29 of Australia’s Best National Parks to Explore

Mobile phone reception dips almost as soon as you cross the boundary into Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park, spreading over the tip of the impossibly picturesque Yorke Peninsula, around three hours drive from Adelaide. It’s just as well because the coastal scenery – endless undulations of deserted dunes against seas as vibrant as any you’d expect to see in The Maldives – should be admired without any digital distractions. There’s excellent surf at ‘Pondie’ (or Pondalowie, to the layperson) and bushwalking, fishing and camping opportunities.

Malta’s Azure window might have collapsed into the ocean but there’s a far less-touristy natural opening in Western Australia. Nature’s Window, a layered archway of staggered sandstone, frames the Murchison River and is a short, one-kilometre walk from the nearby car park.

Not all protected spaces in Australia are land-bound. The World-Heritage listed Ningaloo Marine Park, on Western Australia’s Coral Bay, is easily reached by snorkelling from the mainland and supports more than 500 species of speedy tropical fish, as well as whale sharks, dolphins, dugongs and peaceful manta rays within its 260-kilometre span.

This is the outback. It’s a 200-kilometre drive off the Barkly Highway, most of which is unsealed but once you endure the bumpy ride – and trek into the most scenic spots – you’ll be rewarded with huge sandstone gorges filled with still, emerald water. Also known as Lawn Hill Gorge, Boodjamulla has several camping sites so you can soak in the scenery for as long as possible before journeying back to the city.

Until a documentary film crew captured them on film  in 1983, the striped sandstone domes known as the Bungle Bungles were known only to their traditional owners, the Jaru and Gidja people. But the alternating, colourful concentric circles that adorn these rocks aren’t the only fascinating sight within this park: cavernous Cathedral Gorge rewards visitors with a still pool surrounded by a ceiling of deep-red rock, and the three-kilometre trail along Piccaninny Creek, in the opposite direction, proves waterways flow in the unlikeliest of places.

In the steamy tropics of northern Queensland, the silky green leaves of the towering trees in the country’s last uninterrupted tropical lowland rainforest protect all manner of unique Australia wildlife, including the eye-catching blue Ulysses butterfly. Set on Eastern Kuku Yalanji country, the national park-protected area covers two distinct environments: the lush Mossman Gorge and the sandy shores of Cape Tribulation.

The wind-worn granite dotted throughout the sprawl of Freycinet was first formed more than 400 million years ago. Standing atop one of these sturdy boulders, looking out over the untouched slopes towards Wineglass Bay, with the only sounds the occasional squawk of yellow-tailed black cockatoos from above, it’s hard to imagine much has changed within the park since then.

If you spend a trip to the beach preoccupied with dusting off the sand stuck to your toes, then steer clear of this national park. There’s sand – a lot of sand. North of Noosa proper, the protected area covers wide beaches lapped by the ocean and dune lakes and steep dunes in rich hues of red, yellow and brown.

Down near the Murray, this dune-strewn national park is truly ancient – the sandy formations are estimated to be between 350,000 and 500,000 years old. One of 46 parks protected by the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife, the charity partner of Australia’s national parks, the dunes and woodlands shelter a variety of quirky creatures such as the chicken-sized malleefowl and the western pygmy possum.

Deep beneath the Naracoorte East Range are a series of cool caves where the remains of the ferocious megafauna that once roamed the country have settled. So complete and varied are the bones found here that it is considered one of the world’s most significant fossil sites, with excavations and research still underway. But it’s not only what’s embedded in the rock that’s considered special – the series of sparkling stalactites and stalagmites will captivate every explorer.

You’ll need sharp eyesight to catch a glimpse of the endangered Brush-tailed rock-wallaby as you trek through this park. Around 10,000 of them call these 142,000 hectares near Armidale home but they generally keep to themselves. But not to worry, there are hundreds more species pottering through the bush, including wedge-tailed eagles, swamp wallabies and chameleon-like Peron’s tree frogs.

This huge swathe of bush south of Sydney lays claim to being the second oldest national park in the entire world, established a few years after Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Traverse its knots of pickle-green native fauna towards the coast and you’ll be rewarded with stunning sea views (and the chance of whale-spotting), swimming holes such as Wattamolla Lagoon and the wind-and-wave smoothed edges of unbelievable cliff formations such as the fragile Wedding Cake Rock.

This reserve covers a clutch of 30 islands around 25 kilometres from the shores of Airlie Beach. The best way to experience it is to camp overnight – or longer – at one of the designated sites on Whitsunday Island, the crown jewel in a series of postcard-perfect, white-sand, turquoise-water wonders.

Standing at the granite-heavy Wilsons Promontory Lightstation is pretty much as far south as you can go on the Australian mainland – another step and you’ll bob across the Bass Strait to Tasmania – save for a few tiny, hard-to-access islands on the park’s edges. The wilderness, known affectionately to locals as The Prom, is especially brilliant come spring when fields of wild wattle and orchids bloom.

Skimming the northern edge of the Australian Alps that populate Kosciuszko National Park, Namadgi National Park harbours something for every type of enthusiast. Historians can uncover the ancient Aboriginal rock art in Gudgenby Valley; families and wildlife-lovers can spot koalas, kangaroos and an abundance of birds and reptiles in Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve; and keen walkers can choose a path from the impressive 160 kilometres of trails.

The stately mountain ash tree is the tallest flowering tree in the world and hoards of them grace the pristine Dandenong Ranges National Park, an hour east of Melbourne. Trails such as the Dandenong Ranges Tourist Track immerse walkers in lush, reaching ferns and direct them to lookout points where the Melbourne CBD is splayed out in the distance.