Boorabbin National Park, Nature reserve in Coolgardie Shire, Australia.
Boorabbin National Park is a 260 km² reserve in the Great Western Woodlands, forming a strip about 7 km wide on both sides of the Great Eastern Highway, 70 km west of Southern Cross and 120 km east of Coolgardie. Its plateau surface is old, weathered, leached sand deposited more than 50 million years ago, supporting kwongan heath, open woodland and mallee shrubland.
The area became a national park in 1977, named after a former settlement that supplied water to steam locomotives around 1898. This early role in railway operations helped shape the region's development.
The name Boorabbin comes from an Aboriginal word for a rock at the park's edge. The settlement of Boorabbin, founded in 1898, supplied water to steam locomotives travelling to and from the eastern goldfields. A memorial garden and shelter opened near the old town site in 2010 for the three truck drivers who died in the December 2007 bushfire.
This remote location requires visitors to bring plenty of water and personal emergency beacons, as facilities are minimal and scattered. Summer heat demands careful planning to ensure your comfort and safety throughout your visit.
Two restricted heathland species, Philotheca pachyphylla and Philotheca coccinea, grow within the park, and surveys have recorded 17 native mammal species, among them the wongai ningaui, dunnarts and bush rats. The park also shelters 52 reptile species, 51 birds and 4 frogs, with dragon lizards particularly well represented.
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