D'Entrecasteaux National Park

D'Entrecasteaux National Park covers more than 1,180 square kilometres of wild coastline and hinterland between the towns of Walpole and Augusta on the south-west coast. Named after the French navigator Bruni d'Entrecasteaux who charted the coast in 1792, the park is one of the largest and least developed coastal reserves in Western Australia.

The coastline here is genuinely wild. Heavy Southern Ocean swells crash onto long white beaches backed by mobile sand dune systems, some of which extend several kilometres inland. The Yeagarup Dunes, accessible by 4WD from Pemberton, are the largest mobile inland sand dune system in the southern hemisphere and are a striking sight rising out of the surrounding karri forest. Driving on the dunes requires a permit and a well-equipped 4WD.

Behind the dunes and beaches, the park protects extensive wetlands, peat swamps and remnant old-growth forest. The Lake Jasper area contains one of the deepest freshwater lakes in the south-west, a dark tannin-stained lake used for swimming and canoeing. The lake sits in a catchment of ancient peat deposits and the surrounding vegetation includes rare and threatened plant communities found nowhere else.

Access to most parts of the park is by unsealed roads and 4WD tracks. The main entry points are from Northcliffe, Pemberton and Walpole. The Bibbulmun Track, Western Australia's major long-distance walking trail, passes through the eastern section of the park on its way between Walpole and Pemberton, with several overnight shelters along the route.

D'Entrecasteaux is best suited to visitors who enjoy remote and undeveloped landscapes. There are few facilities inside the park beyond basic campgrounds with pit toilets. The reward is a coastline that feels genuinely untouched, with beaches where you can walk for kilometres without seeing another person. Spring (September to November) brings spectacular wildflower displays on the coastal heath.