Wilson's Promontory National Park
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Wilsons Promontory National Park Victoria |
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IUCN category II (national park)
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Colourful rocks within the national park
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Map of South Gippsland with the national park shown in green on lower right
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 Wilsons Promontory National Park
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| Nearest town or city | Yanakie |
| Coordinates | 39°00′48″S 146°23′37″E / 39.01333°S 146.39361°ECoordinates: 39°00′48″S 146°23′37″E / 39.01333°S 146.39361°E |
| Established | July 1898 |
| Area | 505 km2 (195.0 sq mi) |
| Managing authorities | Parks Victoria |
| Website | Wilsons Promontory National Park |
| See also | Protected areas of Victoria |
The Wilsons Promontory National Park, commonly known as Wilsons Prom or The Prom, is a national park in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia, located approximately 157 kilometres (98 mi) southeast of Melbourne.
The 50,500-hectare (125,000-acre) national park is the southernmost national park on mainland Australia, known for its rainforests, beaches and abundant wildlife. The national park covers the southern portion of Wilsons Promontory, a peninsula containing South Point, the southernmost point on the Australian mainland. A lighthouse on the south-east corner of the peninsula is the southern-most lighthouse on mainland Australia and has operated continuously since 1859.
The park is highly popular with bushwalkers and campers, and has a number of lodges and serviced camping areas at a camping area near the mouth of Tidal River.
Indigenous Australians occupied the area at least 6,500 years ago based on archaeological records.
The first Europeans to sight Wilsons Promontory are believed to be George Bass and Matthew Flinders in 1798.
Extensive sealing took place at Sealer's Cove during the 19th Century, such that seals are no longer found there.
Lobbying by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria and the Royal Society of Victoria (including Arthur Henry Shakespeare Lucas) led to the Government of Victoria temporarily reserve the area as National Park in 1898, made permanent in 1908. The original settlement in the Park was on the Darby River site, where a chalet existed.
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