Lake Mungo and the Willandra Lakes

The Willandra Lakes dried out thousands of years ago, and what is left at Mungo is a flat pale pan edged by a crescent of eroding sand and clay called the Walls of China. People lived along these shores for tens of thousands of years, and the wind keeps turning up the evidence: hearths, shell middens, animal bone, footprints. Burials found here, known as Mungo Lady and Mungo Man, are among the oldest recorded anywhere and have been returned to Country by the Traditional Owners. The park is jointly managed with the three Aboriginal groups connected to it, and access onto the lunette itself is by guided walk. The scale and the quiet are the point; almost nothing is built here.

What you actually see

• The Walls of China - the eroding lunette of sand and clay along the old eastern shore.
• The Mungo Track - the 70 kilometre self-guided loop drive around the lake bed and dunes.
• The visitor centre - displays on the Traditional Owners, the lake system and the discoveries.
• The Mungo Woolshed - a drop-log cypress pine shed from the 1860s pastoral era.

When to go

April to October is the workable window; summer here regularly passes 40 degrees with no shade at all. Guided walks onto the lunette run at set times, often towards sunset when low light picks out the shapes. Roads are unsealed and close for days after rain, sometimes stranding vehicles, so check conditions before leaving Mildura or Balranald.

Honest expectations

This is a long drive on dirt for a landscape that looks like nothing at first glance, and anyone expecting a dig site or ruins will be disappointed. You cannot walk the lunette alone. Facilities are basic, fuel and food have to be carried in, and phone coverage is patchy. Flies in warm months are relentless. Accommodation nearby is limited and books out early.

Nearby

Mildura and the Murray River make the practical base; Balranald lies to the southeast.