Burrungkuy (Nourlangie) walk

Here you’ll find some of the world’s oldest and most impressive rock art, and spectacular views of the Arnhem Land escarpment.

Burrungkuy (Nourlangie) is one reason why Kakadu is World Heritage-listed for outstanding cultural values. This famous site, with its stunning rock paintings, documents life in the region from 20,000 years ago to the first contact with European explorers.

This 1.5 km walk invites you to take a visual journey through time to an outdoor cultural museum where paintings, shelters and artefacts present traditional ways of life from numerous epochs.

Rock art and lookout

Along this walk you’ll find the renowned Anbangbang gallery and shelter along with the Kunwarddewardde lookout. The lookout surveys the impressive Arnhem Land escarpment with its sandstone cliffs and expansive savanna woodlands.

For the Traditional Custodians of this area art (kunbim) is an expression of cultural identity and connection to Country. The act of painting is generally more important than the painting itself so many older paintings are covered by more recent works.

The main rock art site along this walk is the Anbangbang gallery and shelter. Here, and nearby, you’ll find a concentration of numerous artistic styles spanning various time periods that capture an array of subjects. See representations of creation beings, such as Namarrkon (lightning man), intriguing depictions of European sailing ships from first contact with white people and x-ray art of animals and fish.

During the dry season seasonal guided activities of Burrungkuy (Nourlangie) explain the geology and archaeology of the area, the way Indigenous people used Anbangbang shelter and provide insights into the ancient cultural roots and their connection with the land.

Wildlife

There’s many endemic species on this walk and you may encounter the chestnut-quilled rock pigeon or the black wallaroo (barrk).

On your way up to Kunwarddehwardde lookout take a moment to listen to the helmeted friar birds or try to spot the elusive spangled drongos while emerald doves and banded fruit-doves dart about the tree canopy.