This is the Namadgi National Park located at just 40 km southwest of Canberra and the only one of its kind in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Occupying 46 percent of the ACT since 1984, it is so named after the Namadgi Mountains here wherein Namadgi is an aboriginal word. The Namadgi National Park provides protection to a part of the northernmost Australian Alps holding magnificent granite mountains. The northwest area of the Namadgi National Park is the west of the Canberra’s suburbs and joins the Brindabella National Park, while its southwest meets the Kosciuszko National Park along with the Bimberi and Scabby Range Nature Reserves. The water catchment area here is very important as it meets 85 percent of water requirements of Canberra.

The Namadgi Visitor Centre located close to the village of Tharwa is a good place to know about the park. Here, you have many options to visit, a theatre, and a shop for taking maps, brochures, and books related to the park. You can also book for the warden guided walks that are available frequently.

Nature in the Namadgi National Park

The Mother Nature has spread its diverse habitats and wildlife at every walk of few steps.

• Open grasslands and icy hollows on the east in the Orroral and Boboyan valleys
• Low open woodland and Snow Gum woodland in the mountains
• Wet forests with Alpine Ash and fern gullies in the west
• Wetlands of sedge fens in the valleys and sphagnum moss on the peaks that have significance of water catchment and habitat of the rare black-and-yellow striped Northern Corroboree Frog
• Sub-alpine peaks and moorlands with alpine flora – silver snow daises and billy buttons in summer and winters only.

Fauna Attractions

The Namadgi National Park is inhabited by minimum of 35 species of mammals, 14 types of frogs, 41 kinds of reptiles, 4 local fish types, and more than 130 species of birds. Among the varied faunas, you can see eastern grey kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, magpies, rosellas, parrots, eagles, owls, lyrebirds, and ravens. Further, you can spot some 13 endangered species – the smoky mouse, river blackfish Gadopsis marmoratus, and the most extinct northern corroboree frog, Pseudophryne pengilleyi. With an aim to facilitate long survival of this frog, eggs have been taken and successfully raised at the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve by ACT Parks Conservation and Lands staff.

Trek the Naas Valley to Horse Gully Hut Track to Nature’s Boarding House where you can find the dens, roosts, and nests of 400 species of mammals and birds. View the vegetation morph from woodland, dry forest, and tall eucalypts with fern gullies. If you go higher, you can spot kangaroos and wallabies in the open grassland, frost hollows, and the Australian Paper Daisies on the towering peaks. Look for the extinct broad-tooth rat, corroboree frog, and river blackfish in the sedge fens of the valleys and peaks’ bogs. In hunt for food, takes your eyes up to glance at the grand wedge-tailed eagle or the Australian Kestrel over the grassy regions.

Aboriginal Legendary History Attractions

The Birrigai Rock Shelter at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve in the north has enough proofs to claim that the Aboriginal people used to stay here some 21000 years ago during the last ice age. Even you can find evidences of the same by spotting some 390 Aboriginal sites:

• quarry sites marking the place of gathering stones for creating tools
• campsites still holding surplus remains of stone and animal bone by the Ngunawal people
• ceremonial stone arrangements at the summits of Mount Namadgi
• Art on rocks – Take the Yankee Hat Walking Track to spot the rock arts of Yankee Hut Shelter

Not only this, but the surviving fences, yards, huts, and homesteads mark the presence of the early European settlement here. Even the British Pastoralists lived in the southern valleys in the 1830s. On Mount Kelly, you will get signs of harvesting the bogong moths. If you are on a guided tour, some 50 occupational sites can be seen.

Take up the Birrigai Time Trail to Birrigai Rock Shelter, which is the most ancient Aboriginal place in the continent where you can see the Bogong Cave – a place for gathering the bogong moths and Tidbinbilla Mountain, a holy site for the present Aboriginal men.

Activities in the Namadgi National Park

• Camping in selected areas with fees
• Cycling on marked trails
• Horse riding
• Rock climbing on the granite rock projections
• Snow play and skiing in winter (confirm with the visitor centre)
• Recreational driving
• Motor biking
• Picnicking
• Sightseeing
• Bushwalking
• Paragliding, sky diving, caving, and canyoning

Do not miss to explore the Kiandra gold trail and the Orroral Heritage Walking Track amid the old Apollo space stations in the Orroral Valley and Honeysuckle Creek. It was from here that the first photos of Neil Armstrong strolling on the moon were obtained.

Campsites, Drives, and Views

Walk on the Two Sticks Road to the peak of Mount Coree to have outstanding 360-degree views. Begin with the Mount Franklin Road to go far until the Bendora Dam in the northern end as well as the Old Mill Road and Warks Road for four-wheel driving. Take your vehicle to Corim’s Dam to trek the steep route to Stockyard Spur. For setting tents, Honeysuckle Campground near the Honeysuckle Tracking Station and Orroral Campground on the Orroral Heritage Walking Track are suitable.

Best Time to Visit Namadgi National Park

There is no specific time. So, anytime is fine. In winter, the snow makes it a fantastic dreamland from June to August; while the remaining time is best for bushwalking and other activities.