We've been on the road for nearly nine months and we can safely say, this is our favourite National Park so far! Having spent a week at Karijini National Park, exploring every gorge and swimming hole we could find, we have fallen in love with it and have so much information to share with you. So, here are our top tips and everything you need to know about visiting.
Where is it?
Tom price to Karijini National Park 100km ~ 1h10
Karratha to Karijini 500km ~ 5h10
Perth to Karijini 1,380km ~ 14h40
When's the best time to go?
April to September are the best months to visit. When the days are warm and the nights become cool.
Fees
The National Park is run by Parks WA and you will need to obtain a WA Parks Pass to enter. Click Here to buy your Parks Pass.
Note:
If you are planning on spending several weeks or months exploring Western Australia we would strongly recommend buying an annual Parks Pass, we have used it already at countless national parks including The Pinnacles, Kalbarri, Leeuwin-Naturaliste and so many more. Additionally, the BEST HACK we ever learned was that you can have two car regos on the one pass so we shared the cost with another travel couple.
Camping
Dales Campground
We used Dales as a base for the majority of our time in the National Park. With 180 seperate camp sites, you would expect to be guaranteed a site, however, I would suggest booking a week or so in advanced to your arrival. The sites are known to book out - in fact the first night we got there it was! This wasn’t too much of a trouble as there is an 24hr overflow campground for which we spent our first night. However, I imagine if you have a larger caravan and/or children it would be easier if you booked early to avoid moving for the duration of your stay.
The campground was such a terrific spot for us to safely leave our caravan as we ventured out to each of the gorges and it's within walking distance to the beautiful Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool, perfect for an afternoon swim. If you are looking for sites close to the swimming spots, I would suggest camping in Euro or Dingo.
Note:
You can book both campgrounds here through the Parkstay Website. Search the names, Karijini - overflow camping and Dales.
Cost
Adult - $11 Per Person
Consession - $7 Per Person
Child (6-15) - $5 Per Person
Infant (Under 6) - Free
Karijini Eco Retreat
This campground is the most central campground in the Karijini National Park and while it is more expensive than Dales, had our time again we would have spent our time between here and Dales, just because of the location. The National Park is much bigger than we had imagined with some gorges up to 100km return drives. For the extra money you would spend at Karijini Eco Retreat you would more than save in the cost of fuel. Having said that, we didn't actually visit this campground. From what we hear, it was a nice spot with cabins and unpowered sites, right on the edge of Joffre Falls. Oh and did we mention it has an outback restaurant and bar!
Cost
Two Adults - $44/site (All sites are unpowered)
Each additional adult is $22
Children (under 13) - Free
Gorge-ous Gorges
Dales Gorge - Ngirribungunah
Dales can be explored by doing both the Gorge Rim and Dales Gorge walks to complete the circuit.
We suggest start with the Gorge Rim walk, by turning left from the lookout. The 1.2km walk took us roughly 20 minutes, a fragment of the WA Parks estimation of 50 minutes (a common these you may find in this National Park). The walk is endless natives framing the edge of the breathtaking cliff face down into the gorge.
Take the many steep stairs and ladder down to start the beginning of Dales Gorge where you will rock hop and walk your way through the sometimes slippery water. The 1km walk took us roughly 50 minutes to complete including two swims along the way.
The first being Bellas Pool, this waterhole is not shown on signs, however, can be found on Wiki Camps. We are so glad we stumbled upon this little gem for a secluded dip, just the two of us.
Continue along the track and the best is yet to come! Pop in for swims at Jubula - Fortescue Falls, where the rocky staircase waterfall trickles all year round then hop under Jubura - Fern Pool for a refreshing natural shower!
All together this 3.4km loop has a suggested walk time of 3.5h however we found most walks in the park were very generous and we did the circuit in 1.5h including 3 swims along the way.
If you’d rather skip the gorge walk and prefer to frolic around in the waterfalls, head straight from the carpark to Dale Gorge lookout and take the easy 400 meter stair master walk (with several beach seats for a rest if you need) down to Fortescue Falls for a swim and sun yourself like a lizard on the warm rocks. From here, we highly recommend you head an additional 300m upstream to Fern Pool.
Note: If you are staying at Dales Campground and are looking for a regular afternoon swimming spot then this is the spot for you! A 20 minute walk from most of the campsites at Dales and you will end up at Dales Gorge.
