One tenth the size of Fitzgerald River National Park, but seemingly home to ten times the number of visitors (though this is Western Australia so still tiny numbers comparatively), Cape Le Grand National Park is home to some of the whitest beaches I’ve ever seen and some great coastal walks.
To start with an inland walk though to give an idea of the layout of the park. Frenchman’s Peak may not be the highest point (that would be the trackless 345m high Mount Le Grand) but from 262m above sea level the views are still pretty good. The park is mostly flat and scrubby but with a few sizeable hills around.
Frenchman’s Peak is basically a huge granite boulder which would be lethal in the wet but is fine in the dry with grippy shoes. Seen from the right angle the name is more understandable as it does look a little like a beret.
The views from the top are good but the highlight for me was the huge cave or arch that goes all the way through close to the summit.
Unfortunately the renowned if aptly named Hellfire Beach was closed due to fire risk but I got to visit three stunning white sand beaches – the quite stunning, if busy Lucky Bay (thanks to a campsite), the also stunning and near empty Thistle Cove, and the epic and less accessible (by dirt road) Rossiter Bay. Here is Lucky Bay…
A slightly surreal sight on the beach at Lucky Bay was wild kangaroos feeding.
The highlight of the day for me was walking between these three. Firstly from Thistle Cove to Lucky Bay, an easy walk along a rocky track.
I then got dropped at Rossiter Bay and walked the 6.6km back to Lucky Bay, having the track to myself, and a decent workout heading up toward (if not onto) the 180m Mississippi Hill. The highlights were the views just past Mississippi Hill of Lucky Bay in the setting sunshine, and walking along it as the sun set.
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