Hattah-Kulkyne National Park

Hattah-Kulkyne National Park is a large semi-arid national park in north-west Victoria, about 70 kilometres south of Mildura in the Rural City of Mildura. Established in 1960 and expanded in 1980, it protects extensive mallee woodlands, sand dunes and a chain of freshwater lakes including Lake Hattah and Lake Kramen. The park is notable for its Ramsar-listed Hattah Lakes system, diverse birdlife with over 200 species, and opportunities for camping, bushwalking and nature observation.

Visitors can expect a semi-arid mallee landscape with low eucalypt woodlands, sand dunes and a system of more than 20 freshwater lakes that fill intermittently from the Murray River. The park offers unsealed roads, walking tracks, bird hides, lake lookouts and campgrounds at Lake Hattah and Lake Kramen. Activities centre on nature observation, birdwatching, bushwalking, photography, canoeing and kayaking when water levels permit, and camping under dark skies.

Originally reserved as Hattah Lakes National Park in 1960 to protect the Hattah Lakes system, the park was enlarged in 1980 with the addition of the former Kulkyne State Forest to form Hattah-Kulkyne National Park. The lakes have long been an important water and food source and the area retains evidence of long Aboriginal occupation and early pastoral use.

The park lies on the traditional lands of Aboriginal groups of the Mallee region, including the Jari Jari and related peoples. The Hattah Lakes are culturally significant as a traditional meeting and resource area, with scarred trees, middens and other heritage sites reflecting long-standing connection to Country.