Murujuga (Burrup Peninsula)
Pilbara, Western Australia, Australia
A rock-art landscape of the Dampier Archipelago and Burrup Peninsula holding an estimated one to two million engravings, home to the Ngarda-Ngarli peoples for tens of thousands of years and inscribed on the World Heritage List in July 2025.
Murujuga means "hip bone sticking out" in the Ngarluma-Yaburara language and names the 42 islands of the Dampier Archipelago, the Burrup Peninsula, and Murujuga National Park. Western Australia's parks agency estimates one to two million images and says the rock art captures at least 47,000 years of human existence.
Murujuga National Park is the first national park jointly managed in Western Australia: owned by the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, which represents five traditional owner groups (Ngarluma, Yindjibarndi, Yaburara, Mardudhunera, and Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo), leased back to the state, and managed with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. UNESCO inscribed the Murujuga Cultural Landscape in July 2025 after a decades-long campaign led by the Traditional Owners, who had also pressed publicly about industrial emissions adjacent to the rock art.
Visiting
The national park is open, with a roughly 700-meter boardwalk and signage at Nganjarli (Deep Gorge) and no facilities beyond it; pets are not permitted. The Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation runs rock art tours that start at 8 am at the Nganjarli car park. Their own framing: "As the Aboriginal Custodians of this land, we want to share our culture and stories." Photography at the open boardwalk site is normal; do not touch the engravings.
Photo: The editor next door, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nganjarli_Murujuga_Rock_Art_01.jpg))
Associated traditions & practices
Visitor stories