The Lost City in Litchfield Park
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The Lost CityAs seen on 'The Amazing Race'
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The Lost City : The Lost City is a series of stark, haunting, amazing, fantastically-shaped sandstone towers creating rock formations found in Litchfield National Park. These impressive freestanding sandstone blocks and pillar formations bring to mind the ruins of a long-forgotten civilisation. Together with stunning tropical waterfalls and swimming holes, this is a truly beautiful destination found just south of Darwin, the capital city of the Northern Territory. Litchfield National Park features numerous waterfalls which cascade from a sandstone plateau called the Tabletop Range, intriguing magnetic termite mounds and historical sites.
The Lost City is a natural formation, formed by thousands of years of wind and rain erosion whose walls, narrow passages and domes give the impression that they were man made. These complex freestanding sandstone block and pillar formations suggest the ruins of a long forgotten civilization of an amazing race. Spread over an area the size of a small town, they look like the ruins of a city with a maze of narrow alleys. The sandstone rock is estimated to be over 500 million years old. Some have said that its strange sandstome formations look like buildings, castles, animals, statues, people and aborigines playing their didgeridoo. One visitor said that "the amazing formations of The Lost City gave them the feeling that it would be a great place for the amazing race of people the Australian Aborigines to play their didgeridoos". Accessible via an 8 to 10 km four-wheel-drive track that becomes difficult as you approach the formation.
The approach road is single-lane and leads past numerous termite hills. The track into this section is extremely rocky and rough so don't race to get there and sometimes only accessible in the dry season. The Lost City can be access by horseback, trail bike, mountain bike or to the hardy bushwalker Only people experienced in handling 4WD vehicles should attempt the journey to the Lost City, and their vehicle will need plenty of ground clearance due to high rock ledges. The track is fairly easy going, but narrow and one-way for the most part; you'll need to watch for oncoming vehicles and be prepared to pull off the track to let them pass. Open from May to November, and admission is free. After visiting the Lost city try some bush walking, swimming and relaxing around the surrounding plunge pools below the magnificent Florence, tolmer and Wangi Falls of Litchfield Park. Beyond the lost City are weathered sandstone escarpments and black soil plains, dotted with fascinating magnetic termite mounds, contrast with patches of monsoonal rainforest. Other remote locations accessible on four-wheel drive tracks are Tjaynera Falls (Sandy Creek), the road to Blyth Homestead accessible on four-wheel drive tracks.
address: Litchfield National Park, Darwin 0800 Northern Territory, Australia
proximity: The nearest Airport, Darwin Airport is approximately 120 kms away
opening hours: Daily, 24 hours. Possible closures between November and April
phone: +61-8-8976 0292
activities: Bushwalking; Flora; Off Road Driving; Sightseeing; Walking
facilities: Car park
holiday experience(s): Active; Environmental; Flora and Fauna; National Park; Nature based; Wilderness
How to get to the Lost City - It can be reached by taking the turn off from the Stuart Highway to the township of Batchelor , the gateway to the National Park.
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Litchfield National Park
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Litchfield National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia is about 2 hours to Darwin, with 15,000 square kilometres of weathered and ancient landscapes, magnetic termite mounds, warm year-round swimming in plunge pools, pleasant picturesque bush walks and 4WD tracks. It can be reached by taking the turn off from the Stuart Highway to the township of Batchelor the gateway to the National Park.
The history of Litchfield begins with the amazing race of people - The Wagiat Aboriginal people with strong Aboriginal cultures who lived here for thousand of years supported by a rich environment which provided plenty of bush tucker and materials for shelter and bush medicine. Originally the home of the Australian Aboriginal Wagait people, European expeditions were made into the wild countryside in search of minerals.
The first European discovery of the area was in 1864 with the Finnis Expedition. The park was named after a member of this expedition, Fredrick Henry Litchfield, who believed the area offered enormous prosperity and settled here.
From 1889, copper and tin were mined at Bamboo Creek and Mt Tolmer for ten years and later parts of the area were used for pastoral leases.
Until 1955, copper and tin was mined here, when the land was turned over to pastoral leases. In 1983, In the late 1960's, 4WD tracks were pushed through to a number of falls. In 1986, increasing visitors to the area results in the establishment of Litchfield National Park
Scenic waterfalls with deep, crystal-clear plunge pools at their base are present year-round, for pleasant swimming and camping. Most popular of these is Wangi Falls. Be aware that that there can be freshwater crocodiles, who are fortunately shy compared to their estuarine cousins the saltwater crocodiles. Forests around the falls are full of short and long bushwalking trails.
Stop-off points with display boards are well-marked along the sealed network of roads through the park, making it easy to learn more about the history and ecology of this remarkable area.
Confusion arises from the fact that there are three Lost Cities in the Northern Territory. There is another Lost City at Kings Canyon. Visitors can take a four-hour walk to these unusual rock formations along a track off the main road in the Watarrka National Park, 330km southwest of Alice Springs.
There is also the Lost City at Cape Crawford, about 250km from the Queensland border and 150km inland from the east coast. Here, sandstone pillars rise 25m from the ground, in stark contrast to the surrounding landscape. The only way to see this Lost City is by helicopter. You can do a two-hour tour, which includes a 1.5km walk around the Lost City, or take a scenic flight.