Litchfield the most visited national park in the territory, ahead of Uluru and Kakadu

ULURU and Kakadu may be the Territory’s major tourist drawcards, but Litchfield National Park is the slice of nature attracting the highest visitation

Northern Territory Indigenous Tours, Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory, www.NTindigenoustours.com, Marrathiel language group Copyright James Fisher/Tourism Australia Region Darwin and Surrounds State NT Image supplied by Tourism Australian, must credit (with photographer name)

ULURU and Kakadu may be the Territory’s major tourist drawcards, but Litchfield National Park is the slice of nature attracting the highest visitation.

It is an added boost for Parks and Wildlife Commission NT-managed areas, which have seen an increase in visitation numbers across the past three financial years.

Of the Territory’s parks with camping facilities, Litchfield beat the two federally managed big names with its estimated 312,000 visitors in the 2014-15 financial year. Nitmiluk and Elsey national parks rounded out the top five in a strong result for the Katherine region. Tourism NT CEO Tony Mayell rated Litchfield a top spot for a weekend stay.

“It is no surprise Litchfield continues to be one of the Territory’s most popular tourism attractions,” he said.

“And it will continue to be a hot spot, particularly with Darwin locals and interstate visitors looking for a weekend escape – you can camp at Florence Falls or pitch a tent at the Batchelor Holiday Park.”

Litchfield National Park will receive more than $10 million in upgrades as announced in the NT Budget 2015, including nearly $5 million for an upgrade of the Florence Falls site.

NT Parks and Wildlife-managed parks have seen a steady visitor increase from an estimated 2,766,100 in the 2012-13 financial year to 2,852,050 in 2014-15.

Visitor numbers are tallied through various avenues, including vehicle and people counters, but data is not collected on how many visitors camp overnight.

NT Parks and Wildlife told the Sunday Territorian a reason for the increase was unclear, but reflected overall visitation trends to the NT.

Elsey National Park, which includes Bitter Springs and the Mataranka Thermal Pool, had a significant rise in popularity in the past financial year with 27,000 additional visitors.

Mr Mayell said Tourism NT was pleased with the overall strength in regional tourism.

“It’s great to see visitors getting off the beaten track and exploring the Territory’s unique and diverse regions,” he said. “Tourism NT knows how important regional tourism is to our overall tourism product and we will continue to ensure our spectacular parks are promoted to visitors around the world.”

Most of the bigger parks remain open across the wet season, but any changes to accessibility can be found at the NT Parks and Wildlife and Parks Australia websites.