A short guide about Litchfield National Park
Litchfield National Park is less than two hours drive from Darwin via a sealed road through the township of Batchelor, and is visited every year by over a quarter of a million of visitors. Named after Fred Litchfield (a Territory pioneer) the area was proclaimed a national park in 1986, although the native Aboriginal people; the Koongurrukun, Marranunggu, Werat and Waray tribes have lived throughout the area for thousands of years.
The aboriginal culture believes their ancestral spirits formed the landscape, plants and animals, and are still present in the landscape today. These major attractions are the basis of their dreamtime stories and are linked by a sealed road, easily accessed by two-wheel drive car or coach.
Tourabout has quite a range of tours covering many of the attractions you’ll find in this area. Most tours will take you to the Florence Falls; a double waterfall leading into a swimming hole (set in a tropical rainforest) with a lookout and viewing platform, providing a panoramic view. There is also the Buley Rockhole where you will find a long series of cascading plunge pools.
The Wangi Falls are possibly Litchfield’s most popular attraction as it is easily accessible and open all year round. However, swimming is not always possible due to water levels from heavy rain. How about visiting the Tolmer Falls? And watching them cascade over two high escarpments into a deep plunge pool. The bottom of the falls is home to several colonies of rare Ghost Bats and Orange Horseshoe Bats.
Whatever your choice of tour or holiday package - everywhere you look in the Litchfield Natural Park you are bound to see a vast number of Magnetic Termite Mounds. These termite mounds are built aligned north to south to control the temperature inside and provide a source of food for a variety of animals.