Munga-Thirri National Park, formerly known as the Simpson Desert National Park, is the largest

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, 1,495 km west of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. The park covers an area of in the

Simpson Desert The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Deserts of Australia, Australian desert, with an area of . The desert ...

surrounding

Poeppel Corner Poeppel Corner (known as Poeppel's Corner in Queensland) at latitude 26° S and longitude 138° E is a corner of state boundaries in Australia, where the state of Queensland meets South Australia and the Northern Territory. Geography Poeppel ...

in the west of the locality of

Birdsville Birdsville is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Birdsville had a population of 110 people. It is a popular tourist destination with many people using it as a starting point acro ...

in the Central West region of Queensland.

Landforms

The main features of the park are large

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

s which can be 50 m high and around 1 km apart. Most dunes are between 10 and 35 m in height. The longest sand ridge is 200 km in length. One of the most prominent dunes is called 'Big Red' and is located 35 km west of Birdsville. The dunes started to form 30,000 years ago. Also found in the park are

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...

s and

claypan Claypan is a dense, compact, slowly permeable layer in the subsoil. It has a much higher clay content than the overlying material, from which it is separated by a sharply defined boundary. The dense structure restricts root growth and water infiltra ...

Flora and fauna

The landscape supports up to 180 bird species. The park includes part of the

Simpson Desert Important Bird Area The Simpson Desert Important Bird Area comprises some 22,848 km2 of land within the Simpson Desert in south-western Queensland and north-eastern South Australia. It consists of five large contiguous reserves subject to little grazing p ...

, identified as such by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because it contains habitat suitable for

Eyrean grasswren The Eyrean grasswren (''Amytornis goyderi'') is a small grasswren from the Passerine family Maluridae. This is a cryptically plumaged and uncommon bird endemic to arid regions of Central Australia. The species was discovered by F.W. Andrews i ...

s.BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Simpson Desert. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2011-10-09. Other animals which may be seen include the

dingo The dingo (''Canis familiaris'', ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (Basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage of dog found in Australia (continent), Australia. Its taxonomic classification is de ...

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ...

s and the feral camel. With the falling of any significant rains comes a transformation of dormant wildflowers.

Tourism

Visitors are encouraged to visit from April to October to avoid extreme daytime temperatures and to travel within a two-vehicle party with long distance communications equipment. A

4WD Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

vehicle is needed to travel through the park. There are no roads in the park. The main track is called the QAA Line. Winter mornings can be freezing, while summer temperatures can be as hot as 50°. Camping is permitted within 500 m of the QAA Line. Vehicles are not permitted to leave the main track. Park rangers who are based at Birdsville occasionally close the park when flooded rivers pose a risk to tourists. Increasing tourist numbers have been depleting wood supplies to the point that native fauna could be affected. This has led to authorities encouraging the use of gas camp

stove A stove or range is a device that burns fuel or uses electricity to generate heat inside or on top of the apparatus, to be used for general warming or cooking. It has evolved highly over time, with cast-iron and induction versions being develope ...

History

Aboriginal peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

have lived in the region for generations. They survived in the dry conditions by digging soaks in the depressions between dunes, some of which were deep. David Lindsay was the first non-Aboriginal person to cross the central and southern areas of the Simpson Desert in 1886. In 1936

Ted Colson Edmund Albert "Ted" Colson (3 June 1881 – 27 February 1950), bushman, pastoralist and pioneer was born in South Australia near Quorn at the southern end of the Flinders Ranges. He achieved recognition as the first person of European descen ...

crossed the full length of the desert. A national park in the desert was first suggested in 1965 by the National Parks Association of Queensland. The park was extended northwards in 1991. The expansion included arid lands with a more diverse range of vegetation. , the Head Ranger of the park is

Elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and tr ...

of the

Wangkangurru The Wangkangurru, also written Wongkanguru and Wangkanguru, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Simpson Desert area in the state of South Australia. They also refer to themselves as Nharla. Country Norman Tindale estimated their tribal sw ...

people and

traditional owner Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

Don Rowlands , residing in

References

{{Authority control National parks of Queensland Protected areas established in 1967 Important Bird Areas of Queensland 1967 establishments in Australia Shire of Diamantina

Landforms

Flora and fauna

Tourism

History

See also

References