Editing Kinglake National Park

{{Use Australian English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type                   = protected
| name                   = Kinglake National Park
| state                  = vic
| iucn_category          = II
| image                  = Masons Falls.JPG
| caption                = Masons Falls in the Kinglake National Park
| image_alt              = 
| coordinates            = {{coord|37|24|23|S|145|12|39|E|display=inline,title}}
| map_alt                = 
|local_map=yes|zoom=9| relief                 = yes
| nearest_town_or_city   = {{VICcity|Kinglake}}
| area                   = 232.1
| area_footnotes         = <ref name=pn>{{cite web|url=https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/-/media/project/pv/main/parks/documents/visitor-guides-and-publications/kinglake-national-park/kinglakenp-visitor-guide.pdf|title=Kinglake National Park: Visitor Guide|department=Parks Victoria|publisher=Government of Victoria|date=June 2014|access-date=20 August 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808052550/http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/314059/Kinglake-National-Park.pdf|archive-date=8 August 2014}}</ref>
| established            = {{start date|1928|03|07|df=y}}
| established_footnotes  = <ref name=mgmntplan>{{cite book|url=http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/313320/kinglake-np-mp.pdf|page=2|title=Kinglake National Park Management Plan|department=Parks Victoria|publisher=Government of Victoria|date=June 1996|access-date=20 August 2014|isbn=0-7306-6186-5|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023828/http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/313320/kinglake-np-mp.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| visitation_num         = 
| visitation_year        = 
| visitation_footnotes   = 
| managing_authorities   = Parks Victoria
| url                    = https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/places-to-see/parks/kinglake-national-park
}}
The '''Kinglake National Park''' is a [[national park]] in Central Victoria, Australia. The {{convert|23210|ha|acre|adj=on}} national park is situated {{convert|50|km}} northeast of Melbourne and includes tracks (some with wheelchair access), and camping facilities.<ref name=PV>{{cite web|title=Kinglake National Park masterplan|url=http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/314545/Kinglake-NP-draft-master-plans.pdf|department=[[Parks Victoria]]|publisher=Government of Victoria|date=31 May 2010|access-date=13 October 2011}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The national park includes Masons Falls, a picnic area with falls and natural flora. Layered sediment forms the valley, containing fossils from when the area was once covered by the sea.  Natural fauna includes [[wallaby]], [[kangaroo]], [[wombat]], [[Phalangeriformes|possum]] and [[echidna]]. It also includes varieties of birds including cockatoos ([[sulphur-crested cockatoo|sulphur-crested]], black and red-headed), [[Australian king parrot|king parrots]], the [[rosella]] and the [[lyrebird]].

Prior to the 2009 [[Black Saturday bushfires]], the park was renowned for being home to the tallest tree in Victoria. The specimen of ''[[Eucalyptus regnans]]'' (mountain ash) stood {{convert|91.6|m}} tall in 2002 and was suspected to have originated after the [[Black Thursday (1851)|1851 Black Thursday]] bushfires. It was located in the Wallaby Creek closed catchment area in the north-west regions of the park.<ref name="Victoria's Tallest Trees">{{cite journal|journal=The Forester|publisher=The Institute of Foresters of Australia|title=The Effect of the Black Saturday Bushfires|url=http://www.forestry.org.au/kcfinder/upload/files/The%20Forester%20March%202012.pdf|author=Mifsud, Brett|date=March 2012|volume=55|number=1|pages=8–11|access-date=20 August 2014|issn=1444-8920|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150301102803/http://forestry.org.au/kcfinder/upload/files/The%20Forester%20March%202012.pdf|archive-date=1 March 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==History==
The area was logged in the early part of the 20th century, and some remnants of logging remain (such as scars on some trees and a sawdust dump).<ref name="Kinglake">{{cite web|publisher=Parks Victoria|title=Kinglake National Park|url=https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/places-to-see/parks/kinglake-national-park|access-date=15 April 2009 }}</ref>

In January 2006, parts of the park to the north of the {{VICcity|Kinglake}} township were devastated by a bushfire started by lightning during a severe thunderstorm. The blaze threatened to engulf the town, advancing to within a few hundred metres of the northern fringe. The town was saved by further thunderstorms, along with [[Country Fire Authority]] volunteers. In 2009 98% of the national park was severely burnt by the devastating Black Saturday bushfires. Much of the town of Kinglake was destroyed and nearly a hundred people died. As of 2010, rehabilitation work is continuing and sections of the park are gradually being reopened.<ref name=PV/>

== Books on Kinglake National Park ==
Stewart, Kath and Hawkins, Deidre ''Living with Fire: A brief history of fires in the Kinglake Ranges'', Kinglake, Vic. Kinglake Historical Society {{ISBN|9780987121783}}

==See also==
{{stack|{{Portal|Australia|environment}}}}
* [[Protected areas of Victoria]]
* [[Disappointment Reference Area]]
* [[Toorourrong Reservoir]]
* [[List of national parks of Australia]]

==References==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Protected areas of Victoria|NP}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Parks of Hume (region)]]
[[Category:Parks of Greater Melbourne (region)]]
[[Category:National parks of Victoria (state)]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1928]]
[[Category:Forests of Victoria (state)]]
[[Category:1928 establishments in Australia]]