how to connect to country at mungo

The land at Mungo is sacred to First Nations People, their ancestors and their culture. Three traditional tribal groups, the Paakantji, Ngyiampaa and the Mutthi Mutthi people, have walked this land for thousands and thousands of years and together they continue to care for Country. 

Mungo National Park is a time capsule of First Nations and Australian history. The arid land is rich with the stories of early times and an ancient culture. The landscape that shapes Mungo National Park is a vision of other-worldly magnificence and its environmental makeup informs us of it’s detailed past.

On the eastern edges of the Willandra Lakes, crescent shaped dunes called lunettes, have formed over time and created an archive of information in their layered sediment. As these layers slowly erode, more of the country’s natural and cultural history has the potential of being discovered.

In 2003, ancient footprints believed to be over 20,000 years old were discovered at The Willandra Lakes. The footprints are the oldest to ever be found in Australia and are the largest set of ice age footprints in the world.

The footprints hold great significance and cultural importance to the descendants of their makers and to the world as a whole. To protect such a rarity, the footprints and track ways are covered and are not welcome to researchers or visitors. To quench the curiosity of visitors to the area, replicas of the footprints have been made and able to be viewed at ‘The Meeting Place’ in Mungo National Park.

Mungo National Park is also the site of the discovery of the oldest human remains found outside of Africa. First discovered was Mungo Lady, and later Mungo Man, and they are believed to have lived as long as 42,000 years ago. This discovery is ultimately what led to the establishment of Mungo National Park and the recognition of the Willandra Lakes region as a World Heritage Area. 

Following the The Mungo Track is one way to take in all of the main Mungo landscape attractions. The track, a 70km (one-way) loop accessed by car or mountain bike, takes most of a day to two days and includes heritage features, lookouts, short walks and a variety of landscapes. Take your tent, water and food and stop overnight at the Belah Camp.