Australia's Top Ten National Monuments

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

• This national park is home to one of Australia's most recognizable landmarks, Uluru. Formerly known as Ayers Rock, this 1,142 foot-tall sandstone monument ranks among the world's most popular visitor attractions. Uluru is also unique in being designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to both its natural beauty and its cultural significance to the Anangu people. Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is considered equally significant as one of the most diverse arid ecosystems in the world.

  Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
  Yulara, Northern Territory 0872
  Australia
  011 (+61) 8 8956 1128
  environment.gov.au/parks/uluru

Kakadu National Park

• Kakadu National Park has profound cultural and natural significance for the country of Australia. Located in the Northern Territory, this 4,894,000 square-acre natural monument contains many diverse ecosystems, from tidal flats to rock cliff faces. Visitors come to experience the park's natural beauty, as well as the cultural expressions of the local people seen in rock art and paintings at sites such as Ubirr, Nourlangie and Nanguluwur. Kakadu is home to over 300 aboriginal people, who consider the territory to be sacred.

  Kakadu National Park
  Jabiru, Northern Territory 0886
  Australia
  011 (+61) 8 8938 1100
  environment.gov.au/parks/kakadu

Fraser Island

• Fraser Island, the largest sand island on the planet, is now a designated World Heritage Site. Lying within the territory of Queensland, Fraser Island attracts visitors due to its vast white sand beaches, as well as the island's large population of dingoes, or wild dogs.

  Fraser Island
  Queensland
  Australia
  derm.qld.gov.au/parks_and_forests/world_heritage_areas/fraser_island.html

Port Arthur

• Port Arthur has a dark history as one of the most brutal penal colonies ever to operate. Open from 1833 to 1877, the prison housed inmates as young as nine years old. Now a national monument, Port Arthur offers tours to curious visitors.

  Port Arthur Historic Site
  Arthur Highway
  Port Arthur, Tasmania 7182
  Australia
  011 (+61) 3 6251 2300
  www.portarthur.org.au

Great Barrier Reef

• The Great Barrier Reef is a designated World Heritage Site, as well as a national monument. At nearly 1,500 miles long, the reef covers an astounding 86 million acres along the northeast coast of Australia, providing a home to more than 1,500 fish species.

  Great Barrier Reef
  2-68 Flinders St.
  Townsville, Queensland 4810
  Australia
  www.gbrmpa.gov.au

Glass House Mountains National Park

• Home to some of the most impressive volcanic rock formations in the world, Glass House Mountains National Park is one of Australia's best-loved national monuments. The rock formations are actually the cores of volcanoes that went extinct 27 to 26 million years ago.

  Glass House Mountains National Park
  Queensland
  Australia
  derm.qld.gov.au/parks/glass-house-mountains/index.html

Dinosaur Stampede National Monument

• Located in Lark Quarry, Dinosaur Stampede National Monument is the world's only known example of a fossilized dinosaur stampede. The site is protected, but available to visitors.

  Dinosaur Stampede National Monument
  John Gorton Building
  King Edward Terrace
  Parkes ACT 2600
  Australia
  011 (+61) 2 6274 1111
  environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/dinosaur-stampede/index.html

Grampians National Park

• Grampians National Park contains some of the richest and best preserved examples of indigenous rock art in the country. Located near the south coast of Australia, the park is home to the Jardwadjali and Djab-wurrung peoples, who consider the area sacred and have left dozens of painted caves and other sites around the region.

  Grampians National Park
  Level 10/535 Bourke St.
  Melbourne, Victoria 3000
  Australia
  011 (+61) 3 8627 4699
  parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm?park=109

Australian Alps National Parks

• The name Australian Alps National Park refers to a smaller grouping of alpine and subalpine environments spread across a vast expanse of mountain ranges. Designated a national monument due to its natural value and historical importance, the park is a popular destination for bush-walking and fishing.

  Australian Alps National Parks
  500 Cotter Road
  Weston, Victoria 2611
  Australia
  australianalps.environment.gov.au/index.html

Purnululu National Park

• Purnululu National Park encompasses a vast, undulating range of sandstone hills called the Bungle Bungle Range. The park was designated a World Heritage Site in 1987.

  Purnululu National Park
  John Gorton Building
  King Edward Terrace
  Parkes ACT 2600
  Australia
  011 (+61) 2 6274 1111
  environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/purnululu/information.html