Lorella Springs Wilderness Park, NT: Accommodation and activities

On the Gulf of Carpentaria, Lorella Springs Wilderness Park in the Northern Territory offers camping and cabin accommodation. Activities include 4WDing, bushwalking, fishing and swimming in thermal springs.

Lorella Springs Wilderness Park in the Northern Territory is an enormous cattle station. It covers 4,000 square kilometres – that’s about twice the size of Mauritius – and is primarily about the beef industry.

However, there is a considerable tourist operation at Lorella Springs, which lies on the Gulf of Carpentaria near Borroloola. The station has a diverse landscape, with open savannah, escarpments, mangroves, thick forest and salt flats. There are plenty of rivers and waterways, caves, gorges and rock formations, too.

Lorella Springs activities

The best way to get around Lorella Springs is by 4WD vehicle, although the station website does offer mud maps for intrepid bushwalkers.

Lorella Springs Wilderness Park is primarily known as a fishing destination. The remoteness is in its favour, as it takes considerable effort to get to the coastal fishing camps at Lorella Springs. This means that, should you put the work in, you’ll have tremendously well-stocked waterways pretty much to yourself.

Lorella Springs Wilderness Park swimming holes

The other key attractions at Lorella Springs are the swimming holes. The station managers reckon that there are 16 swimming holes on the property, which include eight natural springs.

Waterholes at Lorella Springs, Northern Territory. Photo by Tourism NT/Kate Flowers.

There are two types of accommodation available at Lorella Springs Wilderness Park, the cheapest of which is camping.

Lorella Springs accommodation: Camping and cabins

There’s a large camp site near the homestead, which has facilities, but facility-free bush camping is allowed elsewhere on the property. Camping at Lorella Springs costs from $25 per night.

If you’d prefer more comfort, there are en-suite ‘deluxe’ rooms with ceiling fans for from $189 per night. The other choice is the self-catering cabins, which are air-conditioned, come with their own kitchens and sleep up to five people. These cabins cost from $230 per night.