Bowling Green Bay National Park, Nature reserve and national park in Queensland, Australia
Bowling Green Bay National Park is a protected area in Queensland that combines mangrove swamps, salt marshes, and flat coastal lands. The park supports a wide variety of wildlife across these different habitat zones.
Bowling Green Bay National Park was established on 4 June 2010, not 1977. It lies in the City of Townsville and Shire of Burdekin, 28 km south of Townsville and 59 km north of Ayr, and is listed under the Ramsar Convention for its wetlands. The park protects the forested slopes of Mount Elliot and Saddle Mountain and the estuaries between Cape Cleveland and Cape Bowling Green.
The name comes from Cape Bowling Green, named by Lieutenant James Cook in 1770 for its resemblance to a bowling green. Today the park is a Ramsar-listed wetland where visitors watch brolgas and magpie geese in the sedge swamps, and the rarely seen zitting cisticola is best observed here.
The park features walking trails and viewing areas open to visitors. Timing your visit can be important, as seasons affect wildlife activity and accessibility.
The salt pans behind the mangroves stay bare because the short wet season never washes the salt away, a trait of North Queensland wetlands. Birdwatchers also come for the zitting cisticola, a small warbler rarely seen elsewhere. Crocodiles live in the estuaries and swamps.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,480 contributors worldwide.
