Top End Adventures

When it comes to discovering the Top End's great outdoors, there's some 'must see's to add to your bucket list!

Only a 60-minute drive south of Darwin, Litchfield National Park is possibly the Northern Territory’s best kept secret.

The park is filled with stunning waterfalls and waterholes that are surrounded by monsoonal vine forests – all of which offer a cool respite on warm summer days.

A drive through Litchfield is full of contrasts and some of the most enormous termite mounds in the Top End. Cabin, camping and caravan sites are within a short drive of the park gates.

To avoid disappointment check availability ahead of your travels, and book online to secure one of many camping sites in and around Litchfield National Park.

Only three hours’ drive from Darwin, Kakadu National Park has been waiting for you.

In Australia’s biggest national park, covering nearly 20,000 square kilometres, you will find ancient landscapes with thundering waterfalls, lush rainforests, wandering wetlands, exotic wildlife and ancient rock art.

See breathtaking horizons from the top of a Kakadu escarpment. Cruise on the stunning Yellow Water Billabong to spot crocodiles and wildlife in their natural habitat, including millions of migratory birds who in-part call the park’s wetlands home.

With more than 5,000 Aboriginal rock art sites in the park, the Bininj/Mungguy people have called Kakadu home for some 65,000 years.

Be drawn to the spectacular sandstone country of Nitmiluk National Park and the majestic Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge with spectacular cliffs that glow in the changing light.

Nitmiluk National Park, just 30km north-east of Katherine, covers a vast area, including 13 impressive gorges carved from the ancient sandstone country which stretch for as far as the eye can see.

Explore the world-famous park and gorge country on foot, by canoe, boat or helicopter.

Accommodation is available within the National Park. Choose from camping, to chalets through to the upmarket Cicada Lodge. Nitmiluk National Park has something for everyone.

Visit the small pastoral town of Mataranka, made famous by the novel We of the Never Never and renowned for its sandy-bottomed thermal pool.

The small town of Mataranka, south of Katherine, is renowned for its sandy-bottomed thermal pool, pastoral history and a welcomed stop with tourists

Spend some time looking around the Mataranka township. Browse the Stockyard Gallery’s exhibit of local Aboriginal art from the Mataranka and Roper River areas. Pick up a didgeridoo, postcard, whip or spear and enjoy a homemade iced coffee and a scone in the cafe’s garden.

See the fish being fed, witness the spectacle of enormous barramundi being plucked from a billabong, and learn how the fish live and breed at Territory Manor.

Explore the lush Mary River wetlands, a thriving microcosm of Top End wildlife, birds and fish. Located about an hour east of Darwin it is a good place to stop on your way to Kakadu National Park or for a day trip from the city.

Visit Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve in the dry season to see some of the 250 species of birds that flock to the concentrated water supply. Jabiru, jacana, pygmy geese, brolga and ibis are regularly spotted feeding among pink Lotus lilies. Take cover and observe colourful migratory birds from a bird hide at a tranquil billabong.

Browse the fantastic interactive displays of birds and animals at the Window on the Wetlands Visitor Centre, perched high above the floodplains with panoramic views of the wetlands below.

One of Kakadu's lesser-known attractions, Maguk is a pristine natural waterfall and plunge pool at the base of steep gorge walls.

Spot the spangled drongos and rainbow pitas in the rainforest, swim with the black bream in the plunge pool and marvel at the majestic endemic Anbinik trees along the rocky slopes.

Located an hour's drive south from Cooinda, Maguk is accessed from a 14km four-wheel drive track off the Kakadu Highway, followed by a one kilometre walk through monsoon forests, crossing Barramundi Creek.

A 4WD is required to access the site.

An entry fee is required to enter Kakadu National Park.