El Questro Wilderness Park is a wilderness park on El Questro Station, a cattle station that diversified its pastoral operation to include tourism, located in the
Kimberley region of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. It remains a working cattle station with a herd of approximately 6,000 head. In 2012 the pastoral station lessee was GPT Funds Management Pty Ltd. El Questro station operates under Crown Lease number CL207-1984 and has Land Act number LA3114/1180.
The park is located west of
Kununurra and is accessed from the
Gibb River Road
The Gibb River Road is a road in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Description
The road is a former cattle route that stretches in an east-west direction almost through the Kimberley between the towns of Derby and the Kununurra an ...
and encompasses an area of over that extends some into the heart of the Kimberley.
The station was first established in 1903. Will and Celia Burrell bought the
cattle station
In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...
in 1991 and developed it into a wilderness park tourist destination. The Burrells sold El Questro to
General Property Trust
The GPT Group is a Real Estate Investment Trust (also known as an Australian Stock Exchange listed stapled entity). The Group has been publicly listed in Australia since April 1971 and is one of Australia's largest diversified listed property gr ...
in 2005. General Property Trust onsold the wilderness park to Delaware North in March 2010.
There are three resorts on El Questro: Emma Gorge (offering safari cabins), The Station (bungalows and camping) and The Homestead (luxury rooms and suites)
- all operated by
Delaware North
Delaware North is a global food service and hospitality company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. The company also operates in the lodging, sporting, airport, gambling, and entertainment industries. The company employs over 55,000 people worl ...
of
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
.
See also
*
List of ranches and stations
This is a list of ranches and sheep and cattle stations, organized by continent. Most of these are notable either for the large geographic area which they cover, or for their historical or cultural importance.
West Africa
*Obudu Cattle Ranch
* SO ...
*
List of pastoral leases in Western Australia
Pastoral leases in Western Australia are increasingly known as "stations", and more particular – as either sheep stations or cattle stations. They are usually found in country that is designated as rangeland. In 2013 there were a total of 527 p ...
References
{{Authority control
Kimberley (Western Australia)
Pastoral leases in Western Australia
Stations (Australian agriculture)
1903 establishments in Australia