Kalbarri and Kalbarri National Park is a playground of coastal cliffs, rugged gorges and beautiful beaches – a travel guide is needed for this beautiful corner or Australia! So, whether you’re going to get outdoors and embark on long hikes, or if you’re wanting to have a relaxing holiday at a resort, Kalbarri truly has it all.
How To Get To Kalbarri (and Kalbarri National Park)
Kalbarri/Wurdimarlu is located along Australia’s Coral Coast and is approximately 6.5 hours drive North from Perth. Its location makes it an ideal climate pretty much all year round. It is most accessible by car, especially since it is also such a large area when you arrive. However, you can also get here via many tours that will take you around, like this 2 day tour that takes you from Perth.
Kalbarri National Park itself is made up out of two distinctive areas. The first being the rugged red river gorges that are inland to the East from Kalbarri township, and the second being the extraordinary coastal cliffs towards the south.
Where to Stay
There are many different options for where to stay in Kalbarri, depending on how you’re travelling. There are options if you’re looking for a boutique/luxury retreat and also plenty of caravan park and camping options.
Whilst in Kalbarri, we loved Big River Ranch. It’s a horse ranch with a camping area. Pretty much a small scale caravan park at a nicer price point and a small town feeling. There’s some great grass spots, such a nice change from all the dirt and sand campgrounds in this area.
We also stayed at Murchison House Station for one night. This spot has a great feel. More secluded and a lot of history, but all-in-all it’s a pretty basic spot. It’s a 4km corrugated dirt road, which was pretty rough when we went through in our 2WD van. However, it’s a beautiful spot where you get to park right along the river.
Kalbarri National Park
If you’re going to travel to Kalbarri National Park, you’ll need to make sure you have a WA Parks Pass. Having a one of these passes means you’ll be able to go into the national park multiple times without having to worry about paying again to enter – and trust me, you’re going to want multiple days to really experience everything this park has to offer.
Day 1
Our first afternoon, we headed to the Sky Walk and Natures Window. It was around 3:30pm and overcast. This was perfect for taking photos because there was no one around! These two spots are probably the most popular in the whole National Park. So you have to get their pretty early, or go later in the afternoon. From what we heard, the sky walk already gets busy by 8:30am.
Day 2
We went back on Day 2 to do the Loop Trail. This starts at Natures Window and continues along the cliff before you descend to walk along the river. It’s 9kms and a class 4 hike. Not for the faint hearted but this was SUCH a highlight of our trip. Would 100% recommend doing this one. In the Summer months you have to start the hike BEFORE 7am due to the heat in the gorge. There are many warnings about bringing plenty of water.
We went in May, on a cool and overcast day, started the hike at 9am and finished at about 12:20pm. We stopped for photos quite a bit so it can be done quicker. But it’s also the kind of hike you could bring lunch and snacks and stop along the way. You could also bring your swimmers to go for a dip along the way.
Day 3
We went back into the National Park the next day to do the Z Bend Trail. This one you can either just head to the look out, or you can also descend down some steep steps, scramble over some boulders and down ladders to get to the river. Another beautiful spot for a picnic or a dip on a warm day.
Another hike in this area called the 4 Ways Track – this is a 6km hike but we didn’t have the chance to do it.
If you’re not wanting to do any hikes and are wanting to see this magnificent land from above (and are travelling from Perth), splurge on this amazing 1 day air tour!
Points of Note
We travelled to Karijini National Park from the south, we had already driven though Port Gregory to see the Pink Lake which meant we could stop at a bunch of the lookouts into Kalbarri.
And there’s a few! We took the turn off onto the route where you get to see Shell House and Grandstand, stop by Island Rock and Natural Bridge. They’re nice look outs, a very short walk from the car park, where you can start to experience the red rock landscape in contrast to the rough blue seas. Or, you can take a sunset cruise along these coastal cliffs!
Further into Kalbarri, you can stop by Red Bluff (a common name to many different spots up the west coast) and even drive right onto the rocks at the bottom of Red Bluff. This is such a good spot to watch the sunset over the ocean, even with a 2WD.
Blue Holes is another great stop to check out if you want to go for a quick dip or a snorkel. Or even just park up with the doors open with ocean views.
Overall, I think Kalbarri is extremely underrated. The hikes in the national park made it feel like a mini Karijini – with the perk that it is much closer to Perth, and no corrugated roads.
There are plenty of other things to do as well. You can go on a canoe tour down through the river, 4WD tours, boat cruises, etc.
All that being said, if you only have a couple of days here, the place you want to be is hanging out in the National Park.
If you’re road tripping through WA, make sure you read my other post on Nambung National Park and you can’t miss this 5 day Itinerary for Karijini National Park.
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