Norfolk Island National Park covers an area of 650 hectares that represents14 percent of the island's total land area.
The Mount Pitt Section (490 hectares) of the park and the Botanic Garden (5.5 hectares) were first established in1986. Phillip Island (190 hectares) was added to the National Park in 1996.
Mt Pitt is one of Norfolk’s favourite lookouts. At 318m it’s just a metre shy of the Island’s highest point on neighbouring Mt Bates, which is a just short stroll along the Summit Track from here. From the summit you will have a panoramic view of almost the entire Island, including views out Philip Island and the Airport.
The summit of Mt Pitt was once a thriving nesting site for the Providence Petrel Peterodroma solandri – a species of burrowing petrol. But the entire population (comprising some 170,000 birds) was exterminated during the First Penal Settlement when the colony fell on hard times following the shipwreck of HMS Sirius, necessitating the slaughter of the birds for food. They are so-named for the providence they provided in those years – most certainly saving the Island’s inhabitants from starvation. The petrels never re-established themselves on Norfolk Island, but a small population nests on Phillip Island.