The Lichfield National Park, covering an area of 1,500 square kilometres, lies near the town of Batchelor, 100 kilometres south-west of Darwin. More than 260,000 people visit the park each year.
Taken into protection in 1986, the national park is named in honour of Frederick Henry Lichfield, one of the first explorers of Australia's Northern Australian Northern Territories in the mid-19th century. He was a member of the first European expedition travelling to the northern tip of the continent to establish a settlement on the cliffs Iscape at the mouth of the Adelaide River. All previous attempts to establish a permanent to establish a permanent settlement there had failed. The expedition reached what is now known as Lichfield National Park in September 1865. The discovery of copper and tin led to the establishment of several small mining operations, and later, in the 1870s, agriculture began to develop. Mining was only halted in 1951 after severe flooding inundated most of the mines. Today, Bamboo Bay retains the remains of an old tin mine as a reminder of the harsh living conditions of the area's pioneers. В 1948 in 1948, logging began in the northwestern part of the park - cypress and Litchhardt pine, and in 1949, uranium deposits were discovered on the eastern boundary of the park. Australia's first fully operational uranium mine, Ram Jungle, which existed until 1971. until 1971.
Today, Lichfield National Park is a major reserve protecting the the wildlife of northern Australia. The central sandy plateau is covered by rich woodlands, dominated by various species of eucalyptus, as well as plants with unusual names - Banksia with unusual names like banksia, grevillea and terminalia. Islets of relict monsoon forests grow lushly in deep, narrow gorges created over thousands of years by the force of water falling from sheer cliffs. Here you'll find lilies and delicate orchids, growing amongst the pandanus and sandalwood trees.
Among the wildlife in the park include mountain kangaroos, wallabies, sugar fliers, brushtail possums, marsupial mice, black and red flying foxes, dingo dogs. In the caves near the Tolmer Falls are home to the rare orange common leafhopper.
Lichfield is also home to hundreds of bird species. Black kites and other birds of prey - are regulars during the dry season. Yellow and piping orioles, the Pacific cuckoo, brilliant drongo, eastern broadbill, and rainbow bee-eater inhabit the secluded areas near the waterfalls.
Popular tourist spots-Vanga Falls, Tolmer, Florence Falls and Bewley Rockhole are favoured by birds and reptiles. Honeycreepers, piping plovers, orioles and Torres Strait doves share fruit and berries with nocturnal mammals such as the northern mottled marten, brown bandicoot and brush-tailed possum. The Finniss River is home to huge saltwater crocodiles. Another popular another popular visitor attraction is the termite mounds. These wedge-shaped mounds, created by magnetic termites are lined up in a strictly north-south line.
Most of the park's attractions of the park are connected by a tarmac road and are easily accessible.
