Kings Canyon (Australia) facts for kids
Kings Canyon is a canyon in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is part of Watarrka National Park, about 323 km (201 mi) southwest of Alice Springs. The walls of Kings Canyon are over 100 metres high, with Kings Creek at the bottom. The rock is sandstone. At the top of the gorge is a maze of weathered rock domes, a lot like those found in Purnululu.
Kings Canyon and the area around it is Aboriginal land. It is part of the Luritja people's traditional country, and title over the land was granted to them in July 2012. Before the arrival of Europeans in the region, the damp climate at the bottom of the gorge was an important refuge during droughts. Rock engravings at the base of the canyon date are many hundreds of years old. Many of them are sacred sites for Luritja and are closed to visitors. The name Waṯarrka refers to the area around the sacred Dreaming path that runs through the park; it comes from the Luritja name for the Acacia ligulata tree.
