Judbarra / Gregory National Park, National park in the Northern Territory, Australia
Judbarra National Park covers about 13,000 km² in the Northern Territory, 359 km south of Darwin, making it the territory's second-largest park after Kakadu. It has two separate sections: the smaller Victoria River section, reached from the Victoria Highway, and the larger, more southwesterly Bullita section. The park lies where tropical and semi-arid zones meet, and its tracks are only drivable with four-wheel-drive vehicles.
The park was gazetted in 1990 as Gregory National Park, named after Augustus Charles Gregory, who led the first expedition into the area in 1855–56 and carved the date 2 July 1856 into a boab still known as Gregory's Tree, about 20 km west of Timber Creek. On 21 October 2011 it was dual-named Judbarra / Gregory National Park under a joint management plan with the traditional owners; since 2021 the official name is Judbarra National Park.
The park spans the boundary between the Pama-Nyungan and Non-Pama-Nyungan language families, and its rock art is treated as a distinct art province. The human figure is the most common motif, with composite engraved and painted figures making Judbarra one of Australia's most prolific sites for this work. Artists used painting, stencilling, drawing, printing and pecking and pounding.
Plan your visit around seasonal variations, as some areas may be restricted during certain weather conditions, particularly during the wet season. Check conditions before arriving to understand which trails and zones will be accessible during your time there.
Solanum scalarium, the Garrarnawun bush tomato, was collected near Garrarnawun Lookout in 2018 and formally described only in 2022; it is known from nowhere else. The park also holds one of Australia's richest concentrations of composite engraved and painted human figures, spanning the boundary of the Pama Nyungan and Non-Pama-Nyungan language families.
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