Mac Clark (Acacia peuce) Conservation Reserve

The Mac Clark Conservation Reserve is dedicated to protecting a grove of one of Australia’s rarest and most unusual trees – the Acacia peuce, commonly known as Waddy-wood or Arrarnta in local Aboriginal language. This reserve is located in a remote part of the NT’s southeastern corner, on the edge of the Simpson Desert near Andado Station. Acacia peuce is a slow-growing mulga-like tree that can live for centuries and has extremely dense, hard wood (traditionally prized for making waddies or clubs, hence the name). Globally, it is found in only three locations: two in southwest Queensland and this one in the NT. Mac Clark Reserve contains several hundred of these spiky-crowned trees, which can reach up to 17 meters tall – towering over the low scrub of the surrounding gibber plains. The reserve (named after Mac Clark, a former Andado pastoralist who helped protect the species) is unfenced but signposted, and the trees stand out conspicuously against the flat terrain. A 4WD track off the Old Andado Track leads to the reserve; there are no facilities, but visitors typically pull up under a waddy-wood to admire its fissured bark and maybe picnic in the sparse shade. Visiting at dawn or dusk, the light casts long shadows of these peculiar trees, creating an almost alien landscape. Interpretive signs, if present, explain the tree’s botanical significance and the efforts to conserve it (notably from threats like wildfire and feral camels). The isolation and rugged beauty of the area is part of the experience – it’s quiet except for the occasional breeze and the calls of desert birds sheltering in the branches. For those venturing into the Simpson or along the Binns Track, the Mac Clark Reserve offers a unique botanical pilgrimage to see a living relic of the outback that has survived against the odds in one of the harshest environments.