Purnululu National Park, National park in Kimberley region, Western Australia.
The Bungle Bungle Range covers 450 square kilometers (174 square miles) and consists of thousands of orange and black striped sandstone cones rising 250 meters (820 feet) above valleys with palms, gorges, and seasonal pools.
Following thousands of years of Aboriginal habitation, authorities declared the area a national park in 1987. UNESCO added it to the World Heritage list in 2003 for geological formations that originated during the Devonian period.
The Karjaganujaru people have inhabited this region for thousands of years, creating rock paintings that document their spiritual relationship with the land and preserve important stories of their cultural traditions.
The area is accessible from April to December via Spring Creek Track, requiring four-wheel drive vehicles for the three-hour journey from Great Northern Highway. Scenic flights and guided walking tours are available on site.
The orange and black bands result from varying permeability of sandstone layers, with cyanobacteria growing on moister dark bands to create one of the largest cone karst landscapes on Earth.
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