Australia's top 10 most popular national parks on Instagram have been revealed, with the NSW Blue Mountains declared Australia's most 'Instagrammable' national park.
1. Blue Mountains
2. Whitsunday Islands, Queensland
3. Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Norther Territory
4. Great Sandy, Queensland
5. Grampians, Victoria
6. Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair, Tasmania
7. Daintree, Queensland
8. Freycinet, Tasmania
9. Dandenong Ranges, Victoria
10. Kakadu, Northern Territory
Image Credit: Andrew Goddard, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Honorable mentions were also made for Kalbarri in Western Australia and Ikara-Flinders Ranges in South Australia.
Analysts pored over millions of Instagram images to determine which parks most populate feeds with picture-perfect views.
The 11,400 sq km home of the Three Sisters, roughly an hour west of Sydney, took top spot with nearly 1.6 million photos.
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Queensland's Whitsundays Islands National Park rated second, with more than one million posts, followed by Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory which attracted more than 662,000 images.
Perfect for day trips, hiking, cycling, rock climbing, abseiling and horse riding, World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains National Park attracts more than four million visitors each year.
The Giant Stairway descending into the picturesque Jameson Valley, the Jenolan Caves, Wentworth Falls and Megalong Valley all draw tourists from far and wide.
Image Credit: Toby Hudson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
However the Three Sisters rock formation at Katoomba has long been considered one of Australia's most photographed locations.
The Whitsundays' crystal waters and pristine beaches make it an Instagram star, researchers commissioned by sports nutrition retailer Myprotein found.
Visitors can explore the islands by boat or strap on a snorkel to get an up-close view of the stunning Great Barrier Reef.
While about as remote as Australia can be, iconic Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park still attracted its share of Instagram attention.
The sacred sites are renowned for rewarding amateur and professional photographers alike, willing to wake early to catch their breath-taking sunrise offerings and colour changes.
Queensland's Great Sandy and Victoria's Grampians national parks rounded out the top five.
"Millions of people visit Australia's national parks each year, travelling from far and wide to enjoy awe-inspiring views," Myprotein content producer Adele Halsall said.
"But it's not just stunning scenery. National parks offer lots of opportunities for those wanting to keep fit, where you can run, bike, climb, hike, swim, surf and so much more.
"But with hundreds of national parks to choose from, it can be difficult knowing where to begin."
To help narrow things down, project researchers initially compiled a list of the nation's largest and most popular national parks.
They then looked at the number of photos currently on Instagram featuring the name of the park in a hashtag, as well as associated hashtags (e.g. #UluruKataTjutaNationalPark, #UluruKataTjuta, #ExploreUluru).
They then combined the figures to create an overall ranking.
© AAP 2021
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