It lies at the northern end of the Simpson Desert and includes parts of the bioregions known as the Simpson-Strezlecki Dunefields and Channel Country.
[citation needed] The traditional owners of Pilungah are the Wangkamadla (also spelt Wanggamala, Wangkamahdla, Wongkamala) people.
The area was at the heart of the trade route stretching from the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north right down to South Australia along which the local narcotic plant, pituri, was exchanged for stone knives, seashells, and daggers made out of the tusks of dugongs.
[1] It later became a pastoral lease that was operated as a beef cattle station until acquisition by BHA,[citation needed] and named Cravens Peak Reserve.
[6] In July 2021, the Wangkamahdla people won native title rights to over 3,000,000 ha (7,400,000 acres) west and southwest of Boulia, stretching from around Bedourie, Queensland, across to the Northern Territory border, including Cravens Peak and part of the Munga-Thirri National Park.