Karijini National Park

Australia, Western Australia Add comments
Planet View: S22°27.994′ E118°33.428′
Street View: S22°27.994′ E118°33.428′

Maximum Temperature: 42°C (108°F)

The ferns and waterfall surrounding Circular Pool in Dales GorgeLisa tackling the Spider Walk in Hancock GorgeSam using the rope to get down to Handrail PoolOne of Western Australia’s most famous National Parks, we were both looking forward to exploring the gorges and swimming holes of Karijini.  Karijini’s located almost 300 kilometers inland from Port Hedland, it’s extremely arid country in the central Pilbara without a hint of water or vegetation other than desert grasses.  Karijini’s gorges are fed by permanent springs, making Knox GorgePilbara wildflowers on the hike into Knox Gorgefor beautiful waterfalls and turquoise swimming holes in the middle of the desert, as well as some strenuous hiking and clambering through the narrow Fortescue Fallscanyons created by water trickling over millions of years.  In all there are seven gorges in Karijini one can explore without needing any kind of rock-climbing certification.  All of the hikes are graded by the Department of Environment and Conservation, difficulties ranging between class two and six.  A class six requires abseiling and rock-climbing and cannot be attempted without some form of nationally recognized accreditation to abseil and climb on natural surfaces (not us!).  A number of the gorges become progressively harder to navigate, eventually turning into class six treks, these we walked (or clambered!) as far as we could and then turned back.  We explored six of Karijini’s gorges during our time in the area, stopping for a swim in all but Joffre and Kalamina gorges (the water there was a little stagnant).  On the day we explored five of the gorges we had hiked almost 10 kilometers by the end of it all; not too far given some of our other adventures but considering that we had to walk down and up the face of each gorge, each of which was between 200 and 300 feet deep, our thighs were pretty shot by the end of the day.  We’re glad we had the opportunity to explore the spectacular gorges as both of us agreed that in 20 or 30 years we doubt we’d be able to clamber through a lot of the tighter sections of Karijini’s canyons…

View of Dales Gorge from the trailhead to Fortescue FallsSwimming in Fern Pool in Dales GorgeLisa relaxing in the pool at the base of Fortescue FallsFortescue Falls Panorama of Dales Gorge in the afternoon sun Panorama of Dales Gorge in the afternoon sunThe ferns and waterfall surrounding Circular Pool in Dales GorgeCircular Pool Lisa favorite spot in my birthday presentA morning walk along Kalamina GorgeA morning walk along Kalamina Gorge Sam making his way through the striking canyons of Weano GorgeLisa making her way down Weano GorgeWeano GorgeWeano Gorge Lisa swimming in a large pool in Weano Gorge just before the trail turned to class sixWater trickling down to Weano Gorge's Handrail PoolHancock GorgeHancock Gorge Lisa tackling the Spider Walk in Hancock GorgeJoffre GorgeJoffre GorgeJoffre Falls Lisa clambering out of Joffre GorgePilbara wildflowers on the hike into Knox GorgeThe barren landscape around the rim of Knox Gorge Pilbara wildflowers on the hike into Knox GorgeKnox GorgeOur camping spot near Weano Gorge A huge rock garden built over time by hikers in Knox GorgeKnox GorgeThe swimming hole at the end of the hike down Knox Gorge

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 7:00 AM and is filed under Australia, Western Australia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “Karijini National Park”

  1. Diana says:

    Looks beautiful!

  2. Cathy says:

    Wow these gorges are magnificent. Such stunning rock formations I havnt seen anywhere else before. How would I fare in these gorges?!

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