Millstream Chichester National Park

Millstream Chichester spans two very different landscapes. In the north, the Chichester Range is rolling red rock and spinifex with basalt outcrops and Python Pool, a plunge pool beneath a cliff. In the south, the Fortescue River is fed by the Millstream aquifer, producing permanent pools shaded by paperbarks, river red gums and the Millstream palm, which grows nowhere else. The Yindjibarndi people are the traditional owners, and the pools are significant cultural sites with restrictions on swimming in some places. The old Millstream Homestead is a visitor centre, and the Murlunmunyjurna trail follows the river. The country between the two sections is red, hot and open.

History

The area is the homeland of the Yindjibarndi people, and the explorer Francis Thomas Gregory named Millstream Creek in 1861, reporting good grazing; the first pastoral lease was taken up in 1865, and by 1907 Millstream Station covered 2,590 square kilometres with 20,500 sheep, 1,900 cattle and 150 horses. The present homestead was built in 1920 and was a tavern from 1975 to 1986, the Chichester Range National Park was named in 1970, and the Millstream area was added to it in 1982; the homestead is now the visitor centre, with rooms on the Yindjibarndi, the settlers and the natural environment (Wikipedia, Millstream Chichester National Park).

Highlights

• The Millstream pools - permanent water shaded by paperbarks and endemic palms.
• Python Pool - the plunge pool below a cliff in the Chichester Range.
• The old homestead - the visitor centre in the former station house.
• The Pilbara ranges - red rock, spinifex and basalt across the park.

When to go

April to September; summer temperatures pass forty-five degrees and the wet season can cut roads. Winter days are warm and nights cool. Swimming is permitted in some pools and prohibited in others for cultural reasons, and signage should be followed.

Good to know

Access roads are unsealed, heavily corrugated and used by mine traffic. There is no fuel or supplies in the park. Some pools are closed to swimming and this is culturally important. Flies and heat are constant in the warmer months.

Nearby

Karratha and the coast lie north; Tom Price and Karijini are southeast.

Key facts