Australia
The Pinnacles
Thousands of limestone pillars cast long shadows across Nambung National Park's yellow sand.
Thousands of limestone pillars rise from yellow sand, casting long shadows when the sun drops. Their exact formation remains debated, which leaves the field stranger than any neat story about a petrified forest.
The Pinnacles rise from yellow sand within Nambung National Park north of Perth. These weathered limestone columns range from small stumps to several metres high, but their precise formation remains debated; competing explanations involve plant roots, calcrete and erosion. A walking loop and drive reveal changing shapes, while spring wildflowers spread through the surrounding kwongan heath.
Solo
Walk the marked trail in cool early light, keeping off the limestone formations and cryptobiotic ground.
Couple
Share the marked loop near sunset, leaving enough daylight to return without crossing protected ground.
- Thousands of weathered limestone columns rise from the yellow sand of Nambung National Park.
- Their exact formation is still debated, which is more interesting than a false single origin story.
- Low sun draws long shadows between the columns and changes their apparent scale.
- Spring wildflowers and occasional emus place the stone formations inside a living kwongan landscape.
The Lobster Shack steams its western rock lobster on the beachfront at Cervantes, seventeen kilometres from the park.
Cervantes Bar and Bistro backs the town's other courses: local squid, mussels, snapper and oysters.
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