free camping in the Wheatbelt Archives

Marshall Rock

Marshall Rock in Northeastern Wheatbelt is part of the Wheatbelt Way Drive Trail and a popular leisure spot. It is located 280km from Perth and 7km to the nearest town Bencubbin. The rock itself is quite small and easy to climb. You can also drive up to the top (no caravans). From the top you can enjoy a 360-degree view of the surrounding fields, including nearby Lake McDermott.

Marshall Rock campground

Marshall Rock campground is nestled between Marshall Rock and Gardner Hill. There are all the basic facilities there that a traveller would need, which include waterless toilet, non-drinking water, bins, a couple of picnic tables and fire- pits.

The campground is free and easily accessible, suitable for all types of vehicles and set up. And yes, you can bring your fury friend there too. Our neighbour had 12 of them 😊.

Photography and astrophotography at Marshall Rock

Marshall Rock is an easy and short hike, so it became my daily habit during our 3 day stay there. Every time the same rock and surrounding area looked differently. You can always find a new angle to look at the same thing 😊

Marshall Rock is a great place for astrophotography.

Nearby attractions

Lake McDermott

Lake McDermott is a large salt lake, near Marshall Rock. Like many other salt lakes in that area, it is often dry. When it is full, it promises to be spectacular. During our recent visit there, it turned out to be impossible to come closer to it, to take a picture of the beautiful reflections in the water cast by the surrounding bushland. We ended up with boots full of mud which took a while to clean up. The lake, however, has excellent picnic facilities and walks around, and is a nice place to spend time.

Pergandes Sheep Yards

Another attraction nearby is Pergandes Sheep Yards. This is a short trip back in time, to 1910, when Pergandes family was the first to settle in the Mt Marshall district. Today visitors can see remains of an original homestead and sheep yards constructed entirely from nearby rock. Information boards describe life of early settlers and how they contributed to the development of the area. Well worth a visit.

Waddouring Dam

Also part of the Wheatbelt Way drive trail is Waddouring Dam. Built in 1929 to provide water to the nearby town Bencubbin, it is now used for recreation purposes. Waddouring Dam is a great picnic and camping spot.

There are two camping areas there. The camp closer to the water edge has a waterless toilet, non-drinking water and a picnic table. This camping area is small but there is another larger camping area further away from the dam (closer to the entrance). The camping areas are free to use. They also have fire pits. While the water in the dam seems clear enough, swimming is not recommended but you can safely kayak and paddle. We didn’t stay at Waddouring Dam but enjoyed visiting it and talking to those people who camped there.

Elachbutting rock

Elachbutting Rock is one of the more popular rocks in Eastern Wheatbelt. It is located 70 km northeast of Mukinbudin, (the nearest town). While not as big as Wave Rock, it is still quite big and has features similar to Wave Rock.

While it looks like Wave Rock, it is not.

The name Elachbutting means “big thing standing” for its sheer size, making it a prominent landmark with sweeping views from the top.

Campground

There is a large picnic and free camping area (suitable for at least 50-60 vehicles) with toilet and picnic tables.

The view of the camping area from Elachbutting Rock

Not far away from the camping area, there is an old well established by early settlers to provide them with drinking water (which is not drinkable now).

The gravel track around the rock is 6km long (which shows how big the rock is) with the camp area on one side and the wave rock formations on the other side. Nearby is Monty’s Pass, a 30m tunnel, caused by a rockslide.

Next to Monty’s Pass is King’s Cave. While the word Cave might be an exaggeration, as it looks more like a hollow, King’s Cave is said to be acoustic, providing good echoes. In any case, it is a fun place to visit, especially for kids.

Flora and fauna

Elachbutting Rock is surrounded by Elachbutting Nature reserve, which means it is home to many birds and wildflowers.

Elachbutting Rock 4WDriving and climbing

We climbed onto Elachbutting Rock and we drove onto it (part of it using a 4WD only track). The views from the top of the rock give you a perspective of the vastness of the land, and you can marvel at the patterns and the colours of nature, the shapes and the lines that form a sophisticated and beautiful puzzle.

