An area of glittering lakes in a dry landscape, with waterbirds living among its backwaters and drowned forests. Massive river red gums gather at the banks of the Darling River, which forms the eastern boundary of the park.

Extending westwards from the Darling River, Kinchega National Park encompasses all of Lake Cawndilla and the southern half of Lake Menindee. The 44 000-ha park was created in 1967 from land that was previously a part of Kinchega station. It includes river red gum forests, black soil flood plains along the Darling River where kangaroos and emu flocks are frequently seen, the varied and colourful vegetation of the red sandhills and sand plains, and a series of tall lunettes (crescent-shaped dunes) on the eastern side of the lakes created by a combination of westerly winds and waves. These lunettes have proven a treasure trove of information about past environmental conditions and archaeological material, including remnants of Aboriginal culture (scarred trees where bark was stripped for canoes or shelter, middens, hearths, stone implements and mineralised bones) and extinct animals (giant kangaroos and wombats and Tasmanian tigers).

The large, saucer-shaped depressions of the overflow lakes are home to a variety of waterbirds including pelicans, spoonbills, egrets, cormorants and swans. The best time to see the wildlife is at dawn or dusk, not only because they venture out at these times but because the colours of the outback are quite remarkable.

The park contains several remnants from the pastoral days. By 1881, Kinchega covered one million acres and had 143 000 sheep. It was regularly visited by paddle steamers run by Samuel McCaughey. Steam engines were being used to irrigate the paddocks as early as 1875 and the station prospered as a sheep run shepherded almost entirely by Aborigines. Kinchega was also one of the first properties to experiment with bores, striking water at 250 feet in 1879.

Kinchega woolshed is still standing. Here, six million sheep were shorn over the course of a century. At its peak in the 1880s it had stands for 26 blade shearers. The remains of the homestead and cemetery are nearby, as well as an old water regulator and trough used to furnish the homestead with water. The homestead, built of locally kilned bricks, probably in the 1850s, was used as an overseer's house and stockmen's quarters from 1872 to the 1940s.

The cemetery is believed to contain the crew of the paddlesteamer Providence. In 1872 they left Menindee in an intoxicated state and apparently forgot to refill the boiler, which blew up and killed them. The boiler was winched out of the river when it became a navigational hazard. Other sites of interest are the Cawndilla Channel and Menindee Lakes Lookout.