 The park was named after Frederick Henry Litchfield, a member of the Finniss Expedition that travelled from South Australia in 1864.This was the first European expedition to visit the Top End of Australia by land and it was their aim to explore as widely as possible and establish a settlement at Escape Cliffs, on the mouth of the Adelaide River.Previous attempts at settlement of Australia's northern coast at Fort Dundas, Raffles Bay and Port Essington had already failed.