Ubirr Art and Lookout Walk

Easy

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An easy, grade-2 walk past several Aboriginal rock art galleries at the base of Ubirr Rock, climbing to a lookout with panoramic views over the East Alligator River floodplain. One of Kakadu's most visited sites for its X-ray style paintings depicting barramundi, wallabies and turtles.

☰ Trail details

Hide panel — map only✕

Distance

1.95 km

Est. time

29 min

Elevation gain

8 m

Route type

Loop

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In an emergency

Call 000 for police, fire or ambulance — Australia's emergency number works even with a weak signal, and without a SIM if any carrier has coverage.

You're in Kakadu National Park, Jabiru, Kakadu, NT. Mobile reception in this area is not guaranteed — this is exactly why the offline map and GPS position on this page work without signal.

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Tracks & plans

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About this hike

Ubirr's rock art galleries sit at the base of a low outlier of the Arnhem Land escarpment, and the paintings here have been continuously painted and repainted since as far back as 40,000 years ago, though most of what's visible today dates to the last two millennia. The main gallery is renowned for its X-ray style art, depicting the internal bones and organs of animals such as barramundi, catfish and wallabies, and includes a painting of a thylacine — a species that vanished from this part of Australia around 2,000 years ago. A short climb from the galleries leads to a rock lookout with sweeping views across the Nadab floodplain, one of the best places in Kakadu to watch the light change over the wetlands. The walk itself is short and easy, but the density of continuously-used cultural sites along it makes it one of the most significant short walks in the park.

Species to look for on this trail

Ancient trees and rare flora confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Anbinik

Allosyncarpia ternata

Monotypic Arnhem Land escarpment endemic▾

Monotypic Arnhem Land escarpment endemic

A spreading, shade-giving tree up to 18 m tall that dominates fire-protected monsoon forest pockets in sandstone gorges along the western Arnhem Land escarpment. It is the sole species in its genus and does not occur naturally anywhere else on Earth.

How to spot it

Grey, fibrous bark; stiff narrowly ovate to elliptic leaves up to 11 cm long arranged in whorls of three. Found sheltering in sandstone gorges and gullies protected from wildfire, often forming closed-canopy stands.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Allosyncarpia

Ruth Palsson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Spiral Pandanus

Pandanus spiralis

Top End screw palm▾

Top End screw palm

A small tree of northern Australia's savanna woodlands and floodplain margins, growing to about 10 m with strap-like leaves crowded and spiralling toward the branch tips. Its segmented fruit ripens to orange or red and is a traditional food and fibre source for Aboriginal people.

How to spot it

Leaves 1-2 m long and 4-7 cm wide, spirally arranged with sharp spines along the margins and midrib; dead leaves hang in a skirt below the crown, and leaf-base scars spiral visibly down the trunk.

Family Pandanaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Pandanus spiralis

Rob Foster, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Darwin Stringybark

Eucalyptus tetrodonta

Dominant Top End woodland eucalypt▾

Dominant Top End woodland eucalypt

A tall eucalypt, usually 9-25 m, that forms the backbone of open woodland across the Top End alongside Darwin Woollybutt. Its Yolngu name gadayka means 'the word', reflecting its cultural importance.

How to spot it

Rough, stringy or fibrous grey-over-reddish-brown bark on trunk and branches; dull bluish-green lance-shaped leaves in opposite pairs; flower buds in groups of three with whitish-cream flowers; woody cylindrical fruit capsules.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Eucalyptus tetrodonta

G.W. Wilson, CC BY 3.0 AU, via Wikimedia Commons

Native Waterlily

Nymphaea violacea

Blue lily of tropical NT wetlands▾

Blue lily of tropical NT wetlands

A water lily of northern Australia's billabongs and floodplains, with violet, blue or white flowers held above the water. Every part of the plant - tuber, stem, flower and seed - has traditionally been eaten as bush tucker.

How to spot it

Floating rounded leaves and violet-to-white multi-petalled flowers rising on stalks above the water surface; look for it in permanent billabongs and slow floodplain channels.

Family Nymphaeaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Nymphaea violacea

Allgau, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sand Palm

Livistona humilis

Fire-tolerant Top End endemic palm▾

Fire-tolerant Top End endemic palm

A small, slender fan palm endemic to the Top End of the Northern Territory, growing to about 7 m with 8-15 fan-shaped fronds. It is fire tolerant and typically grows in open eucalypt woodland that burns regularly.

How to spot it

Slender single trunk 5-8 cm across topped with 8-15 fan-shaped leaves 30-50 cm long on long petioles; small yellow flowers followed by shiny purple-black fruit; found on sandy and lateritic soils in open woodland.

Family Arecaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Livistona humilis

J Brew, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Weeping Paperbark

Melaleuca leucadendra

Riverine paperbark of Top End waterways▾

Riverine paperbark of Top End waterways

A large tree over 20 m tall with thick white papery bark and weeping branches, lining rivers, creeks and floodplain margins across the Top End. Cream to greenish-white flower spikes appear along the branches.

How to spot it

Thick, papery, peeling white-to-cream bark; alternate narrow lance-shaped leaves 75-270 mm long with 5-9 longitudinal veins; cream flower spikes; woody capsule clusters along the stems. Look for it fringing rivers and billabongs.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Melaleuca leucadendra

Ethel Aardvark, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Wildlife you might see on this trail

Animals confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Partridge Pigeon

Geophaps smithii

Vulnerable — NT: Vulnerable▾

Vulnerable — NT: Vulnerable

The partridge pigeon is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to Australia.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Kakadu National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 2018) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Columbidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Partridge Pigeon

Fawn Antechinus

Antechinus bellus

Endangered — AUS: Vulnerable, NT: Endangered▾

Endangered — AUS: Vulnerable, NT: Endangered

The fawn antechinus is a species of small carnivorous marsupial found in northern Australia. It is the only Antechinus to be found in the Northern Territory and has a patchy, restricted range.

