Gunlom Falls sits in the south of Kakadu National Park, a long escarpment pour with a chain of rock pools on top that look straight out across the plains, the view that put Kakadu in a film in 1986. In 2019 the falls closed. A new walkway to the top had been built too close to a sacred rock art site of the Jawoyn Traditional Owners, and rather than let the path stand, the Traditional Owners closed the place to visitors. What followed was not a quick fix but a slow one. Parks Australia and Kakadu's Traditional Owners went back to the ground rules of how the park is run, and by the middle of 2025 had agreed a new lease between the Commonwealth and the Traditional Owners that gives their say a firmer place. A new track to the upper pools opened in 2025. Then Cyclone season damaged the access road, and that had to be repaired too.
Read the full story: One of Australia's most famous waterfalls has officially reopened for the dry season, by Melissa Woodley, Time Out Australia.
On 1 July 2026 the gate opened for the dry season. Gunlom campground is back, first come first served, and Maguk Falls nearby is due to follow once its own road upgrade is done. "There is no destination in Australia more culturally unique than Kakadu," said Lauren Ganley, chair of Kakadu Tourism, who asked visitors coming back to carry that respect with them. It is a small story about a path and a big one about who decides. For six years a waterfall that could have been reopened in a season stayed shut until the people whose country it is were satisfied, and the swim at the top is sweeter for it.
Sources and links
Our short take: the full story is by Melissa Woodley for Time Out Australia (2 July 2026).
- One of Australia's most famous waterfalls has officially reopened for the dry season, by Melissa Woodley, Time Out Australia The reopening, the lease, the quote.
- Gunlom, Kakadu National Park, Parks Australia Visitor page (check it resolves).