Hot tip, when you leave the carpark, make sure you pack your swimmers, otherwise, you’ll end up like me, with buns of steal, after having walked the stair master twice.
Overall, we give it a ★★★★ out of 5
Upper Weano Gorge
This is a cracking gorge walk that is a perfect add on to your Handrail Pool walk. A short 500m, 20 minute walk that meets Lower Weano Gorge.
Overall, we give it a ★★★ out of 5
Lower Weano Gorge, Handrail Pool
Jakes absolute favourite walk in the whole national park. A tricky class 5, 1.2km return walk is one not to be underestimated. The walk is roughly 1h-1h30min and becomes very slippery with many obstacles where you have to either climb over rocks or walk through water (especially if you are at the front end of the season) but my gosh, was it worth it. After descending the stairs or joining the track from Upper Weano Gorge you are immersed in giant red cliffs with flowing water under foot.
After navigating the slippery walk you will come to an incredible swimming pool within the gorge, leave your packs at the bottom of the handrail. Get ready to swim and rock climb all the way to the end of the gorge. Words can't quite describe how breath taking this adventure really is.
Overall, we give it a ★★★★★ out of 5
Hancock Gorge, Kermits Pool
Our second favourite walk in the National Park was to Kermits Pool, the 1.5km return, 2 hour walk was magical. Again a class 5 with several difficult climbs; a deep descent in and out of the gorge and one particular section, known as the spider walk, where you have to scale a short wall or wade through some reasonably deep water. However, the views beyond here are seriously spectacular. You will arrive at the amphitheater, a perfect lunch spot and a place to leave your bags. From here last 50m of the walk, a section we thought was equally as beautiful as the pool itself, becomes narrow and you will have to climb through slippery rocks to get to Kermits pool.
Overall, we give it a ★★★★★ out of 5
Jofree Gorge
This walk was a short but sweet taste of what Karijini has to offer. Just a short walk from Eco Lodge and you will be down in the gorge, however, coming from the carpark make sure you take the short detour past the lookout to get a real feel for the power of the water in wet season to create such large and deep pools. Otherwise, the walk down into the falls is super interesting and varied. Over the 1.3km return walk you will experience rock hopping, ladder climbing and pool swimming. Once again the walk says it will take an estimated 1h30min hours, however, we did it in under an hour.
If you are fit and able I would highly recommended not only swimming into the falls but venturing downstream where you really get to experience what it feels like to be so small in amongst the towering cliffs.
Overall, we give Joffre Falls a ★★★★ out of 5!
Kalamina Gorge
A beautiful taster of what you have to come for the gorges in Karijini. A reasonably easy walk, in comparison to Handrail Pool and Kermits Pool, the grade 4, 3km return walk took us roughly 1h30min, half the estimated 3h National Parks have estimated. Walk upstream past rock pools to finish with a refreshing swim at Rock Arch Pool at the end.
Overall, we give Knox Gorge a ★★★★ out of 5!
Knox Gorge
For us this was a beautiful walk but our least favourite in the National Park. Unfortunately, even at the very start of the season, when we visited, the water was stagnant and we were unable to swim. In saying this, the very end of the walk treated us to an incredible view of a deep.
Overall, we give Knox Gorge a ★★★ out of 5!
Hamersley Gorge
My favourite, jaw, dropping, mind boggling pool in the National Park! A super short but technical 400m, 1h return walk that had us never wanting to leave. Before you get to the spa pool there are endless swim spots, even on a busy day you're guaranteed to find a spot on your own. If you are travelling with kids, this would be the pick for you, being the shortest walk and plenty of swimming options.
If you're feeling particularly adventurous I would suggest taking the walk over to the right of the spa pool (pictured below), up and over the falls then rock hop, swim and finish with a jump into the deep spa pool.
Overall, we give it a ★★★★★ out of 5
Itinerary
Day one
Drive into Karijini National Park
Camp at Dales Campground
Dales Gorge and Rim walk loop including Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool
Day two
Drive to Karijini Eco Retreat
Jofree
Kalamina
Knox (Optional)
Day three
Handrail
Kermits Pool
Oxer Lookout (Optional)
Day Four
Hamersley Gorge
Note:
I would suggest doing this itinerary in reverse if you are moving from Karratha/Port Headland down.
If you want more info go and check out our Karijini Youtube Video Here!
Lil xx
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