Kakadu National Park

Kakadu, in the tropical Top End of the Northern Territory, is one of Australia's largest national parks and a World Heritage Site listed for both its nature and its culture. It spans a huge sweep of country, from the sandstone plateau and escarpment of the Arnhem Land edge, over which waterfalls such as Jim Jim and Twin Falls plunge in the wet season, down to floodplains and wetlands that in the dry season teem with birds and saltwater crocodiles. It is also one of the great galleries of Aboriginal rock art, with paintings at Ubirr and Nourlangie made over tens of thousands of years, among the longest continuous records of human culture on earth, and the land is still cared for by its traditional Aboriginal owners, who help manage the park. Boat cruises on the wetlands, walks to plunge pools and waterfalls, and the rock-art sites at sunset are the highlights of a country that changes utterly between the wet and the dry.

What you actually see

• Ubirr and Nourlangie rock art - ancient Aboriginal paintings beneath the escarpment, superb at sunset.
• The wetlands - boat cruises among birds and crocodiles, especially the Yellow Water billabong.
• Jim Jim and Twin Falls - the escarpment waterfalls and their plunge pools in the dry season.
• The escarpment country - the sandstone plateau edge and its lookouts.

When to go

May to October, the dry season, is the accessible time, with open roads, wetland cruises and swimmable plunge pools; the wet season fills the waterfalls dramatically but floods roads and closes much of the park. Even in the dry, the tropics are hot. Rock-art sites are best in the low light of early morning or late afternoon.

Honest expectations

Distances are enormous and many of the best spots, including the waterfalls, are reached by rough four-wheel-drive tracks that are only open and passable in the dry season, so a normal car sees far less. Saltwater crocodiles are a genuine and lethal danger, so swim only where officially permitted and heed every warning. The tropical heat is intense. It rewards several days and, ideally, a four-wheel-drive or a tour.

Nearby

Arnhem Land lies over the river with permits; Darwin and the Litchfield park are to the west.