Wave Rock; is it worth the massive detour?

Wave Rock is a huge tourist destination located roughly 4 hours drive east of Perth. Every year, thousands of people call in to take a look. The thing is though, its a massive detour; is it really worth the drive?

Wave rock is aptly named; its a giant rock in the shape of a wave, and looks very impressive. It is found in Hyden, a small Western Australian town in the country.

This is a pretty standard wheatbelt town of Western Australia, and is frequented by many tourists travelling down to amazing places like Lucky Bay, or Duke of Orleans in Esperance.

Where is Wave Rock?

Wave Rock is located in Hyden. The best way to get to Hyden is along the Brookton Hwy, which will take you through Bulyee, Corrigin, Kondinin and then finally Hyden. The drive can be done in less than four hours, but it depends on how much you want to stop.

Most of the towns are slightly similar, but they all have something that is worth taking a look at. Wave Rock is a small drive out of Hyden, but there is accommodation close to the rock.

Hyden

Hyden mainly relies on farming, but Wave Rock and a few other places help to make it a tourist friendly destination as well. In 1930 a railway was built linking Kondinin and Hyden. Since then, wheat and other crops along with cattle have been a huge part of Hyden. The first harvest of wheat was done in 1927.

Today, you will see a lot of canola crop along the way to Hyden, as it becomes more and more popular and useful.

Wave Rock Accommodation

There is a range of accommodation in Hyden, and then also accommodation close to Wave Rock. There is a Motel, a caravan park and a Resort.

At the caravan park you can choose to camp or stay in a cabin. If you are expecting top notch accommodation then you are probably going to the wrong place. Don’t get me wrong, the accommodation is nice, but it’s nothing spectacular.

The Caravan Park is within walking distance to Wave Rock. We chickened out the first night because it was raining (we were meant to be camping!) and we rented a small cabin instead. This proved to be a great idea as it poured all night.

What to do in Hyden

Besides visiting Wave Rock, Hyden has a golf course, a swimming pool (in the caravan park) and a number of other rock formations which are worth a look.

Sure, they are not as impressive as Wave Rock, but they are still interesting. Mulka’s cave is quite fun to walk through, and there are some great pictures to be taken from on top of the rocks.

Campervans and Wave Rock

We tend to find that a number of people who are visiting Australia like to hire out Campervans, which are basically vans or small trucks that have been made into a caravan. They are cheap to hire, relatively comfortable and brilliant in terms of being able to drive where you want to, when you want to.

Many people hire these and drive down to Wave Rock and other Australian destinations, as it’s a simple way to do things. I would highly recommend this, but be sure that you choose a legal place to stay; the ranger will not be happy if you just pull up and camp anywhere.

The Holland Track

This was the main reason that we went down towards Wave Rock. The Holland Track was created in 1893 to shorten the journey by cart from Albany port to the Goldfields.

It is now a 4WD track and goes through a huge variety of terrain and different bits of nature. There are little dams, a heap of rock formations and a lot of places to camp and have fun.

It is also totally secluded; we saw two other people on the whole track. We did the whole trip including parts of Kalgoorlie in a week, but the Holland Track can be done in 3 days.

Some places can be very challenging, especially in the wet. You are allowed fires in a few of the camp locations, and others you are not. If you don’t have a well modified 4×4 then attempting after heavy rain is not a good idea.

All in all, Wave Rock is a great place to visit, but don’t expect to be blown away. It is a taste of what Western Australia has to offer, with the Goldfields being a fairly under-rated part of the country.

We actually thought that Pildappa Rock in South Australia is prettier, but its not quite as unique as Wave Rock.

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