]
• Shale – Mount McRae Shale[14][15]

Fauna

The park's wildlife includes red kangaroos, euros, rock-wallabies, echidnas, geckos, goannas, bats, legless lizards and a large variety of birds and snakes, including pythons.[16]

Features

The park is most notable for its many gorges containing slot canyons, waterfalls and water holes with visitors sometimes swimming in the cold pools of water.[17]

Hamersley Gorge[18] is located in the northwestern region of the park, while Range Gorge is in the north, Munjina Gorge is in the east, and Hancock, Joffre, Knox, Red and Weano Gorges converge in the park's center.[19]

While the park is fully open to the public, visitors are warned to exercise due caution when walking in and around the vicinity of Yampire and Wittenoom Gorges near the northern boundary of the park due to the presence of blue asbestos—a known cancer-causing agent when inhaled—which occurs in a number of the rock formations.[2]

See also

• List of protected areas of Western Australia

References

Further reading

• Padgett, Allan (1991) Karijini National Park – description of some of the more remote gorges. Landscope, Vol. 7, no. 1 (Spring 1991), pp. 16–21

External links

Media related to Karijini National Park at Wikimedia Commons

• Archived PDF park guide
• A tourist's park photos

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