The Snowy River National Park is a

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 ...

located in the

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

and

East Gippsland East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering 31,740 square kilometres (14%) of Victoria. It has a population of 80,114. Australian Bureau of Statistics2006 Census Community Profile Series: East Gippsland (Sta ...

regions of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

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 ...

. The national park is situated approximately northeast of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and southwest of

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, south of the Black-Allan Line that marks part of the border between Victoria and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. On 7 November 2008, the park was added to the

Australian National Heritage List The Australian National Heritage List or National Heritage List (NHL) is a heritage register, a list of national heritage places deemed to be of outstanding heritage significance to Australia, established in 2003. The list includes natural and ...

as one of eleven areas constituting the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves.

History

Some aboriginal relics were discovered on the Snowy River which indicated that the Kruatungulung group of the Kurnai Aborigines used to hunt here. It was in the 1840s that cattlemen and miners visited the region and started using the higher land for summer grazing and introduced silver mining. The proposal for the national park was submitted in 1935, but the establishment took place in 1979.

Location and features

Declared on , much of the park is classified as wilderness area, where vehicles are unable to visit. Within the national park is the Little River Gorge, Victoria's deepest gorge, with the

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

descending off the Wulgulmerang plateau over to the

Snowy River The Snowy River is a major river in south-eastern Australia. It originates on the slopes of Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mainland peak, draining the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, before flowing through the ...

at an elevation of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. The park provides one of the last natural habitats at the Little River Gorge for the endangered

brush-tailed rock wallaby The brush-tailed rock-wallaby or small-eared rock-wallaby (''Petrogale penicillata'') is a kind of wallaby, one of several rock-wallabies in the genus ''Petrogale''. It inhabits rock piles and cliff lines along the Great Dividing Range from ab ...

. Numbers for this species are estimated as extremely small, with the rugged terrain making it difficult to accurately monitor the species population. Over 250 native species have been recorded in the park, 29 of which are considered rare or threatened in Victoria, including the

long-footed potoroo The long-footed potoroo (''Potorous longipes'') is a small marsupial found in southeastern Australia, restricted to an area around the coastal border between New South Wales and Victoria. It was first recorded in 1967 when an adult male was caugh ...

spotted quoll The tiger quoll (''Dasyurus maculatus''), also known as the spotted-tail quoll, the spotted quoll, the spotted-tail dasyure, native cat or the tiger cat, is a carnivorous marsupial of the quoll genus '' Dasyurus'' native to Australia. With male ...

(tiger quoll),

giant burrowing frog The giant burrowing frog or eastern owl frog (''Heleioporus australiacus'') is a large frog species that occurs in coastal south-east New South Wales and Victoria in Australia. It is also known as the owl frog, southern owl frog, spotted owl fr ...

and ''Cyclodomorphus michaeli''. McKillops Road is the northern park boundary, with the

Alpine National Park The Alpine National Park is a national park located in the Central Highlands and Alpine regions of Victoria, Australia. The national park is located northeast of Melbourne. It is the largest National Park in Victoria, and covers much of the hig ...

to the north of the road. The road is designated unsuitable for caravans, trailers and semi-trailers due to its long, narrow, and steep descent down to McKillops Bridge which crosses the Snowy River near its juncture with the Deddick River. A camping site near McKillops Bridge provides an excellent site for swimming, launching canoes and rafting through the rugged gorges downstream, or the start for the 18 km Silver Mine Walking Track and the short Snowy River Trail. The park is also located adjacent to the

Errinundra National Park The Errinundra National Park is a national park located in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated east of Melbourne via the Princes Highway and is centred on the Errinundra Plateau, a southwards extension of ...

, the

Coopracambra National Park The Coopracambra National Park is a national park located in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated approximately east of Melbourne and south of Canberra, near the town of . Features The northern boundar ...

, and the nearby

Croajingolong National Park The Croajingolong National Park is a coastal national park located in the East Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. The national park is situated approximately east of Melbourne and south of Sydney. The name ''Croajingolo ...

and

Cape Conran Coastal Park Cape Conran Coastal Park is a coastal reserve located near Marlo in East Gippsland in Victoria, Australia. The 11,700 hectare area was declared a coastal park under the ''National Parks Act 1975'' (Vic) in 1997. It is 420 km east of Melbour ...

References

External links

* {{authority control National parks of Victoria (Australia) East Gippsland Protected areas established in 1979 Australian National Heritage List 1979 establishments in Australia Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves Snowy River Southeast Australia temperate forests

History

Location and features

See also

References

External links