Desert View Walk Trail

Easy

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A 1.5km trail through the Pinnacles Desert starting on a Class 1 accessible viewing platform (300m) before continuing as a Class 3 sandy pathway (1.2km) winding among the limestone pinnacles, per DBCA.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

1.83 km

Est. time

29 min

Elevation gain

20 m

Route type

Out & back

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In an emergency

Call 000 for police, fire or ambulance — Australia's emergency number works even with a weak signal, and without a SIM if any carrier has coverage.

You're in Nambung National Park, Cervantes, WA. Mobile reception in this area is not guaranteed — this is exactly why the offline map and GPS position on this page work without signal.

Tell someone your plan and expected return time before you set off. A PLB is the most reliable backup where there's no reception at all.

Tracks & plans

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Species to look for on this trail

Ancient trees and rare flora confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Swamp Cypress

Actinostrobus pyramidalis

Nambung's only recorded native conifer▾

Nambung's only recorded native conifer

A southwest WA-endemic conifer and the only gymnosperm species recorded among Nambung National Park's more than 170 flowering plant species. Its sealed cones stay closed on the living tree for years, opening only when the wood dries or the branch dies — often after fire.

How to spot it

A shrub or small tree to about 8m with evergreen, scale-like leaves in alternating whorls of three along the twigs (young seedlings instead bear needle-like leaves). Small rounded cones (1-2cm) form at branch tips and take 18-20 months to mature.

Family Cupressaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Nambung National Park; Wikipedia: Actinostrobus pyramidalis

Photo: Kevin Thiele (CC BY 2.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Wildlife you might see on this trail

Animals confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Honey Possum

Tarsipes rostratus

Least Concern — sole living member of its family▾

Least Concern — sole living member of its family

A tiny, mouse-sized marsupial and the only mammal in the world that feeds exclusively on nectar and pollen, using a long brush-tipped tongue. It's endemic to south-west WA's heath and shrubland, including Cape Le Grand and Nambung National Parks.

How to spot it

Weighs as little as 5-10 grams with an exceptionally long pointed muzzle and three dark stripes running head to rump. Best spotted at dusk feeding on banksia or dryandra flower spikes rather than on the ground.

Family Tarsipedidae · Source: Wikipedia: Honey possum

Kym Nicolson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons