Paddling in Kinchega National Park

Kinchega National Park sits in far-western New South Wales, where the Darling River — known to the Barkindji people as the Baaka — spreads into the Menindee Lakes system on the edge of the outback.

The park protects a significant stretch of that river and roughly half the lakes, making it one of the few places in arid Australia where flatwater paddling on a genuinely large scale is possible. The Baaka is the spine of the paddling here.

In years when it is flowing, the flatwater touring along the river is expansive, with well-spaced campsites on its banks inside the park. Wind is a real factor in this open country, but the river corridor provides shelter that the open lakes do not.

Lake Menindee and Lake Cawndilla are the two largest bodies of water within the park boundary, and the connecting channel between them is a practical option when wind makes the open lake surface difficult.

Paddling out into Lake Menindee along the old inlet channel — marked by standing dead trees — from the access point across from the visitor information hut is a worthwhile route in its own right. These are not technical waters.

The challenge here is logistical and environmental: reading the conditions, managing wind on open water, and timing a visit to a system that depends entirely on upstream flows. When the lakes are full, the scale is genuinely large.

As water recedes, the landscape shifts — green lake beds emerge, and the character of the paddling changes with it. Camping on the Baaka's banks puts you in the middle of it.

Broken Hill is roughly an hour's drive away, close enough to resupply without breaking the rhythm of a multi-day trip.