Carnarvon Gorge

Gorge in Central Queensland, Australia

Carnarvon Gorge is located in the Southern Brigalow Belt bioregion in Central Queensland (Australia), 593 km northwest of Brisbane. Primarily created by water erosion, Carnarvon Gorge is around 30 kilometres long, located in Carnarvon National Park, and six hundred metres deep at the mouth. It is the most visited feature within Carnarvon National Park due to the diversity of experiences it contains and the ease with which it can be accessed. The closest towns are Injune and Rolleston. In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Carnarvon Gorge was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "Natural attraction".

Some western researchers have suggested that Aboriginal people did not live in the gorge permanently, due to defensive concerns and lack of food resources, whilst others suggest that permanent occupation was not allowed due to the gorge being considered sacred. The dreamtime stories tell a tale of the Rainbow Serpent which made the gorges, and which resides in their permanent waterholes to this day. Ludwig Leichhardt was the first European explorer to pass nearby and make note of the ranges, during his expedition to Port Essington in 1844. Two years later, Thomas Mitchell passed to the west of Carnarvon Gorge. It was Mitchell who named the Carnarvon Range, possibly after Henry Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon. The reports of pastureland and good water carried back to the colonies brought settlers to the area, and began a period of bloody conflict between settlers and Aboriginals. By the late 1870s the newcomers had prevailed. Local Aboriginals sought refuge on properties run by those sympathetic to their plight. Subsequent years would see many forcibly removed from their homelands and transferred to government and church run reserves and missions. The latter process of removal is considered by some to have been, culturally, more destructive than the direct conflict that preceded it. The farming of cattle and growing of crops remains a vibrant industry around Carnarvon Gorge but, since 1932 when it was gazetted as a National Park, such activities have no longer been allowed in the gorge itself. In 1974, the Ka Ka Mundi area which had been heavily grazed for about a century, also became part of the park.

Within the lower ten kilometres of the Gorge, visitors can encounter a variety of cultural and natural values that, elsewhere in the region, would require considerable travel to experience; significant Indigenous cultural sites and rock art sites, narrow sandstone canyons, extensive sandstone cliff lines, basalt capped tablelands and mountain ranges, and relict rainforest vegetation.

There is a ten kilometre (10 km) track leading into Carnarvon Gorge, with diversions into specific sites such as the Art Gallery, Big Bend, Wards Canyon, Cathedral Cave, the Amphitheatre and the Moss Garden. In the mouth of Carnarvon Gorge, there are another five sites to visit; Boolimba Bluff, the Nature Trail, the Rockpool, Mickey Creek Gorge and Baloon Cave (closed due to bushfire damage in December, 2018). Several remote tracks exist for experienced walkers; the Ranch, the Devil's Signpost, and Battleship Spur.

Situated within the Central Queensland Sandstone Belt, and separating the Consuelo Tableland and the Great Dividing Range, Carnarvon Gorge's landscapes have largely been shaped by water erosion. Over the last twenty seven million years Carnarvon Creek, which winds for over , The basalt layer is present on top of the high country either side of the Gorge where it protects the landscape from erosion and generates significantly different soils to those derived from the lower sedimentary rocks. Boulders eroded from the basalt layer dominate the Gorge's waterways due to their ability to resist water erosion better than the sedimentary rocks they once overlaid. The most visible rocks in the Gorge belong to the Surat Basin, which holds most of Queensland's gas and oil and significant amounts of groundwater. The Surat Basin forms part of the Great Artesian Basin, and generates numerous springs within the Gorge. The oldest component in the Surat Basin is the porous Precipice Sandstone, which forms the Gorge's spectacular cliffs. The Precipice Sandstone is one of the primary intake beds for the Great Artesian Basin, giving the area where it lies exposed significance as a replenishment zone. Below the Precipice Sandstone, the Gorge's floor is formed by the uppermost layer of the Bowen Basin, the Moolayember Formation. The impermeability of this layer allows the water generated by Carnarvon Gorge's springs to remain close to, or above, the surface a significant interplay in terms of the availability of water within the Gorge's ecosystems. Carnarvon Creek, whose flow has only been known to stop twice since records commenced, is an incredibly reliable source of water. In times of drought, it turns the Gorge into an oasis which has supported forms of life long since passed from the semi arid ecosystems surrounding it. Each of the rock strata exposed in the Gorge erodes and weathers according to its own characteristics, and the variety of soil types and landforms generated goes a long way towards explaining why Carnarvon Gorge supports such a diversity of life.

Carnarvon Gorge's climate is considerably different from that experienced in the flatter terrain surrounding it. Average rainfall in the Gorge is higher at 1,000 millimetres per annum and temperatures on the Gorge floor are more moderate. The lowest temperature recorded in the Gorge is 2 °C, whereas temperatures lower than 5 °C are experienced within 5 kilometres of its mouth. Average July temperature range is 6.3 °C – 20.9 °C, and average January temperature range is 20.5 °C – 35.5 °C. Statistically, the wettest month is February and the driest is August. These figures should always be considered in the context of Australia's notoriously unpredictable climate. For example, between October 2007 and February 2008, Carnarvon Gorge received 1,400 millimetres of rainfall; 140% of its annual average.

Three broad vegetation types are present in Carnarvon Gorge; eucalypt and angophora dominated woodland to open woodland; mixed eucalypt, acacia, white cypress pine or turpentine woodlands and/or open forests on sandstone slopes, scarps, ridges and residuals; cleared and/or regrowth areas. Four regional ecosystems listed as of concern are easily encountered by visitors to Carnarvon Gorge: Queensland blue gum woodland on alluvial plains; silver leaved ironbark woodland on alluvial plains; Queensland blue gum, river she oak fringing woodland on alluvial plains; and tall open forest in sheltered gorges and moist habitats. Two plant species, in particular, are considered Carnarvon Gorge icons; the cycad Macrozamia moorei (no common name) and the Carnarvon fan palm (Livistona nitida). Macrozamia moorei is closely associated with the Tertiary basalt flows of the Buckland Volcanic Province, and is endemic to Central Queensland. Livistona nitida is endemic to the springs The Big Bend Camping Area is open year round. A variety of accommodation options are available including cabins, caravan and motorhome sites and camping. Commercial tours of the gorge are available.