CARNARVON GORGE

gorge in southeastern Queensland, Australia, on the eastern slopes of Carnarvon Range of the Great Dividing Range. The gorge, sometimes called The Grand Canyon of Queensland, is about 20 miles (32 km) long and 150 to 1,200 feet (45 to 370 m) wide, with vertical sandstone walls rising 600 feet (180 m). In some sections the sandstone has been so undercut by erosion that hikers at the bottom cannot see the top directly upward. The gorge is the central feature of the 969-square-mile (2,510-square-kilometre) Carnarvon National Park (1932), which also offers caves containing Aboriginal art and highly diverse plant and wildlife.