Feature National Park: Tunnel Creek National Park
Tunnel Creek National Park is around 91 hectares, north west of Fitzroy Crossing. It includes Western Australia’s oldest cave system, famously used as a hideout late last century by an Aboriginal leader known as Jandamarra.
Tunnel Creek flows through the 350 million-year-old Devonian Reef system, creating a water worn tunnel beneath the limestone. You can walk 750 metres into this tunnel, wading through freshwater pools to the other side of Napier Range.
The cave features many beautiful formations, including stalactites and stalagmites, and is also home to a variety of bats, olive pythons and freshwater crocodiles. At least five species of bat are known to use the cave. These include the Western Cave Bat, the common Bentwing bat and the rare Ghost Bat, Australia’s only carnivorous bat, which preys on frogs, lizards, small birds and mammals including other bats.
You need a four-wheel-drive to access the Tunnel Creek National Park, which is generally inaccessible during the wet season. Access is via unsealed roads, approximately 35 kilometres southeast of Windjana Gorge National Park or 110 kilometres from Fitzroy Crossing.
The park is popular for bushwalking, cave exploration, sightseeing, walking and photography.
Sources:Â https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/tunnel-creek-national-park; http://www.derbytourism.com.au/about-the-area/gibb-river-road/tunnel-creek