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Takarakka Bush Resort to Explore
Carnarvon Gorge By Jessica Palmer
“Carnarvon Gorge deserves to be listed alongside Australia’s other great icons such as Uluru and Kings Canyon.’’
M
y son yelled excitedly, “Look Mum. That ones got a baby in its belly!” I had given the kids the important job of spotting wildlife and so far, we had only walked about 50 metres from the car park. “How do you know it’s not just fat?”, I heard their dad ask from behind me. “Cause I can see it’s head!” came the quick reply. We all turned and looked as the beautiful mum looked back at us curiously. I got the feeling if I took another step closer she would turn and bound away, so I quickly snapped a few photos. As well as being full of cute wildlife, Carnarvon National Park is incredibly picturesque. Carnarvon Gorge deserves to be listed alongside Australia’s other great icons such as Uluru and Kings Canyon. Yes, it’s that unique and awesome! And much like Australia’s other beloved icons, it’s also located smack in the middle of no-where, in this case, Outback Queensland! Carnarvon Gorge is best explored on foot and fortunately, all of the tracks are signposted, making it hard for even someone like me who gets lost regularly, to lose their way.
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Walks range from short and sweet to long and aweinspiring and everything in between. Although the longer walks will be more suited to those families with older children, there are plenty of fantastic tracks suitable for younger kids or adults that just don’t feel up to it.
Top Walks at Carnarvon Gorge Under 7km The Nature Trail 1.5km return from the visitor area Taking around an hour at an easy pace, this walk is ideal for younger kids and a great introduction to hiking. There are shallow creek crossings that involve picking your way across using small boulders and plenty of wildlife spotting to keep the kids occupied. Mickey Creek Gorge 3km return from the Mickey Creek car park Partway along this trail the path splits in two. If you take the path to the right, you will find yourself in an off-track adventure with some easily managed rock hopping and narrow gorge walls that you can touch with a hand on each side. If you take the path moving forward, the track stops at a picturesque spot on the creek with plenty of boulders to chill out on.
