Shearers Quarters, Mungo National Park
Australia / Pooncarie, New South Wales
Location ID: #16059
Mungo National Park is a national park in far western NSW, 876 km west of Sydney. Mungo is a park of dramatic contrasts. Evidence shows that human occupation of the area began around 50,000 years ago. It is part of the Willandra Lakes Region, a World Heritage Site covering 2,400 square kilometres, and incorporating seventeen dry lakes. The central feature of Mungo National Park is Lake Mungo, the second largest of the dry lakes.
Lake Mungo has been dry for thousands of years and now is a lake of salt bush. From the 1850s, the area was an extensive grazing property shearing thousands of sheep which had a debilitating effect with the extensive erosion that occurred as a consequence. The huge Mungo shearing shed has been restored to illustrate this phase of the Park's history, and is now available as accommodation for visitors to the park.
The three local Aboriginal tribal groups are actively involved in the management of the park and also assist in the provision of guided tours.