Millstream Chichester National Park — Attraction in Millstream

I remember coming here as a kid with my parents, it was amazing and unspoiled. Now sadly it's all overgrown with introduced weed species and stray cattle roaming freely, destroying the fragile wetlands. Dpaw is quick to put huge, childlike 'educational' signs and billboards everywhere and large obtrusive steel boardwalks through the wetlands, while ironically telling us to respect the areas deep cultural significance, they don't mention the fact weedy wattles and thorn bushes have choked out most of these ancient waterways..and big mining has torn up most of the remaining landscape and replaced it with railways and high vis everything.. The two camp sites are uninspiring, now placed on a shadeless, treeless square of red dirt offering no privacy. One camp is called 'Stargazers' and no generators are allowed at this camp...But.. in another incredible paradox, the govt ranger offices and nearby community infrastructure runs on a huge diesel generator, so the incessant drone of a diesel engine can be heard day and night across both camp sites. Booking sites here is a headache as with most govt run National parks you need to choose a site in advance even though you've never seen the camps. There is no phone signal, although if you are passing through you may be able to catch the ranger to organise a site, for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon, so if you have nothing better to do you can wait around for the ranger to show up. I miss the days when traveling and camping in Australia used to have a sense of adventure and spontaneity... As usual, for National Park status, the roads are abysmal, Australia's worst corrugations can be found mostly in our National Parks. These parks rake in a lot of money, so I was surprised when the local ranger said they've been trying to get a grader out here for years but can't get allocated one..The morning we drove back out to the bitumen there was a new grader and loader superfluously scraping the already perfect culverts along the roadside and tearing out native eucalyptus saplings at the same time.. I guess it takes mining money to get things done around here. ...Sadly, I think overexposure means Millstream has its best...

FLIES!

I don't mean a few buzzing around, I mean swarms. Maybe its just this time of year, but we ate lunches in the car and spent the rest of the day walking hurriedly around, swatting them away rather than enjoying ourselves. Nobody can control this, I understand. Just make sure you bring nets!

BEWARE. Around parking areas and in the campground, they use these knee-high box steel poles to mark the roads and sites, and they are brown! Blending into the earth. They are in a terrible position for you to open a door onto or drive over, we saw a woman in a new Prado turn out of a park spot and drive straight into one. Hardly her fault, anyone would have struggled to see it.

Parts of the park are nice. The rest is just rolling spinifex hills. However, gravel roads can be unforgiving on vehicles and gear inside, especially the Roebourne-Wintenoon Road passing Python Pool and Snappy-Gum Drive behind the campgrounds

Deep Reach Pool would be a nice spot for lunch and a dip, but some infrastructure has been burned down from a bushfire some time ago and hasn't been replaced yet, and again, flies! It's still a nice spot for a dip otherwise

The old homestead near the campground is a nice spot to stroll around, although it is very basic, and a lot of insects in the amenities.

Miliyanha campground is fine but basic, which isn't a bad thing. Newish unisex drop loo's, no showers, camp kitchen has great large stainless bench space, running water and gas BBQ, camp spots are a good size. It is a quiet site. No generators to be used after certain times of the evening, although on a still night we could hear power from the ranger station and the low thrum of trains rolling through the hills. No bins so take your rubbish with you.

I'm not sure if we could recommend the park to others unless they are already passing through the area. Overall, we're glad we visited and ticked it off the list though, some nice things to see for a...

Stayed at Miliyanha campsite, in the Millstream side,for 2 nights in late July. Has roomy sites that accomodate larger vans, a nice campers kitchen and a good number of non-flush toilets. Camp-hosts on site and very helpful. Unfortunately the main river bed and green forested areas are off-limits for conservation reasons, the wetlands walk off-limits due to cyclone damage 4 or more years ago, the primary bush and wooded areas were severely damaged / de-foliated by fire a year or so ago and the Snappygum track closed, for a mix of cultural and conservation reasons. So options are reduced but still include the homestead and Deep-reach / Nhanggangunha pool. Bird life was good but other wildlife fairly restricted, probably due to recent bushfires. Plant life is thankfully starting to recover. In summary, if you plan to drive the 140+km from Karratha to see Millstream, you may wish to reconsider and save your diesel and park/camping fees for another day. If passing through on the road from Karratha or Panawonnica to/fromTom Price then worth stopping in a night or two. Also be aware that Water corp have an industrial sized diesel powered pump running beyond the homestead that provides a steady background rumble depending on wind direction, sometimes 24hrs a day (varies). It’s a shame Parks and Wildlife DCBA don’t advise the many restrictions/ conditions at Millstream on their website. Hopefully it will re-grow and be restored by DCBA to its former glory without all the current...