Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge — Attraction in Nitmiluk

Pre booked online 9am 2 Gorge and cultural tour. Easy drive in from Katherine Discovery caravan park, plenty of parking, all well signed including for those towing. Large cafe and deck area at the information centre, light meals and coffee etc. also catering for bus tours so can get busy. Clean amenities. Tour meeting place about 400 metres away also has a mini coffee/drinks shop and this is where cruise check in starts, 15 minutes prior. Plenty of seating with views of the river while you wait. Cruise was terrific with a very happy and knowledgeable guide/boat skipper. Plenty of photo opportunities in both gorges and the walk between is well marked, mostly paved/stepped and or matted. The narrative on the way through and return helped understand the gorge formation, seasonal changes, flora and fauna. There was also the Dreamtime story inclusions as well as the history of the native title claim and business purchase. Nitmiluk National Park is under a 99 year lease to the NT government which require a parks pass payment of $10 pp for one day’s access, quite a rort given we were there to do the tour and for under 3 hours. It also has to be purchased online prior to the visit with fines threatened if you don’t. My other disappointment was that for a fully owned and indigenous run operation I expected the staff and especially the guides to be indigenous to support employment opportunities for the local communities. Instead from the accents heard and interactions had, many were backpackers/migrants and other locals. Our guide was excellent and we enjoyed everything but to hear it from someone born to the land and culture may have been...

Do not visit Complete cash-grab Rude, ignorant staff If this following review deters just one person, then I've done my job. After visiting the Katherine Gorge today, I am appalled & embarrassed to be an Australian. The staff here are supposedly our ambassadors representing our country & supplying "customer service" to visitors who have travelled thousands of km's to see Katherine Gorge. Instead we were met with rude & incompetent staff. First off, bring your cash..and a lot of it. If you want a decent look at any of the gorges a 10min chopper flight will set you back around $105 otherwise it's a boat cruise starting at around $90. I was told at the visitor center there was 1 spot left for the 3pm cruise (at 2.40) so I raced to the car, got some cash & made my way to departure area to book my spot only to be told "we don't take any bookings 15mins prior to departure". Well it would've been nice to be told that before running in 36 degrees heat for nothing! Add to this that this was all just after hiking the pointless 4.8km "loop walk" that literally leads to nowhere other than a dirt road heading inland AWAY from the gorge in the complete other direction! In other words if you want to see any of the gorges you'll be paying through the nose unless you've got 2-3 days free to hike there on foot! Good luck! Oh and there's only concession for pensioners..may explain why no one under 50 was around-no incentive for students. Even staff at Katherine info centre admitted it's all a complete rip off. Try Kakadu instead..way more professional too. 1 start given as no...

I would NOT recommend camping here. The campground is not secure at all and the guests were terrorised at 1:10am by hooligans doing burn outs in the powered sites area before going into the pool and drinking with their portable speaker waking everyone up in the campground. Once they finally left the sound of the young kids crying in the caravan next to me was upsetting. Unfortunately this was the second visit in just 12 hours by this group and management didn’t turf them out the first time they visited and ruined the afternoon in the pool area carrying on, drinking and swearing. The following day 8 vehicles arrived before midday and left after 8pm hosting their own 6th birthday party in the pool area with over a dozen screaming kids making it so uncomfortable for the campground guests they had to leave. It seems the staff there have no control of the campground at all. This party was brought to the attention of the duty manager and they were not asked to leave. I chose this campsite out of Katherine to avoid this kind of behaviour. Until Nitmiluk install some serious security measures I would NOT recommend using this unsafe campsite at all. Just visit for the day and do the walks to see the beautiful gorge and leave to stay at a safer campground...