In pictures: Record flooding closes outback parks

In pictures: Record flooding closes outback parks



Innam­inc­ka saw its high­est flood­ing in record­ed his­to­ry in April 2025, after mas­sive rain­fall in Queens­land made its way down Kini­pa­pa Coop­er Creek to South Australia.

In pictures: Record flooding closes outback parks

Need to know: Innam­inc­ka Region­al Reserve and Malkum­ba Coongie Lakes Nation­al Park are closed to vis­i­tors until fur­ther notice.

Even as flood­wa­ters sub­side, many roads will remain impass­able for some time. Check the Innam­inc­ka Region­al Reserve web page for updates. In the mean­time, enjoy some pho­tos of the extra­or­di­nary water lev­els, and find out more about the event, from the com­fort of some­where dry.

In pictures: Record flooding closes outback parks

What’s been flooded?

  • Access tracks, camp­sites and toi­lets at Innam­inc­ka Region­al Reserve.
  • Innam­inc­ka town­ship causeway.
  • Innam­inc­ka Town Com­mon Camp­ing Area.
  • Innam­inc­ka Sta­tion Home­stead Complex.
  • The Race­course, run by the Innam­inc­ka Sport­ing Club.
  • Many Yan­druwand­ha and Yawar­rawar­rka cul­tur­al her­itage sites includ­ing art, bur­ial, camp­ing and cer­e­mo­ni­al sites.
  • The Adven­ture Way.
  • Nap­pa Mer­rie Bridge (Burke and Wills Bridge) on the Adven­ture Way in Queensland.

In pictures: Record flooding closes outback parks

In pictures: Record flooding closes outback parks

In pictures: Record flooding closes outback parks

One for the his­to­ry books

The flood­ing in South Australia’s out­back is the result of extreme­ly heavy rains in Queens­land through­out March.

The water flowed into the Thom­son, Wil­son and Bar­coo Rivers, which merge with Kini­pa­pa Coop­er Creek, which flows into SA at the Nap­pa Mer­rie cross­ing, and down to the Innam­inc­ka Causeway. 

The Cause­way has been impass­able since March 27 and the water peaked at 14.51m on April 10. This was 12.5m above the cause­way, which sits at 1.9m.

The water is now slow­ly mov­ing towards Kati Than­da-Lake Eyre.

In pictures: Record flooding closes outback parks

What’s been done to help?

The advan­tage of being down­stream is you have a bit more time to pre­pare. A team of SES, Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice Project Fire­fight­ers and Innam­inc­ka Nation­al Park Rangers built a Defen­Cell wall around the low­er edges of the town­ship for protection.

Sci­en­tists checked and raised water gauges in the area to ensure they could accu­rate­ly mea­sure the peak lev­els. Staff from sta­tions in the path of the del­uge were evac­u­at­ed to safer areas. And in the weeks fol­low­ing the flood, SES has con­tin­ued to sup­ply sta­tions with fuel, fod­der drops and food with a Black­hawk heli­copter sta­tioned at Innam­inc­ka airstrip.

In pictures: Record flooding closes outback parks

In pictures: Record flooding closes outback parks

Is this good news for the local environment?

Large­ly, it’s good news for the land, plants and ani­mals. These big 15-year flood events are nor­mal for the Lake Eyre Basin and inland riv­er sys­tems. The flush of water helps keep the sys­tem healthy and nour­ish­es wet­lands that are rich in bio­di­ver­si­ty. Abun­dant water stim­u­lates the regen­er­a­tion of plant, ani­mal and water species and pro­vides impor­tant habi­tat for many migra­to­ry waterbirds. 

On the down­side, flood­ing caus­es ero­sion of stream­banks, par­tic­u­lar­ly in areas of over­graz­ing, and along tracks and road. There can be loss of stock and native ani­mals, while pest plants and ani­mals may be dis­trib­uted fur­ther by flood­wa­ters. With the influx of water­birds and oth­er wildlife, fer­al pest activ­i­ty will inevitably follow.

In pictures: Record flooding closes outback parks

Can I still visit?

Not yet! Due to the flood­ing, the Innam­inc­ka Region­al Reserve and Malkum­ba-Coongie Lakes Nation­al Park are closed until fur­ther notice. Much of the area is still inac­ces­si­ble by road, and many roads have been dam­aged. Please check the Out­back Road Warn­ings and do not attempt trav­el in the area until it is advised as safe.

As flood­wa­ters recede and the land­scape comes to life, sight­seers are expect­ed to flock to the area to expe­ri­ence mass­es of wild­flow­ers and birdlife.

Tours to view the region from the air are like­ly to be the ear­li­est avail­able ways to see the after-effects of the flooding.

The Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice Desert Parks Bul­letin is a great source of cur­rent trav­el safe­ty and access information.

In pictures: Record flooding closes outback parks

About Innam­inc­ka Region­al Reserve and Malkum­ba-Coongie Lakes Nation­al Park 

Innam­inc­ka Region­al Reserve, Malkum­ba-Coongie Lakes Nation­al Park and Strz­elec­ki Region­al Reserve togeth­er cov­er an area of over 2 mil­lion hectares in the far north east of South Aus­tralia. The region is mul­ti-use includ­ing pas­toral, min­ing and tourism enter­pris­es, along­side nat­ur­al land­scape rang­ing from life-giv­ing wet­lands to stark arid outback.

Innam­inc­ka Region­al Reserve pro­tects a land­scape which is pro­found­ly sig­nif­i­cant to the Yan­druwand­ha and Yawar­rawar­rka peo­ple, includ­ing numer­ous sacred sites. It also pro­tects his­toric State Her­itage List­ed fea­tures asso­ci­at­ed with pio­neer life, ear­ly pas­toral enter­pris­es and the expe­di­tion and death of Burke and Wills.

Malkum­ba-Coongie Lakes Con­ser­va­tion Park is close to the Queens­land bor­der in the extreme far north-east of South Aus­tralia, about 100km north of Innamincka.

A true oasis in the desert, the park con­sists of chan­nels, water­holes, lakes, inter­nal deltas, shal­low flood­plains and inter­dune cor­ri­dors and swamps. Motor­boats, camp­fires, fish­ing and gen­er­a­tors are not per­mit­ted in the park, ensur­ing a gen­uine wilder­ness experience.

Coongie Lakes is list­ed as a Ram­sar Wet­land of Inter­na­tion­al Impor­tance. It is a sig­nif­i­cant feed­ing, rest­ing and breed­ing site for an enor­mous num­ber of birds, with par­tic­u­lar­ly high water­bird diver­si­ty for an arid land wet­land. The rich bio­di­ver­si­ty also includes plants, fish, rep­tiles and frogs.


This con­tent was pro­duced in part­ner­ship with  Good Living