Kids found their own entertainment on top of the rock – walking on stones inside a small puddle.

The Elachbutting granite outcrop (or part of it) provides an interesting background when taking pictures of a night sky, with millions of stars rising up above horizon.

Brown Lake and Eaglestone Rock

Lake Brown near Eaglestone Rock in the Wheatbelt — Lake Brown near Eaglestone Rock

Salt lakes are another natural wonder in the Wheatbelt. When there is a lot of rainfall, the salt lakes become fully alive with many of lying dormant seeds and eggs waking up to the right conditions. In dryer seasons, many salt lakes dry up and harden so much that you can walk on their surface. There is so much salt in them, that the dry salt resembles ice and for someone who has never seen ice, it is a real delight. Lake Brown is one such place of wonder. Kids had a lot of fun walking on the salty crust and playing with it. While I was busy photographing beautiful landscape.

Atriplex holocarpa growing near Lake Brown and Eaglestone Rock in the Wheatbelt — Atriplex holocarpa

Lake Brown and Eaglestone Rock overlooking it are located 20km north east of Nungarin in the Wheatbelt region of WA and are accessed via Lake Brown South Road. We did not camp there, as we only stopped to check out this place and saw a few caravans and vans there. It did look like a fantastic spot for exploration, as well as camping, especially in the cooler months. This place will be our next adventure in the near future!

Eaglestone Rock near Lake Brown in the Wheatbelt

Eaglestone Rock and salty Lake Brown in the Wheatbelt

Beringbooding Rock

Beringbooding Rock, 65km north east of Mukinbudin in the Eastern Wheatbelt is an interesting place to visit. It is known for having the largest rock water catchment tank in Australia. Built in 1937, the water tank holds over two million gallons of water. There is a low wall around the perimeter of mostly flat rock that catches rain water and directs it to the tank.

People walking on top of Beringbooding Rock in the Wheatbelt — The largest water catchment tank in Australia

Apart from this water tank, there are other interesting things to see along 2.3km circuit route around and over the rock. I found the sight of an enormous balancing boulder very fascinating.

While I was busy taking pictures of the boulder, our kids spent time near the tall cairn. The youngest, Ilusha said that everyone who passed by, put a small rock to add to this tower. Logical thinking!

Among other attractions, there are some smaller rocky outcrops, a cave, a gnamma hole (natural water hole) and beautiful views of the surrounding country from the top of the rock. The walk over the rock is relatively easy. Shire of Mukinbudin has also provided picnic and free camping facilities with tables and flushing (!) toilet at the base of the rock.

Billiburning Rock

Billiburning Rock was our favourite out of the 4 rocks in Wheatbelt area that we visited during our 9 day holiday through the Wildflower Country and Wheatbelt. Being 35km north of Beacon (the closest town), it is a bit out of the way and thus less popular than other rocks. We were happy to have a lot of space for ourselves with fantastic views.

Camping

The view of the campground from Billiburning Rock

Billiburning Reserve has 3 camping sites, located at the base of the Billiburning Rock. The first one (Gecko Grounds) is an open space, suitable for large vans and caravans. To get to the second (Echidna Expanse) and third ones (Kangaroo Corner), you would need to drive around the rock, crossing a small section of the rock (10 meter section).

Each of the other two sites are rather small, enough for 4-5 campers each, offering the views of the rock on the left and the views of the bush with abundant wildflowers on the right. There is a drop toilet and a water tank next to it with non-drinking water between sites 2 and 3.

We stopped at Echindna Expanse site (number 2) which we shared with another camper for the first night and had it all to ourselves for the second night. The place being so serene, pristine and inviting that we did stay 2 nights there.

Enjoying our time at Billiburning Rock during the day and night

We climbed over the rock to take the pictures of the sunrise.

Then we climbed it again during the day. Later we marvelled at the way the rock looked when the setting sun was casting its last rays onto it, making the colours of the rock look warm and orange. When the sun set, the colours turned cold and blue.