Occupying a significant area of over 7,770 square kilometres, Witjira National Park is located approximately 850 km north of Adelaide, South Australia’s capital city. This vast park shares its western boundary with the Simpson Desert Conservation Park and is adjacent to the Simpson Desert Regional Reserve to its north and east. It was established as a National Park on the 21st of November, 1985.
The area is of significance to the Wangkangurru and Yarluyandi people, who have maintained a profound connection to this land over countless generations and cooperatively managed much of the area with the South Australian Government, since 2007.
The park’s unique blend of desert and aquatic habitats supports an array of fascinating plant and animal species. Flora includes iconic desert species such as Spinifex, Saltbush, and the rare mound springs cabbage palm. The park is also home to an abundance of fauna, many types of reptiles and insect species. Birdwatchers will be delighted by the presence of zebra finches, budgerigars, and the elusive Eyrean grass wren. Check out the species in the Witjira National Park on the excellent INaturalist website.
The Mound Springs of Witjira National Park
Witjira National Park features more than 120 mound springs. The warm waters of the Dalhousie Springs offer a unique opportunity for swimming, providing a rejuvenating soak in a natural hot spring surrounded by desert scenery. You can swim in the main spring’s warm waters.
The Dalhousie mound springs, integral to Aboriginal life for millennia, were discovered by Europeans on 10 December 1870 during a search for water. Ned Bagot acquired the first lease of Dalhousie Station in 1873, with additional stations later consolidated under the Dalhousie Pastoral Company. Various livestock were bred, and agriculture attempted in the 1950s. The springs, significant for their biology, geology, and cultural value, deteriorated after a century of pastoral use
The area is home to unique species of fish such as the Dalhousie hardyhead and other rare aquatic life found nowhere else in the world” (Parks and Wildlife SA). The park also houses the iconic Purni Bore, a man-made waterhole and one of the few reliable water sources in the region, which has become an inadvertent sanctuary for wildlife.
For more information, visit the South Australian National Parks website. There is camping available.
A selection of the species found in Witjira courtesy of INaturalist
