Sturt National Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sturt National Park |
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IUCN Category II (National Park)
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| Nearest town/city | Tibooburra |
| Coordinates | 29°05′37″S 141°30′31″E / 29.09361°S 141.50861°E |
| Area | 3106.34 km² |
| Established | February 25, 1972 |
| Managing authorities | New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service |
| Official site | Sturt National Park |
Sturt National Park is a national park in north west New South Wales (Australia), 1059 km northwest of Sydney. The park is named after the explorer, Charles Sturt, who travelled through the area in 1845. The park was created in the 1970's from six large sheep and cattle stations (farms). These stations included Mount Wood, Olive Downs, Whitta Brinna, Mount King, Binerah Downs and Fort Grey.
The park is large, covering more than 340,000 ha (840,158 acres) of arid area. The east of the Sturt National Park has flood plains, some trees and small rocky gorges and creek beds. Lake Pinnaroo, near Fort Grey, is a Ramsar listed wetland.
The central area of the park, near the old Olive Downs sheep station, has "jump-ups", flat topped mesas rising up to 150 metres (492 ft) above the plains. In the far west of the National Park, the gibber (stone) plains are replaced by the red sand dunes of the Strezlecki Desert.
The Mount Wood Station used to cover 500,000 acres (202,343 ha) and had 86,000 sheep. It employed 100 people. The homestead buildings have been renovated and an outdoor farm museum has been started. The historic homestead, built in 1884, has been turned into a place for up to 15 tourists to stay, and the old shearer's house can hold 38 people. There is also camping areas at Dead Horse Gully at Tibooburra, Olive Downs, Fort Grey and Mount Wood.
Cameron's Corner is a very remote but popular place for tourists to visit. It is where the borders of the states of New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland meet.
Sturt National Park was shown on a British TV documentary called "Planet Earth".
Wildlife
Red Kangaroos, Western Grey Kangaroos, Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Euros are common throughout the park.
Gallery
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Sturt National Park near Olive Downs Station "Jump Up" country
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Sturt National Park near Olive Downs Station "Jump Up" country
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Sturt National Park - Dingo Fence- Camerons Corner
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Gibber plain in Sturt National Park
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Dry bed of Lake Pinnaroo
Images for kids
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The Mt. Wood shearers quarters after 10mm of rain
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A Crest-tailed Mulgara, re-discovered in Sturt NP in 2017 during wildlife surveys undertaken as part of the Wild Deserts program
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