Coastal Trail

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A 20km, DBCA-rated challenging bay-to-bay trail through Cape Le Grand National Park linking a string of beaches, with the park page describing kangaroos basking on white sand and dolphins surfing the aqua waters along the way.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

18.47 km

Est. time

5 hr 35 min

Elevation gain

572 m

Route type

Point to point

Steepest stretch: +55m over ~300m (around the 10.5km mark)

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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 Cape Le Grand National Park, Esperance, 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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About this hike

The Le Grand Coastal Trail links a string of Cape Le Grand's white-sand bays over 20km of DBCA-rated challenging walking, one of the signature multi-day coastal routes in Western Australia's south-east. The park's own description of the trail highlights kangaroos regularly seen basking on the beaches themselves and dolphins working the surf just offshore, an unusually close mix of wildlife and coastline even by WA standards. The trail alternates between granite headlands and long stretches of soft sand, so pack weight and tide times both matter more here than the distance alone suggests. Frenchman Peak, the park's granite landmark, is visible from much of the route and can be tackled as a side trip via its own trail near the eastern end.

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.

Pincushion Hakea (Kodjet)

Hakea laurina

Vulnerable (IUCN)▾

Vulnerable (IUCN)

A shrub or small tree endemic to Western Australia's south coast, prized for its globular red-and-cream pincushion flower heads. Threatened by land clearing, weed invasion and altered fire regimes.

How to spot it

Blue-green, flat, lance-shaped leaves 7-21cm long on smooth grey bark; flower heads are dense globes of 120-190 individual flowers with dark pink-to-red perianths and cream-white styles, giving the pincushion look.

Family Proteaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Hakea laurina

Photo: Fir0002 (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Showy Banksia

Banksia speciosa

South coast icon, dieback-sensitive▾

South coast icon, dieback-sensitive

A large shrub or small tree of Western Australia's south coast sandplains, named for its striking cream-yellow flower spikes. Not formally listed as threatened, but extremely sensitive to Phytophthora cinnamomi dieback, with populations in national parks significantly reduced by the pathogen.

How to spot it

Leaves have prominent triangular teeth along the margins; large cream-yellow cylindrical flower spikes appear on a shrub or small tree up to 8m tall.

Family Proteaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Banksia speciosa

Photo: Eric Hunt (CC BY-SA 3.0) 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