Nambung National Park, WA, Australia

Nambung National Park, WA, Australia

Nambung National Park is a National park in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 200 km northwest of Perth, Australia and 17 km south of the small coastal town of Cervantes The park contains the Pinnacles Desert which is an area with thousands of limestone formations called pinnacles.

The park derives its name from an indigenous Australian word possibly meaning crooked or winding. The word was first used in 1938 when naming the Nambung River which flows into the park and disappears into a cave system within the limestone.The Yued people are the acknowledged traditional custodians of the land since before the arrival of Europeans.

Nambung National Park also contains beaches at Kangaroo Point and Hangover Bay, as well as coastal dunes and flowering plants in low heathland areas. A boardwalk in the northern area of the park at Lake Thetis allows visitors to view thrombolites which, like stromatolites, are structures built by micro-organisms, especially cyanobacteria.[5] Some of the fossilized thrombolites have been dated to 3.6 billion years old.[6] The Pinnacles Desert Discovery Centre features exhibits about the geology of the pinnacles formations and the cultural and natural heritage values of the area

Situated 19km from Cervantes, Nambung is home to the spectacular Pinnacles Desert , a vast, alien-like plain studded with thousands of limestone pillars. Rising eerily from the desert floor, the pillars are remnants of compacted seashells that once covered the plain and, over millennia, subsequently eroded. A loop road runs through the formations, but it’s more fun to wander on foot, especially at sunset, full moon or dawn, when the light is sublime and the crowds evaporate. Nearby Kangaroo Point and Hangover Bay make nice picnic spots with barbecues and tables. The latter has the better swimming.