Namadgi is a local Aboriginal name for the mountains situated to the southwest of Canberra. Aboriginal presence in the area has been dated to at least 21,000 years. There are numerous Aboriginal sites in the national park including paintings at Yankee Hat dating from at least 800 years ago. The area is one of cultural significance to indigenous Australian people of the Australian Alps region, and in particular the Nyamudy/Namadgi people who inhabited the ACT region before European settlers arrived, and the national park's management plan is exercised with their consultation. In April 2001 representatives of the Ngambri communities entered into an agreement with the ACT government which recognised their traditional association with the national park's lands and their role and duty to their ancestors and descendants as custodians of the area, and established a system of cooperative management. The area has a European history dating back to the 1830s when settlers moved into the area and cleared the valleys for farming. The mountains and ridges remain forested. Namadgi National Park was created in 1984. The Visitor Centre is located 2 km south of Tharwa on the Boboyan-Naas Road.
Winter sports
The Namadgi National Park Draft Management Plan downplayed the future development of skiing as a sport in the Park, noting that no facilities existed for alpine or downhill skiing within Namadgi, despite a history of downhill skiing associated with the Canberra Alpine Ski Club and the Mt Franklin Chalet. The report predicted that it would be "unlikely that Namadgi will be suitable for this activity in the future as climate change is causing conditions to become less favourable." However, since the report was written, limited downhill ski facilities have returned at nearby Corin Forest, and cross country skiing takes place within the Park at various locations when conditions allow. ; Mt Franklin In the 1930s, with construction of the new capital city of Canberra underway, Canberrans explored the possibilities for developing skiing and snow sports in the Brindabellas. On 30 June 1936, the Canberra Times newspaper reported: The Mount Franklin chalet was constructed at Mount Franklin in 1938 to service the Canberra Alpine Club. Ski runs were cleared and ski tows were improvised. The Club also cleared runs elsewhere, completing a new ski run and jump on nearby Mount Ginini in 1951 - then judged to be the superior slope. Built on leased land, the Mount Franklin Chalet reverted to the Government when Namadgi National Park was created in 1984 and later operated as a museum before being destroyed in the 2003 bushfires. A new shelter designed and built by University of Adelaide students opened in 2008. Today, cross country skiing is possible in the area, when conditions allow.
