What is the biggest national park in Australia?

The biggest national park in Australia is Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory. It covers 19,804 square kilometres, making it slightly smaller than Wales or Slovenia.

Australia has hundreds of national parks. These range from fairly well known tourist spots such as the Grampians in Victoria and Sydney Harbour National Park in New South Wales to obscurities such as Woomargama National Park and Cape Hillsborough National Park.

But Australia is a big country, and some of the national parks are vast, covering tens of thousands of square kilometres. The title of biggest national park in Australia, however, goes to Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory.

Size of Kakadu National Park

Kakadu covers 19,804 square kilometres of the Top End, containing four major river systems and ecologically diverse landscapes. For comparison points, that’s slightly smaller than Slovenia or Wales, and slightly bigger than Kuwait or Fiji. In United States terms, Kakadu is slightly bigger than Vermont and New Hampshire put together. In Australia, it’s just under one-third the size of Tasmania.

From Northern Territory capital Darwin, it is a 253km hire car drive to Jabiru, the main settlement in Kakadu National Park and home to the Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel. You can stop for a Corroboree Billabong wetland cruise on the way.

Getting to the biggest national park in Australia

Jabiru is in the north-eastern section of Kakadu, however. It’s a more manageable 151km from Darwin to the Kakadu National Park entrance along the Arnhem Highway.

Kakadu was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1981 for both cultural and natural reasons. Its wetlands are a haven for birdlife – the hide at Mamukala is the best spot for birdwatching – while the saltwater crocodile is king in the water. Try cruises of the Yellow Water billabong for spotting crocs.

On the cultural side of things, Kakadu’s Indigenous heritage and culture is particularly strong. It is believed that Aboriginal people have lived in what’s now the Kakadu National Park for 65,000 years. It is the oldest living culture on earth. Rock art galleries, such as the Anbangbang gallery near Nourlangie, are hugely important both as evidence of culture and historical record.

Driving to Kakadu National Park

But sometimes, it’s just the views that make Kakadu worth visiting on a Top End driving route. There are several waterfalls within the park boundaries, while the view out over the East Alligator River floodplain from Ubirr is arguably the best sight in Kakadu National Park. This is near Cahills Crossing, the gateway to the Arnhem Land.

If you think Kakadu is huge, however, it makes up a small proportion of the Northern Territory – which is twice the size of Texas.