How to spot it

The fawn antechinus is unique among antechinuses, being considerably paler than many of its relatives. It is a light grey colour and is distinguished from the only other similar species in the area where it lives (the sandstone dibbler and the red-cheeked dunnart) by its larger size and paler colouring. It is insectivorous and, like many of its relatives, all of the males die after the breeding season. The fawn antechinus has a breeding season during August. Young are born in September–October i

Family Dasyuridae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Fawn Antechinus

Digul

Dasyurus hallucatus

Critically Endangered — AUS: Endangered, WA: Endangered, NT: Critically Endangered▾

Critically Endangered — AUS: Endangered, WA: Endangered, NT: Critically Endangered

The northern quoll, also known as the northern native cat, the North Australian native cat or the satanellus is a carnivorous marsupial native to Australia.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Kakadu National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 1995) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Dasyuridae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Dasyurus hallucatus

Oenpelli Python, Nawaran, Oenpelli Rock Python

Nyctophilopython oenpelliensis

Vulnerable — AUS: Vulnerable, NT: Vulnerable▾

Vulnerable — AUS: Vulnerable, NT: Vulnerable

The Oenpelli python or Oenpelli rock python is a species of large snake in the family Pythonidae. The species is endemic to the sandstone massif area of the western Arnhem Land region in the Northern Territory of Australia. There are no subspecies that are recognised as being valid. It has been called the rarest python in the world. Two notable characteristics of the species are the unusually large size of its eggs and its ability to change colour. It is the longest snake native to the Northern Territory.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Kakadu National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 2011) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Pythonidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Nyctophilopython oenpelliensis

Black-Footed Tree-Rat

Mesembriomys gouldii

Endangered — NT: Endangered▾

Endangered — NT: Endangered

The black-footed tree-rat, also known as Djintamoonga, is one of two endemic Australian rodent species in the genus Mesembriomys. Both the black-footed tree-rat and its congener, the golden-backed tree-rat, are found in northern Australia. The species is one of the largest murids found in Australia.

How to spot it

The tree-rat has a greyish-brown coat that is shaggy and coarse and has a creamy white underbelly. The hind feet are black with well developed pads and strong sharp claws. They have large ears and a long tail with a brush of white hair at the tip. They grow to a mass of 830 grams (29 oz). The head and body length of the tree-rat is typically 250 to 308 millimetres (9.8 to 12.1 in) with a tail length of 100 to 130 millimetres (3.9 to 5.1 in). Three subspecies of the black-footed tree-rat have bee

Family Muridae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Mesembriomys gouldii

Hooded Robin

Melanodryas cucullata

Critically Endangered — ACT: Endangered, VIC: Endangered, NT: Critically Endangered▾

Critically Endangered — ACT: Endangered, VIC: Endangered, NT: Critically Endangered

The hooded robin is a small passerine bird native to Australia. Like many brightly coloured robins of the Petroicidae, it is sexually dimorphic; the male bears a distinctive black-and-white plumage, while the female is a nondescript grey-brown.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Kakadu National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 1987) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Petroicidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Melanodryas cucullata

Brush-Tailed Tree-Rat

Conilurus penicillatus

Endangered — AUS: Vulnerable, QLD: Vulnerable, NT: Endangered▾

Endangered — AUS: Vulnerable, QLD: Vulnerable, NT: Endangered

The brush-tailed rabbit rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

How to spot it

The brush-tailed-rabbit-rat is a moderately sized murid rodent, weighing from 116 to 216 g with a head-body length of 135 to 227 mm and a tail length of 102 to 235 mm. Typically individuals are coloured grizzled grey or brown on the upper side of the body, and white to cream coloured on the belly. The long tail ends in a slight brush structure with either a black or white tail tip.

Family Muridae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Conilurus penicillatus

Sugar glider

Petaurus breviceps

IUCN Least Concern - common but iconic▾

IUCN Least Concern - common but iconic

A small, highly social gliding possum found in coastal forests of eastern and northern Australia. It is omnivorous, nocturnal, and named for both its taste for sugary sap and nectar and its gliding membranes.

How to spot it

Small (24-30cm nose to tail, under 150g), blue-grey fur with a bold black stripe running from nose to mid-back and a cream belly. Travels and dens in family groups in tree hollows, and can be located at night by its bark-like yip or hiss calls and quick short glides between trees, much shorter and faster than the larger gliders.

Family Petauridae · Source: Wikipedia; IUCN Red List

Illustration: Neville Henry Cayley, 1922 (public domain) via Wikimedia Commons

Wedge-tailed eagle

Aquila audax

IUCN Least Concern — common but iconic▾

IUCN Least Concern — common but iconic

The wedge-tailed eagle is Australia's largest bird of prey, with a wingspan of up to 2.84 metres. Once persecuted as a livestock threat, it is now widespread and secure across virtually every Australian habitat from desert to alpine woodland.

How to spot it

Unmistakable in flight: a huge dark raptor with a long, diamond-shaped tail, often seen soaring high on thermals over open or rocky country. Adults are blackish-brown with tawny-rufous hackles on the neck; juveniles are paler and more rufous. Despite its size, its call is a surprisingly thin, high whistle.

Family Accipitridae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: JJ Harrison (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons