Feature park: D’Entrecasteaux National Park
The amazing D’Entrecasteaux National Park on the Southern Ocean. (Photo:L-A Shibish)
D’Entrecasteaux National Park is a narrow strip of land 5 to 20 km wide which stretches along the south coast along the Indian Ocean for more than 130 kilometres between Augusta and Walpole. It is the result of the amalgamation of various State forests and timber reserves, Crown land, Shire of Manjimup reserves, conservation reserves, pastoral leases and freehold purchases between the 1970s and 1990s. The park’s impressive natural features include (but are not limited to) the hexagonal-shaped basalt columns at Black Point, formed by a volcanic lava flow 135 million years ago, and the 10-kilometre-long Yeagarup Dunes, the largest land-locked mobile dune system in the southern hemisphere, which are moving into the forest at a rate of 4 metres a year.
Inland from the coast is a series of lakes and swamps, including Lake Yeagarup and Lake Jasper, which is the largest freshwater lake in the southern half of the state. Major rivers which flow through the park are the Warren, the Donnelly and the Shannon.
There are several camping areas in the park:
- Crystal Springs https://parkstay.dpaw.wa.gov.au/camp-finder/viewproperty/crystal-springs/113/en
- Leaning Marri https://parkstay.dpaw.wa.gov.au/camp-finder/viewproperty/leaning-marri/128/en
- Banksia Camp https://parkstay.dpaw.wa.gov.au/camp-finder/viewproperty/banksia-camp/100/en
- Black Point
https://parkstay.dpaw.wa.gov.au/camp-finder/viewproperty/black-point/165/en
- Lake Jasper (Yoondaddup) https://parkstay.dpaw.wa.gov.au/camp-finder/viewproperty/lake-jasper-yoondaddup/164/en
