Windswept rocky headlands,
mangroves, swamps, rainforest and sand dunes are part of Cape Palmerston National
Park’s rugged beauty. Open eucalypt woodland with ironbark and poplar
gum grows on the ridges while paperbarks grow in the gullies. The distinctive
344m Mt Funnel towers over the park.
Midden heaps are a reminder
of the special connection Aboriginal people have with this place. Named by
Cook in 1770, Cape Palmerston is one of the few remaining areas of natural
coastline in the Mackay area.
The false water-rat lives
in the park’s mangroves while beach stone-curlews frequent the beaches.
Both are considered vulnerable to extinction. Pied imperial-pigeons which
visit late winter and spring are close to the southern limit of their range.
The adjacent waters and
the Cape Creek system are part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Location
Cape Palmerston is 115km
south-east of Mackay. Access is by four-wheel-drive vehicles only. Turn off
the Bruce Highway at Ilbilbie and drive east towards Greenhill.
Further
Information
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service PO Box 15187 City East Q 4002