Interesting Facts About Bungle Bungle Range, Australia

The famous Bungle Bungles Range in Australia is the lined black and orange strips range of rounded rock formations of sandstone, that is a part of the Purnululu National Park.

Formed during the Devonian period, over 350 million years ago, the Bungle Bungle site covers an area of about 239,723 acres!

The sand at the site was deposited due to the river flowing from the northeast, which was later transformed into sand dunes. During the same time, gravels from the eroding mountain were deposited at the site! This combination of sand and gravels together formed the sandstone deposit at the mountain range.

Due to continuous erosion and weathering of the sandstone rocks, the rocks are shaped into towers and cone-like structures.

The rock formations look like beehives when seen from the top, stand at 250 meters high, with the average height of the formations ranging from 200-300 meters!

Another striking feature of the range is the orange and black stripes on the rocks. Due to the presence of orange silica and black lichen, the stripes are visible on the rocks.

Due to the permeable nature of the rocks, the water seeps into the rocks, that assists the growth of the algae (cyanobacterium), that's how the dark black colored stripes are formed! The orange bands are due to the oxidation of the iron compounds.

During rainfall, the dark band turns black while the coating turns dull grey, during the dry season!

In addition to the beehive formation, there are a lot of tropical pools, caves and deep mountain caverns which interest the tourists.

In the local language, the word 'Purnululu' means sandstone which is a Kija word!

The Bungle Bungle range was only known to the local Aboriginal people, who lived in the region for 20,000 years, until the 1980s. It was due to a film crew who were filming a documentary on the Kimberley in 1982, that the Bungle Bungle range finally came into the limelight!

It was only in 1983 when the Department of Lands and Surveys were looking for a name for this region, they borrowed the name of the local station, Bungle Bungle.

One can find a lot of ancient aboriginal cave paintings in the mountain caverns and caves!

The beehive striped ranges are found in the Cathedral Gorge (southern end of park) and Echidna Chasm (northern end).

There are about 130 bird species found in the range alongside native animals like nailtail wallaby and the short-eared rock wallaby! The site of the beauty of palm trees at the range is amazing.

The number of tourists visiting the park by land is much less than the ones who travel by air! The beautiful beehive formations and the tiger-stripes are clearly visible when seen from the top.

The park is open for the general public from April to October as the wet season extends from November to April when traveling through the range is difficult.

When at the range, one can find camping sites with water, firewood and tent sites made available for the tourists.

A 4WD drive from Kununurra or Halls Creek to the National Park is an amazing experience! Or a scenic flight trip can also be explored as an option if you are looking for a shorter trip.