Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park

Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park Review

Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park lies along one of Western Australia's most spectacular coastlines, from Cape Naturaliste on Geographe Bay in the north to Augusta, close to Cape Leeuwin in the south. The park is not a composite destination, rather a narrow patchwork of protected areas along the coast, intersected by beach access roads and small beachside villages.

The mostly-unspoiled coastal vistas are as awe-inspiring as any in the world—on a calm day the view northwards from Yallingup past Sugarloaf Rock towards Cape Naturaliste is nature at its best. Farther south, between Cowaramup Bay and Karridale, scenic lookouts allow you to access coastal cliffs and rocky shoreline that bears the brunt of giant ocean swells generated across thousands of miles of the Indian Ocean.

In addition to the scenic attractions of the coast, the park sits over limestone ridges where numerous caves have formed over the millennia, leached out by dripping water; a number of these caves are open to the public, including Lake, Mammoth, Jewel, and Ngilgi. Boranup Karri Forest, near Karridale, is the largest "patch," and creates a contrast to the coast—the distinctive, pale-bark hardwood giants reach 190 feet or more and dominate the hills and valleys of this area. This is the farthest west that karri trees grow in Western Australia, and, interestingly, Boranup is a regrowth forest; it was cut over by loggers more than 100 years ago, and 1961 wildfire destroyed many trees.