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Historic Pine Creek

National Trust Museum – Pine Creek Information

Pine Creek is the only original mining town remaining in the Top End from the gold rush era of the 1870s. The National Trust Museum building is the oldest surviving prefabricated structure in the Northern Territory. Originally the home of the Mining Warden in Burrundie, it was later moved to Pine Creek in 1913 and over the years it served many purposes such as; a doctors residence, clinic, dispensary, military hospital, and post office and exchange. Today the building houses the National Trust museum and town library. A browse through the building and its contents sheds light on the gold rush, local Chinese history, buffalo hunters and the Overland Telegraph Line.

Pine Creek Railway Precinct Information

Explore the Pine Creek Railway Precinct. The initial terminus of an uncompleted 19th century transcontinental railway system, the railway’s contribution to the development of the mining boom in the late 19th century was profound, enabling companies to transport machinery and equipment with greater ease to the mine fields than had been possible previously. It was also a catalyst for the opening of new mines in the area. Its contribution to the development of Pine Creek and other towns along its route was also important.

Pine Creek Water Gardens Information

These water gardens in the middle of town were created after the old railway tracks were uplifted, leaving a series of unsightly trenches, which were then turned into a series of attractive ponds and landscaped gardens. The area is now a pleasant shady place for a picnic or a walk.

Other local attractions in Pine Creek

  • Mine lookout
  • Copperfield Dam
  • Umbrawarra Gorge
  • Original Heritage Buildings
  • Old goldmine diggings
  • Railway Precinct
  • National Trust Museum
  • MacDoanld WWII Airstrip

Bioregion Features

The Pine Creek bioregion comprises foothill environments below and to the west of the western Arnhem Land sandstone massif. Its main defining feature is the highly mineraliferous Pine Creek Geosyncline, comprising Archaean granite and gneiss overlain by Palaeoprotozoic sediments. The major vegetation types are eucalypt tall open forests, typically dominated by Darwin woollybutt (Eucalyptus miniata) and Darwin stringybark (E. tetrodonta), and woodlands (dominated by a range of species including E. grandifolia, E. latifolia, E. tintinnans, E. confertiflora and E. tectifica), with smaller areas of monsoon rainforest patches, Melaleuca woodlands, riparian vegetation and tussock grasslands. Characteristic species include the granivorous birds Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae), hooded parrot (Psephotus dissimilis) and partridge pigeon (Geophaps smithii). This relatively small bioregion has not been divided into subregions. The bioregion includes relatively large populations of some threatened species, most notably the gouldian finch, and one of the largest known colonies of ghost bat.

Kakadu National Park

Kakadu National Park is Australia’s largest national park at 19,840 square kilometres (equivalent in area to Wales or Israel). It is the world’s second largest national park after Northeast Greenland National Park at 972,000 square kilometres.

Kakadu National Park is managed jointly by its Aboriginal traditional owners and the Director of National Parks. The traditional owners are proud to share their country with visitors.

Kakadu is UNESCO World Heritage Listed for both natural and cultural values and is jointly managed by Traditional Aboriginal owners and Parks Australia.

Kakadu National Park is one of four Australian sites included on the World Heritage List for both outstanding cultural and natural universal values. The park is extremely important to Aboriginal people, and many communities still occupy the region.

The Aboriginal art sites of Kakadu National Park are a unique artistic achievement that provides an outstanding record of human interaction with the environment over tens of thousands of years.

Bird Watching

Bird species in the area:

The property attracts a number of different bird species such as the Hooded Parrot, Lorikeets, and Blue Faced HoneyEaters. Many species of finch are also common to the area such as the Blood Finch, Gouldian Finch, Masked Finch and Zebra Finch.

  • Hooded Parrots
  • Gouldian Finch
  • Blue Faced Honeyeaters
  • Great Bowerbird (and Bowers)
  • Grey Babblers
  • Black and White Cockatoos
  • Red Winged Parrots
  • Australian Mudlarks
  • Butcher birds
  • Curlews
  • Plovers
  • Quarians
  • Collared Sparrowhawk
  • Egrets
  • Brolga
  • Pardalote
  • Friar birds
  • Dollar birds
  • Forest Kingfisher
  • Blue Winged Kookaburra
  • Koels
  • Willie Wagtail
  • Spangled Drongo
  • Figbirds
  • Red Collared Lorikeets