Boodjamulla National Park, Nature reserve in Queensland, Australia.
Boodjamulla is a nature reserve in Queensland featuring deep gorges, sandstone cliffs, and permanent waterholes along Lawn Hill Creek. Dense vegetation and varied rock formations create the distinctive character of this large protected area.
The park was gazetted on 8 August 1994 under the Nature Conservation Act 1992, after the station owner Sebastião Ferreira Maia returned 122 square kilometres to the state in 1984 and a further 1,350 square kilometres followed in 1992. The Riversleigh and Musselbrook sections were amalgamated in 1992, and the Waanyi people were granted native title in 2010. Joint management with the Waanyi began with the management plan published on 7 June 2022.
The Waanyi know the gorge as Boodjamulla, or Rainbow Serpent country, and Lawn Hill Gorge is sacred to them. Midden heaps, camp sites, grinding stones and rock art in the park record at least 17,000 years of Waanyi presence. Since the 2022 management plan, the Waanyi help manage the park jointly with the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
The park has been closed to visitors since extensive flooding in March 2023, with reopening in stages from July 2025. Check current access conditions before travelling, as the 20 km of walking tracks and the gorge section may not all be open. The park lies 340 km northwest of Mount Isa in the Shire of Burke.
The rock pools along Lawn Hill Creek were carved by water over thousands of years and shift dramatically with the seasons. Heavy rains can create temporary waterfalls that suddenly bring these quiet places to life.
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