Barramundi Creek — Maguk

Barramundi Gorge or Maguk (mar gook) is one the few places in Kakadu where a waterfall flows all year round. From the Kakadu Highway, a drive of about 12 km along a 4WD track brings you to the start of the one kilometre walking trail to the gorge and falls. The soft-adventure and backpacker tours stop there. They stop — and they miss the magic that lies beyond.

On our bushwalks, we leave the trails behind and hike into the wilderness, passing a number of pools we can have to ourselves. We continue our trek and soon find ourselves in a broad sandy valley where the only visible water is in a few isolated pools. Time to turn back? No way!

In the paperbark forest here, we sometimes see huge flocks of black cockatoos feeding in the trees. That's reason enough to continue, but there is better to come. Our trek eventually brings us to the Emerald Pool shown above and at right. It is larger, clearer and shadier than the tourist pool hours below.

Better still, we usually have the pool to ourselves.

There is more. On a backpacking tour where you actually carry a pack, you are free from deadlines, free to camp in any one of the many beautiful places you pass. We hike up one creek, across a plateau and down to another where we camp in the shade of huge Allosyncarpia trees. You have a swim and relax by the fire as we cook you a three course meal.

The pool at left is the one next to the campsite above.

All but one of our Circle Trips pass through parts of the Barramundi system.

Several of our Highlights Trips include a Barramundi Creek hike as one of the sections. The bushwalks on some of the Highlights Trips combine Barramundi with the headwaters of Waterfall Creek with its incredible rock formations and Aboriginal art sites. On those trips, if water levels permit, you can swim through a small cave and listen to the music of the water as it trickles through.

For details of which Highlights trips visit Barramundi Creek, see our Kakadu trips list.