Kakadu Trails
Australia isn’t all beer, beaches, surf and kola bears. Hiking the Kakadu trails off of Van Diemen Gulf give you an opportunity to view stunning scenery and get a taste of aboriginal life.
Kakadu Trails
Kakadu National Park is located in Darwin, the coastal capital of the northern territory of Australia. This is not Gold Coast are you see in various commercials for beer and whatnot. Kakadu is a wild and tropical park featuring the finest trails in the Aussie nation, and is protected by the UNESCO as a natural and cultural heritage site of outstanding universal value.
The unique thing about Kakadu National Park is the influence of the aboriginal peoples. The lands are the traditional lands of said peoples. The Park exists to both protect the environment and maintain the influence of the people. In fact, Kakadu National Park is jointly managed by both the park system and aboriginals. Throughout the park, you will find examples and the influences of these people. For instance, you can frequently find aboriginal rock paintings on many of the hikes.
Hiking the Kakadu trails is really an exercise in timing. The hot, wet season runs from November to April. The dry, cool season runs from May to October. As you might imagine, the park offers incredibly different scenery from one season to the next. For hiking, the best time to go is really April and May when things are not too hot or wet.
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When looking for Kakadu trail information, the best place to start is the Bowali Visitor's Center, near Ubirr. The conditions in the park change daily, so you need to know what is accessible and what is not. For specific trails, try the ascent trail starting at Boulder Creek. The Yumikmik trails also aren’t bad. Unlike most parks, however, the best way to find Kakadu trails is to get one of the local guides.
Understand this very clearly. Kakadu National Park is not like your typical user-friendly national park. In this place, nature rules the roost and with a lot of power. Merely driving into the interior of the park in a Jeep will rattle your teeth. Once on foot, there are serious crocodile problems, so you don’t want to swim regardless of how hot, tired and dirty you are. The park also contains a few billion snakes and they are EVERYWHERE. This is not a place for the feint of heart. This is not Yellowstone! This is why it is best to head out with a local guide who is familiar with the park.
Kakadu trails are amazing if you are willing to rough it. If you are looking for a casual walk where you might see a rabbit if you are lucky, Kakadu will crush you. Personally, I thought it was a blast.