D’Entrecasteaux National Park in WA

There’s a National Park in the South West of WA that no one can pronounce which is full of fantastic 4WD tracks, beautiful water systems and some of the roughest but most spectacular coastline you’ll ever see.

It’s called D’Entrecasteaux National Park, and it should be a place you put on your bucket list. We’ve been there a number of times, and just recently explored the Fish Creek area, on the other end of the National Park.

How do you pronounce D’Entrecasteaux National Park?

The million dollar question! Whilst it looks complicated, its actually not. You pronounce it Don-tra-cas-toe National Park. Yes, we’ve mispronounced it many times in the past too.

D'Entrecastaux National park — Hard to say, but its a beautiful place!

Where is it, and where do you enter?

You’ll find D’Entrecasteaux National Park in the South West corner of Western Australia, stretching from Augusta all the way down to Walpole. The park is about 130km long in a narrow strip ranging between 5 and 20km wide.

You can access this park from a huge number of entrances, simply due to its extensive side. You can access it from East Augusta, Scott River, Beedelup, Yeagarup, Northcliffe, Windy Harbour and Walpole.

Warren River in Pemberton — It’s in the beautiful South West of WA

Does it cost to enter?

Yes, like most of the National Parks in Western Australia you either need a parks pass, or to purchase one to access the park. The daily rate is $15 per vehicle ($8 for concession), and $8 for a motorbike. Again, you are far better off purchasing an annual parks pass through RAC for half price ($60).

Do you need a 4WD?

The large majority of the National Park requires a 4WD. However, there are areas that you can see by 2WD including the beautiful areas around Windy Harbour (Point D’Entrecasteaux, Salmon Beach, Gardner lookout, Tookulup and Sunset Lookout).

Point D'Entrecasteaux — Only a few places are 2WD accessible

What’s in D’Entrecasteaux National park?

There’s some stunning places in this National Park, and it takes many days to explore them all.

Lake Jasper

If you are after a huge, freshwater lake that is a sight for sore eyes after a long day behind the 4WD, Lake Jasper is it. Historically this was used as a ski lake, but these days its purely for kicking back in nature.

Black Point

Not too far from Lake Jasper is Black Point, another great camp site and home to some of the most intense coastline you’ll see. The name stems from a huge number of black rocks which are completely unlike the normal, pristine sandy beaches that line most of WA.

Broke Inlet

At the bottom of the National Park lies Broke inlet; another spectacular place that can be accessed from several sides.

Fish Creek

Fish Creek is a hugely popular 4WD destination with a couple of huts to check out, some great beaches and there’s even patches of grass that you can roll your swag out on! We spent the day rocking around the 4WD tracks, had lunch at Fish Creek (and completely missed Fish Creek Hut) before heading back into Pemberton.

Gardiner River

A short drive from Windy Harbour lies the Gardiner River. You can often cross the river with a 4WD during the year at the river mouth, or you can head inland and drive around. We prefer the inland route as you stay out of the salt water, but a lot of people were crossing it when we visited!