Exploring Litchfield National Park in the Northern Territory | Magnetic Termite mounds | Cathedral Termite mounds | Driving through the Town of Batchelor to the Stuart Highway | Northern Territory Australia
One of Litchfield National Park's most impressive sights is the hundreds of Magnetic Termite mounds standing up to two metres high on a wide flat plain.
Up to 100 years old, these structures are unique to the northern parts of Australia, including Litchfield National Park. Stroll along the boardwalk and marvel at these enormous magnetic compasses, with their thin edges pointing north-south and broad backs facing east-west. This aspect thermo-regulates the mounds for the magnetic termites inside, who prefer high humidity and stable temperatures, but for one side of the mound to remain shaded so they do not overheat.
Learn about these mounds and the larger Cathedral Termite mounds nearby at an information shelter that provides a fascinating insight into these remarkable creatures and their habitat. A viewing area with accessible boardwalks has been constructed just off Litchfield Park Road in the northern area of the Park, 120 kilometres south of Darwin. Make use of the boardwalk access to get close to the two metre-high, thin Magnetic Termite mounds, and taller four metre high Cathedral Termite mounds.
You will see mounds belonging to numerous termite species as you explore the NT, but Litchfield National Park provides the perfect place to learn about these two eye-catching specimens.
Batchelor is best known as the gateway to Litchfield National Park.
Located 98 kilometres south of Darwin, just off the Stuart Highway and with a population of around 500, Batchelor is an excellent base from which to explore Litchfield National Park. Tourism became Batchelor’s key industry when Litchfield was declared a National Park in 1986.
The town is also home to dual sector tertiary education provider, Batchelor Institute, catering specifically to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. While in Batchelor, drop into the Coomalie Cultural Centre. The centre conducts artist’s residencies, exhibitions and cultural projects and operates a retail outlet of art and craft. A bush tucker garden and a mural surround the centre.
The town was named after the South Australian Labour politician Egerton Lee Batchelor (1865-1911) who became Minister for the Northern Territory in 1911. Batchelor grew slowly, with brief spurts of mining and agricultural activity until World War II when it was turned into an Allied Air Force base. An extension to the 1930s airstrip occurred in 1941 to accommodate the large US B-17 flying fortress aircraft, which operated here following the bombing of Pearl Harbour.
In the 1950s a prospector named Jack White discovered uranium deposits at nearby Rum Jungle. The town grew as mining began in 1951, the mine was closed in 1963 with the treatment plant closing down in 1971. Legend has it that Rum Jungle earned its name after a rather raucous incident in 1871 when a bullock-wagon loaded with rum became bogged near jungle in the East Finniss River area causing the bullockies to settle in for one of the most notorious binges in Northern Territory history.
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