Oyala Thumotang, formerly Mungkan Kandju National Park (and prior to that Archer Bend National Park), is a national park in

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, northwest 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 ...

History

The Oyala Thumotang National Park encompasses what was formerly the lands of the Wik Mungkan, Southern Kaanju and Ayapathu Aboriginal peoples. The formation of the original national park was closely linked to the significant court case of

Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen ''Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen'',. was a significant court case decided in the High Court of Australia on 11 May 1982. It concerned the constitutional validity of parts of the ''Racial Discrimination Act 1975'', and the discriminatory acts of ...

decided in the High Court of Australia.

Location

The park is located in central

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

. It is about 25 km north of Coen. It is 12 hrs by road north of

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

. The park occupies 381,000 hectares from the

McIlwraith Range The McIlwraith Range is a rugged, dissected granite plateau on Cape York Peninsula of Far North Queensland, Australia. Part of the Great Dividing Range, the McIlwraith Range covers about and lies about east of the town of Coen, and north ...

foothills in the east to the

Archer River The Archer River is a river located on the Cape York Peninsula, Far North Queensland, Australia. Course and features The headwaters of the river rise in the McIlwraith Range and it flows west, traversing tropical savanna plains and wetlands, ...

in the west. The Archer and the Coen rivers flow through the park.

Vegetation

The park has open

eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', '' Corymbia'', '' Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

woodlands,

melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They range in size ...

swamps and areas of rainforest.

Camping

There are 18 camp sites near rivers and waterholes in the park. There is an entry fee. Drinking water is not available in the camping sites, so visitors need to carry their own water.

References

National parks of Far North Queensland Protected areas established in 1994 1994 establishments in Australia {{FarNorthQueensland-geo-stub

History

Location

Vegetation

Camping

See also

References