The Pinnacles and Nambung National Park

Thousands Of Weathered Limestone Spires Rising Out Of Yellow Desert Sand Two Hours North Of Perth, Best Walked Or Driven At Sunrise Or Sunset When The Pillars Throw Long Shadows Across The Dunes · Cervantes, Western Australia

The Pinnacles Desert sits inside Nambung National Park on Western Australia's Turquoise Coast, about two hours and 245 kilometres north of Perth near the small fishing town of Cervantes. Thousands of limestone spires, most between half a metre and three and a half metres tall, rise out of bright yellow desert sand like a petrified forest, formed over tens of thousands of years as rainwater dissolved soft dune limestone and left harder cores standing once wind stripped the surrounding sand away. A loop road lets you drive slowly through the formations, stopping at marked bays, and a separate boardwalk and sand trail lets you get in among the spires on foot, both starting near the small visitor centre at the entrance. There is no shade across the site and almost no shelter from wind or sun, which shapes every sensible plan to visit at the cooler, better-lit ends of the day. Grey kangaroos graze the fringing scrub at dawn and dusk, and nearby Lake Thetis holds living thrombolites, among the oldest life forms on earth, as an easy add-on stop on the same short trip from Cervantes.

A desert of limestone spires in Nambung National Park, about two hours north of Perth near Cervantes, Cervantes, Western Australia, Australia

Nambung National Park's gate and the Pinnacles loop road are open daily during daylight hours only - there is no night access and no lighting once past the visitor centre, so the gate effectively closes at dusk and the loop road is not meant to be driven after dark. The visitor centre itself keeps shorter daytime hours, roughly nine to four or five depending on the season, and sells park entry passes and basic supplies but has no fuel. A per-vehicle park entry fee applies and is paid at the gate or online in advance; there is no fee waiver for a quick drive-through. Cervantes town's cafes, fuel stop and small shops keep ordinary daytime hours and some close by early evening outside the main summer season, so arriving with a full tank from Perth is the safer plan.

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