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Bangadilly National Park

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Learn more about why this park is special

Bangadilly National Park is a special place. Here are just some of the reasons why:

Spot rare, threatened species

Bangadilly National Park. Photo: Phil Craven

There are many unusual species to be spotted in the park, including several species of arboreal mammals or, more simply put, mammals that live in trees, such as koalas, squirrels and greater gliders. Keep your eyes out for platypus down along the riverbanks and look up high to spot interesting birds and bats, such as Peregrine falcons, glossy black cockatoos, spotted-tailed quolls, and large-eared pied bats.

Geological wonders

Looking towards the escarpment, Bangadilly National Park. Photo: Phil Craven

One of the best things about visiting Bangadilly is the chance to stroll through its impressive and varied vegetation, which includes open forest and woodlands on the dry ridges and slopes of the park and majestic forests nestling in the sheltered valleys and all along the riverbanks. The park's unique and striking plant life made up of two distinct types, Sydney Basin and Tablelands, each with its own quite unique beauty. The park's distinctive geology consists of three sections of plateau country bounded by steep escarpments and rocky gullies that drop dramatically into valleys along Wingecarribee River. Mount Penang and other rocky outcrops on the ends of the ridges provide spectacular views of Wingecarribee River valley.

Lands of the Gundungurra Aboriginal People

Wingecarribee River, Bangadilly National Park. Photo: Phil Craven

Bangadilly National Park lies at the heart of the territory of the Gundungurra Aboriginal People, whose traditional land extends all the way from Lithgow to Goulburn. Other groups with associations to the area are the Dharug to the north, Dharawal to the east and Wiradjuri to the west. The Wingecarribee River valley, with its permanent water source and diverse plant and animal resources, is likely to have been important to all of these tribes as both a living area and travel route. The junction of the Wingecarribee and Wollondilly rivers, just downstream from the park, is also known to be of great significance in Aboriginal mythology.

Bangadilly National Park lies within the Gundungurra Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) area. The Gundungurra ILUA covers 6942 square kilometres of Country where NPWS and Gundungurra People work together to identify, manage and protect cultural sites and values.

Plants and animals protected in this park

Animals

  • Koala. Photo: Lucy Morrell

    Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)

    One of the most renowned Australian animals, the tree-dwelling marsupial koala can be found in gum tree forests and woodlands across eastern NSW, Victoria and Queensland, as well as in isolated regions in South Australia. With a vice-like grip, this perhaps most iconic but endangered Australian animal lives in tall eucalypts within a home range of several hectares.

Look out for...

Koala

Phascolarctos cinereus

Koala. Photo: Lucy Morrell

One of the most renowned Australian animals, the tree-dwelling marsupial koala can be found in gum tree forests and woodlands across eastern NSW, Victoria and Queensland, as well as in isolated regions in South Australia. With a vice-like grip, this perhaps most iconic but endangered Australian animal lives in tall eucalypts within a home range of several hectares.

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