Amazing WA Wildflowers under 5 hours from Perth
If you’ve never seen the wildflowers in WA, you’ve been missing out, big time. To see the giant blooms of bright pink, white and yellow on the side of the road, and covering huge areas as far as the eye can see is an experience you won’t forget in a hurry, and to this date, one of our favourite trips in Western Australia.
Here at 4WDing Australia, we’ve been lucky enough to see wildflowers on a number of trips in the past, but up until now never specifically headed out in search of them.
Well, that’s just changed! We got back just under a week ago, having seen some of the most incredible wildflowers around by heading north from Perth for 5 nights.
From the small, hard to find wildflowers to the giant blooms that you couldn’t possibly miss it was a truly memorable trip, and we’d highly recommend it to anyone looking for something different.
We loaded up our Isuzu Dmax, and our Hybrid Reconn R2 and jumped on the road straight after work on a Tuesday arvo, not sure of what we’d see or how much we’d enjoy it.
WA Wildflowers
When WA wildflowers are mentioned, a lot of people think of the huge blooms of pink, white and yellow that you see covering the ground in patches that can go as far as the eye can see.
However, the wildflowers that many people hunt for can require a lot of effort and time to find. Whether its the beautiful Wreath flowers, Orchids or other tiny, hidden flowers the hunt is part of the excitement.
You’ll find these wonderful wildflowers between mid August and October, depending on which direction you head, and what species you are looking for.
What do you need?
There’s not too much you need for wildflowers. Plenty of water, a reliable vehicle, fuel, a camera, sense of adventure, maps and Wikicamps is a fantastic investment. You should sort out accommodation before you go, or at least know where your options are, as it gets very busy this time of year!
If you are looking for a WA Wildflowers self guide, you have unlimited choices; its a big state and the flowers cover a huge distance in many directions.
Westways Wildflowers
Our first stop, for two nights was a private property near Coomberdale, by the name of Westways Wildflowers. I was intrigued by the fact that there was very little information on this place, especially given the name, and what they had to offer.
The owners are absolutely lovely, and went out of their way to make us comfortable, and explain what they do on their land. Camping is in true bush style on a paddock (with the option of showers and toilets as needed) and the property is stunning.
We opted to pay to do their 15km 4WD wildflower drive, which we ended up doing twice (only one charge). You’ll find a huge range of wildflowers on this property, ranging from orchids through to everlastings, and everything in between.
There are no huge blooms of everlastings like you’ll find elsewhere, but a huge variety of individual species that are fun to find.
Camping is only $10 per night per vehicle, which is a steal and totally worth it. If you do the wildflower loop, its another $10 per adult (kids are free). That’s $40 for two nights for our family, with the wildflower loop. Low cost, and brilliant.
Coalseam Conservation Park
Leaving Westways Wildflowers on day 3, we headed out to Mingenew to grab some fuel and continue onto Coalseam Conservation Park.
It was a Thursday at about 1PM by the time we arrived, and I confidently bet Sarah that the main camp ground (miners) would be full, and we’d have to find somewhere else.
I lost the bet with about 5 sites left, and we found ourselves an amazing camp site overlooking the river bed, with a huge number of flowers around the place.
Coalseam is a truly spectacular place even when there are no wildflowers around, but this transforms it into a place of insane natural beauty.
There’s a 3.2km walk from Miners camp ground that takes you up the hill, to great views, and you can see a huge number of wildflowers around the conservation park, including the smaller, harder to find flowers.
You can camp at Miners Camp ground, or at the overflow (Breakaways). Miners has toilets, and is more picturesque, but Breakaways is still a good spot for a night or two. We spent two nights at Miners, and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Mullewa Waterfalls
Whilst surfing Wikicamps I came across something a bit unexpected; waterfalls in the middle of ‘nowhere’. We conjured up a plan for day 4, and left the camper at Coalseam for the day, heading to Mullewa, Pindar, Canna and back into Coalseam Conservation Park from the East.
You can drive along the Northern Loop from the Waterfalls back towards Pindar, and you’ll see some fantastic flowers and more beautiful scenery.
Pindar Wreath flowers
Not too far out of Pindar are some Wreath flowers, which we decided to check out. They are well signed, and easy enough to find even in 2WD vehicles. Its a good condition gravel road, and you’ll find some on the West side of the fork, but if you continue all the way around you’ll see even more on the East side.
Remember to drive and park sensibly, and don’t run them over. Yes, we did see tyre marks where people have been careless!
Canna railway
After Pindar, we headed south towards Canna Dam and the railway. This was recommended by the camp hosts at Miners Camp Ground, and its a beautiful walk.
This rounded up a great, relaxing day exploring. From Canna, you can head West and pop back into Coalseam National Park from the other side, which we did for another night.
Depot Hill
Another extremely popular place to check the WA wildflowers out is Depot Hill, not far out of Mingenew. We called in after leaving Coalseam Conservation Park before heading across to Morawa and Perenjori, continuing the wildflower way.
Perenjori Wreath Flowers
Whilst heading further south, we pulled off the road just near Perenjori, and took a short drive up a good gravel road, before turning down a track into a gravel parking bay, where there were some very healthy looking Wreath flowers.
Several others were there also enjoying it, so it’s a well known spot. You’ll find this on Wikicamps, again.
Mia Moon
After grabbing some very cheap fuel at Wubin, we headed 17km towards the coast, and pulled into Mia Moon. We’d found this place earlier on, and decided it’d be worth a night of free camping, before continuing onto Perth.
Doing long drives with the kids in a car isn’t much fun, unless you have a particular destination in mind that needs the hours put in.
We found a nice spot, set up, cooked some ribs and walked around enjoying the massive rock, and numerous wildflowers around the area. We shared the area with another two camp groups, but there’s still plenty of distance apart.
Check the WA wildflowers out
I was in two minds about heading out on a Wildflower trip. I wasn’t really sure how much we’d enjoy it, but it was absolutely spectacular, and we would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a different adventure.
Our trip above was about 1200km, done in a number of 200 – 300km stints over 6 days, and 5 nights. Very slow, relaxed and enjoyable, which is what you want with two kids under 4 in tow.
Have you been to check the WA wildflowers out? What did you find, and enjoy?
