Adels Grove and Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill NP)

Carmen Friend
Jul 6, 2018
3 min read

We spent one night at a free camp at Gregory Downs on the river. Beautiful freecamp on the river (not official but there was a cast of thousands there)! There is a great swimming spot north of the bridge which if you have a noodle or rubber ring or tire you can float down the river through some small rapids.

About 90km from Gregory is Adels Grove and Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park. Boodjamulla has a small number of camping sites which must be pre-booked during busy periods online. Adels Grove is a large camping ground which has camping sites within the ‘Grove’ under the shade of the trees and easy access to the water or sites for generator and pets and bigger vans up on the top. There is no power here so solar power or generators are the only way to charge batteries. There is a bar and restaurant ‘Alberts’ plus ‘The Shack’ which does fish and chips in the evenings. There are also glamping tents and ensuite and rooms with shared facilities accommodation with bed and breakfast packages available. There is also an airstrip if you want to fly in! The Royal Flying Doctors visits here once a month catering for all of the community who drive in to see the doctor or nurse.

Adels Grove was originally gazetted in 1904 as a Miners Homestead Lease. In 1920 Albert de Lestang decided to use the property as an experiment botanical Garden and hence the name Adels (comes from his initials). Over 1,000 exotic and native plants including shrubs and trees, had been planted here by 1939 with seeds provided to the world from the nursery. 536 examples of these seeds can be found in the Botanical Gardens of Brisbane within their collection.

Adels Grove run guided tours within Boodjamulla and also to the World Heritage Listed Riverslea Fossil Fields. Within Boodjamulla there are a number of walks ranging from easy to difficult, plus you can hire canoes to go up the middle and upper gorges or take a cruise on the solar powered boat with a guide to tell you about the gorge, flora and fauna.

We did the cruise which was great to understand the area. Interestingly, the water in this area is very high in calcium. A water pipe removed from the Adels Grove water system, was calcified and completely blocked within 18months! When there is a rainy season here, the gorge is completely washed out, with the flora being removed and the waterfalls being exposed. As there was no rainy season this year, most of the falls are covered over. There were 2 falls which you could swim to and sit under – the water coming over the falls is about 24 degrees so relatively warm.

The walk to the Indarri Falls is relatively flat with a bit of a climb to the falls swimming platform. Further on from the falls, is the climb up to the Upper Gorge which gives you a beautiful view in both directions over the upper gorge. The track in one direction is shaded and runs along the gorge and is nice and cool whilst the rest of the loop is exposed to the elements and not one to be done during the heat of the day.

We love it so much here that we managed to pick up some work doing housekeeping, amenities cleaning and other small odd jobs here and there!