Karijini National Park

Many consider Karijini along with its harsh and unspoilt natural beauty - a ‘must see’ - being an absolute delight for photographers, hikers, and nature enthusiasts. Karijini National Park is awash with rich earthy red colours and spectacular scenery - famed for its sheer gorges, waterfalls and cool swimming holes. Some of the highlights in this park include: Dales Gorge, Circular Pool, Fortescue Falls, Fern Pool, and Oxer Lookout, which lies at the junction of Weano Gorge, Red Gorge, Hancock Gorge and Joffre Gorge. Karijini is very well maintained. The park provides plenty of amenities, excellent picnic areas, designated camping sites, modest accommodation, and an informative visitor centre. The park also features a system of walk trails of varying levels, for the beginner to the adventurous, with some trails leading deep into the subterranean gorges and through waterfalls and sparkling rock pools.

Karijini National Park may be isolated, but there are many access routes to get there. From the west you can head towards Tom Price after leaving the North West Coastal Highway near Nanutarra. Those coming in from the east can use the Great Northern Highway from Newman and then onto Karijini Drive. Those coming from the north from Karratha and Roebourne can also take in Millstream Chichester National Park before reaching Karijini. Although many people self-drive to Karijini, many tourists enjoy accessing the park via 4WD tour groups. There are a number of reputable and experienced tour operators that provides this service.

Environment

In the northern section of Karijini National Park, numerous small creeks hidden in the rolling hillsides suddenly plunge into sheer-sided chasms up to 100 metres deep. These spectacular albeit dangerous gorges widen further downstream and their sides change from sheer cliffs to steep slopes of loose rock. On the eastern side of the park, Dales Gorge provides a stream, pools, and waterfalls.

There are various types of ferns and the occasional snappy gum can be seen perched on rocky ledges. Wildflowers vary with the seasons, whilst in the cooler months, the region is covered with yellow-flowering cassias and wattles, northern bluebells and purple mulla-mullas.

Karijini National Park is home to a variety of birds, red kangaroos, euros, rock wallabies, echidnas and handful a bat species. Reptiles that frequent the rocks include: goannas, dragons, geckos, legless lizards, pythons and many other snakes. There are also huge termite mounds to be seen and you may even find a rock pile from the rare pebble mound mouse.

History

Karijini National Park is the traditional home of the Banyjima, Kurrama and Innawonga Aboriginal people. The Banyjima name for the Hamersley Range is Karijini and evidence of their early settlements dates back over 20,000 years ago. During those times, Aboriginal land management practises such as ‘fire stick farming’, which describes the practise where fire was used regularly to burn vegetation to facilitate hunting and to change the composition of plant and animal species in an area.

Before Karijini National Park was coined, explorer Francis Thomas Gregory had named it Hamersley Range after leading a party into the region in 1861. Edward Hamersley was a friend and generous supporter of F.T. Gregory’s explorations, and thus had the mountain range named after him.

If you decide to tackle any of the walks within the park, please take great care. The gorges can be extremely hazardous and many of them are only recommended for people that are physically fit. You must notify a ranger before starting any of the longer walks.

Make sure you have all the necessary gear including good sturdy hiking shoes, adequate water and food, a navigational device such as a handheld GPS unit, and communications equipment such as a PLB and/or handheld UHF radio.

Take care in the gorges as rocks are smooth and slippery, especially during wet weather. If you are hiking overnight, let a responsible person know. Flash floods can occur in the region so always be vigilant of the weather. Do not enter the gorges if there is rain in the area. If you happen to already be in the gorges during signs of rain, you should leave quickly and safely.

Permits

Entry and camping fees apply for Karijini National Park. Many tourists take advantage of the Holiday Park Pass or Annual All Parks Pass, which entitles the bearer to visit more than one national park in Western Australia. These can be obtained from DePAW (Department of Parks and Wildlife). The Holiday Park Pass allows unlimited vehicle entrance into any fee paying national park for a period of four weeks.
The Annual All Parks Pass allows unlimited vehicle entrance into any fee paying national park for a period of 12 months.

For more information on fees and camping, please contact:
Karijini National Park Visitor Centre
Phone: (08) 9189 8121
Fax: (08) 9189 8113
Website: Karijini website.

Fuel Supplies & Usage

Diesel	ULP	LPG
4cyl 286 litres	4cyl 330 litres	4cyl 408 litres
6cyl 313 litres	6cyl 369 litres	6cyl 359 litres
8cyl 313 litres	8cyl 338 litres

Best Time To Visit

Ideal time to visit is late autumn, winter and early spring. Winter days are warm and clear, nights may be cold and frosty. Summer has unpredictable rainfall and can reach over 40 degrees Celsius.

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