Francois Peron National Park in the Shark Bay region along Australia’s Coral Coast is one of our favourite travel destinations. It is a combination of immense raw beauty of red dirt deserts, clear blue ocean waters and white sands, rough 4WD tracks and unique flora and fauna that makes this place so attractive and captivating.
Bush camping at Francois Peron National Park
There are 5 bush campgrounds at Francois Peron National Park – South Gregories, Gregories, Bottle Bay, Herald Bight and Big Lagoon. There are only basic facilities (toilets and some campgrounds have a bbq). Bookings do not apply to these campgrounds but camping fees ($15 per night per person) and park entry fees do apply. The campgrounds are close to the beach. There is no drinking water and no rubbish bins. There is a large skip bin at the entrance to the park where you inflate and deflate the tyres. You would need a 4WD to get to those campgrounds.
The magic of Bottle Bay
We stayed at Bottle Bay campground in 2022 and absolutely loved our 4 day stay there!
Nature painted pictures – patterns, colours and shapes uniquely crafted by wind, rain and time.
Big Lagoon
We love Francois Peron Naitonal Park and visited it several times. Every time we endevour to stay at different campgrounds. So, in 2024 after our trip to Dirk Hartog Island we stayed at Big Lagoon.
Big Lagoon is a series of small picturesque lagoons closer to the entrance to Francois Peron National Park. You have a boat or a kayak, you can explore the little lagoons within the sanctuary zone (you can access it only by boat).
Another way to enjoy this lovely place is to have a picnic or camp there. Big Lagoon campground is the biggest within Francois Peron National Park. There are 19 sites of various sizes and layout but all are quite big. Some sites are drive through. Others have metal raised platforms for tents and swags. All sites can accommodate minimum 2 vehicles. Facilities include 4 long drop well maintained toilets in various parts of the campground. There is also adjacent day use picnic area with sheltered decking, tables, BBQs. Sites are non-bookable. You can fish from the shores of the lagoon near the campground.
Wildlife
Every morning during our stay at Bottle Bay in Francois Peron National Park we woke up to find interesting tracks on the ground and sand. Every time we tried to figure out who made those numerous tracks. We understood that the animals were nocturnal, hiding during the day, making it a complete mystery for us. We saw a beetle, but whom do the rest of the tracks belong to?
We were lucky to see an echidna in Shark Bay (thanks to our older son, Ariel who has spotted it from the car). That is how close we managed to get to echidna before it went hiding.
While we didn’t see many animals (but many tracks), we saw plenty of birds in Shark Bay. Pied Cormorant is quite abundant there, as is the Pacific gull, which is a very large gull native to the coasts of Australia. Interestingly, the young pacific gull is mottled-brown-greyish in colour.
Sunrise and sunset
When there is not enough sun during the day, looking at the pictures of sunrise helps to boost the mood. 😍
Sunset is equally therapeutic.
Birridas
Birridas (also spelled Birrada) or gypsum claypans were once saline lakes, between sand dunes, isolated from the ocean. A drop in sea level dried the lakes turning them into what is now known as birridas. There are large areas of birridas in Francois Peron National Park, of different shapes and sizes (with the massive patch between Herald Bight and Gregories). Birridas look quite magnificent (probably, even more so from high above). They are among Shark Bay’s visual attractions, contributing to the region’s World Heritage status through the listing in ‘superlative natural phenomena’ category. Birridas look like they are hard but actually are soft and very unstable, so driving over them is extremely risky and prohibited.
How we got bogged in Francois Peron National Park
We managed to tow our caravan safely to Bottle Bay and nearly all the way back, past the most soft and corrugated parts of the road between Cattle Well and Gregories. But just before Kraskoe’s Tank, we got bogged! There was a lot of ongoing traffic on our way back from Bottle Bay and in an attempt to consider others, we moved to the side of the track, giving way to ongoing traffic. It seems that the sand was blown into a pile and it happened to be very soft there. So we got bogged, blocking the track to a couple of vehicles behind us and ahead of us.
However, being bogged is not a big issue. It is always a test to how the vehicle can handle the terrain, as well as the test of our 4WD skills. As we were a bit more experienced now, we managed to dig ourselves (thanks to Maxtrax) within 10 minutes.
Kids did a good job of helping out too!
Cape Peron
Cape Peron is at the tip of Francois Peron National Park. It is a place of contrasting colours, where red sandstone meets whitish sand and blue ocean waters. This place is abundant in wildlife. For lovers of hiking, there is Wanamalu trail, 1.5km one way, which connects Cape Peron and Skipjack Point.
Interestingly, Wanamalu is Aboriginal name for Cormorants, which can be seen gathering in crowds along the water’s edge at Cape Peron.
Skipjack Point
1,5km from Cape Peron is Skipjack Point, which is another beautiful place to admire. It has a viewing platform from which you can view marine wildlife in abundance. Every time we visit it, we see lots of wildlife swimming in the ocean. Here you can also get the same contrasting view of red, iron rich earth and blue waters, which is truly mesmerizing.
Interestingly, the red sand of Peron Peninsula is mostly made of quartz with a layer of iron oxide. It is the same compound that forms when irons rusts, giving the sand its unique colour. The deposits of these red sand are thought to be at least 250,000 years old. While this red sandstone underlies most of Shark Bay, it is exposed only on Peron Peninsula.
Do you know that Skipjack Point is named after golden trevally, which are locally known as “skipjacks” and are abundant in those waters?
How to get to Francois Peron National Park
Francois Peron National Park is on the Peron Penninsular in Shark Bay region, 726km north of Perth, along Australia’s Coral Coast. You can assess the park off the Monkia Mia Road, 4km east of Denham. The road to the Peron Heritage Precinct is unsealed by you can get there with a 2WD. The rest of the park is 4WD only.
