Cape Arid National Park

Cape Arid covers a stretch of the far south coast where the Recherche Archipelago's granite continues onto the mainland as headlands and domes above beaches that go for kilometres without a footprint. Thomas River is the main campground, with a beach and the Tagon coastal walk; Mount Ragged inland is a quartzite peak with a steep summit climb and views over the plain. The park holds one of the last populations of the western ground parrot, a critically endangered bird thought to number only about 140 in the wild before the 2015 fires, which may have cut that to 30 or 40, along with a rich heath flora. Beyond it lies Israelite Bay and country that runs unbroken to the Nullarbor, accessible only by four-wheel drive.

History

The French admiral Bruni d'Entrecasteaux was the first European to come here, in 1792, naming the headland Cap Aride, which Matthew Flinders anglicised in 1802; pioneer graziers arrived in the 1870s, leaving ruined homesteads, dams and graves near Pine Hill and Thomas Fishery, and bay whalers worked at Thomas's Fishery in the 1860s and at Barrier Anchorage in the 1870s. The fires of 2015 burned up to 90 per cent of the remaining habitat of the western ground parrot in the park, cutting a wild population thought to be about 140 to perhaps 30 or 40 (Wikipedia, Cape Arid National Park).

What you'll find

• The empty beaches - long white sand with granite headlands and no development.
• Mount Ragged - the quartzite peak with a steep climb inland.
• The heath - dense flowering vegetation holding rare birds.
• The Tagon walk - the coastal track from Thomas River.

When to go

October to April for the warmest weather; the coast is windy and cold in winter. Wildflowers flower through spring. Roads beyond the main campground are unsealed and need high clearance, and become impassable after rain.

What to expect

Facilities are minimal, with basic campsites and no drinking water. Mobile coverage is absent. The western ground parrot is effectively never seen; it is nocturnal, cryptic and critically endangered. Access to the eastern park requires four-wheel drive.

Nearby

Cape Le Grand and Esperance lie west; Israelite Bay is east.

Key facts