Tunnel Creek National Park covers all of 91 hectares in the Napier Range, a range that can also be seen at Windjana Gorge. It is made of limestone and is what remains of an ancient reef system which existed here in the Devonian period (that means 350 – 375 million years ago).
The main feature of the park is of course the 750 metre tunnel that a creek has worn through the Napier Range. The tunnel is the oldest cave system in Western Australia. It became famous in the late 1800s. Aboriginal leader and “outlaw” Jandamarra (better known as “Pigeon”) was using the “Cave of Bats” (also called “Pigeon Cave” = Tunnel Creek) as his hideout. After years of playing hide and seek with the police he ended up being killed in front of it, by another Aboriginal tracker, in 1897.
Sick of the sun? Then cool down underground at Tunnel Creek, which cuts through a spur of the Napier Range for almost 1km. It was famously the hideout of Jandamarra. In the Dry, the full length is walkable by wading partly through knee-deep water; watch out for bats and bring good footwear and a strong torch.
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