Bladensburg is a national park in

Shire of Winton The Shire of Winton is a local government area in Central West Queensland, Australia. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity since 1887. Its administrative centre is located in the town of Winton. It is named after ...

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. It includes an area once occupied by a

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

called Bladensburg Station.

History

Bladensburg lies in the area of what was once Koa tribal territory and, on white settlement, was taken over to run a sheep station, known as Bladensburg Station. This was the site of a notorious Bladensburg massacre, in which around 200 Aboriginal people were killed in 1872 at Skull Hole, on the head of Mistake Creek.Lumholtz: Among Cannibals: an account of four years travels in Australia, and of camp life with the aborigines of Queensland (London 1889) page 58-9: ''Queenslander'' 20 Apr 1901, page 757-758: "The Massacre of the Blacks at the Skull Hole on Mistake Creek". See also Timothy Bottoms, ''Conspiracy of Silence'', page 172-174. The of national park were declared in 1984.

Geography

The park is 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 ...

, and just south of the town of Winton. The park features grassland plains, river flats, sandstone ranges and flat-topped mesas. The main watercourse in the park is the often dry Surprise Creek. During floods the creek becomes a

braided channel A braided river, or braided channel, consists of a network of river channel (geography), channels separated by small, often temporary, islands called braid bars or, in English usage, ''aits'' or ''eyots''. Braided streams tend to occur in rivers ...

. The landscape to the south of the park has dissected tablelands with

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...

s and

butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...

s and to the far south are flat sand plains.

Description

The park is now a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

containing areas of high

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

. It is situated predominantly in the Goneaway Tablelands subregion of the

Channel Country The Channel Country is a region of outback Australia mostly in the state of Queensland but also in parts of South Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales. The name comes from the numerous intertwined rivulets that cross the region ...

bioregion, but also contains some of the Mitchell Grass Downs bioregion. The original Bladensburg homestead, which was probably transported to the site some time in the 1910s, houses the park's visitor information centre today. Birds common to the area include the painted firetail,

rufous-crowned emu-wren The rufous-crowned emu-wren (''Stipiturus ruficeps'') is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia. Taxonomy and systematics The rufous-crowned emu-wren is one of three species of the genus ''Stipi ...

and rufous-throated honeyeater.

Attractions

The park contains

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s as well as Aboriginal story places and ceremonial grounds. Skull Hole, the site of the 1870s massacre of Aboriginal people, is preserved.

Facilities

Access to the park is by 16 km of road from Winton. Camping is permitted beside Surprise Creek. No water is available.

References

{{Authority control National parks of Queensland Protected areas established in 1984 Central West Queensland 1984 establishments in Australia