Gorge Yourself

Whether you're travelling up the highway or tripping out of darwin, a few days in Katherine’s Ntmiluk National Park make a refreshing stopover.

- Matt Raudonikis

While many visitors to the Territory’s Top End focus their travels on the well-known Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks, with both a short drive from Darwin, just 320km south along the Stuart Highway the city of Katherine has a few parks also worth your time.

Gregory and Nitmiluk National Parks are close to Katherine and each has its attractions to make your time there worth the effort. Nitmiluk NP borders on the southern edge of Kakadu NP, and we chose to spend a couple of days there to extend our fly-in fly-out (FIFO) Top End visit.

If you’re coming from the southern end of Kakadu, Katherine is just 90km south of Pine Creek once you’ve hit the highway. If you’re lucky enough to be driving north on a bigger adventure, Katherine is 1200km north of Alice Springs or 685km from Tennant Creek.

Katherine is a large regional town with all the facilities to restock your vehicle for the next leg of your journey including supermarkets, bottle shops and camping supplies. Gregory NP is 160km south-west of town, while Nitmiluk is accessible right from the edge of town, making it perfect for our short visit.

GORGE COUNTRY

IF 4X4 tracks are what you’re after, Gregory NP is where to head as there are no off-road tracks in Nitmiluk.