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 WaveRock, it is still quite big and has features similar to Wave Rock.
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.
Monty’s Pass
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.
King’s Cave at Elachbutting Rock
Flora and fauna
Elachbutting Rock is surrounded by Elachbutting Nature reserve, which means it is home to many birds and wildflowers.
Brunonia australis Native CornflowerFringed lily Thysanotus manglesianusGrey ShrikethrushHalgania speciesLobelia winfridae Lots of galahsMaireana CarnosaSantalum AcuminatumSolanum SisymbriifoliumWestern Yellow RobinFlora and fauna at Elachbutting Reserve
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.
From the top of Elachbutting Rock
Kids found their own entertainment on top of the rock – walking on stones inside a small puddle.
A puddle on the rock
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.
Located 33km north of Mingenew, Coalseam Conservation Park is best known for its stunning display of wildflowers, especially everlastings, which are best seen in August-September. Even though we missed the prime time of the wildflowers blooming by about 3 weeks, due to work and study commitments, we still enjoyed what was left of them. In fact, there is a certain beauty in the dried everlastings – maturity combined with beauty of gold.
Cephalipterum drummondii Pompom head Podolepis aristata with insectOrange immortelle Waitzia acuminataRhodante chlorocephala Pink white everlasting Rhodanthe chlorocephala Pink white everlastingWaitzia suaveolensThysanotus tuberosus Fringed LilyYork gumYork gum with ants
Coalseam is also rich in history and geology. It is the site of the first mined coal deposit in Western Australia, and exposed bands of coal seams can still be seen. The coal there turned out to be of not high enough quality to mine profitably, so the mines was eventually closed and the reserve became Coalseam Conservation Park. The part of the reverse near Johnson Shaft was turned into Miner’s camp ground.
Old Mine Shaft site
Camping at Coalseam Conservation Park
There are two campgrounds at Coalseam Conservation Park. We stayed at Miner’s camp which was very popular when we arrived on 25 of September, just at the beginning of school holidays. We were lucky to get one last out of 25 spots at around 4pm in the afternoon. Our lovely and friendly camphosts collected our money ($11 per adult, $3 per child – prices back in 2021), car registration and other necessary information. For those fees we enjoyed a spacious site to park our 4WD and caravan, beautiful views all around, clean drop toilet, company of the neighbours and communal fire every night. I would imagine this place looks absolutely stunning during the peak of wildflower season but it still looked very pretty even at the end of the season.
Miner’s Camp at Coalseam Conservation Park
Not just the wildflowers
With 3 days to stay at Coalseam, we had plenty of time to go for numerous walks around. Going for a walk is not only a relaxation, exercise and leisure, it is also an opportunity to explore the area and see the beauty and extraordinary around us…. like the beautiful tapestry of the spider web .
Tapestry of the spider web
Kids found their own entertainments during our stay at Coalseam. One of the new fun games they discovered was building and shooting paper rockets. Some of the rockets flew as high as 60 meters up! What a thrill! Thank you, Daddy Brian for teaching the kids this fun activity.
Can you fly a paper rocket 60 meters high?
Kids also played with freesbie and….. a shoe! Can you spot a flying shoe? 🙂
Have you found where the shoe has gone? 🙂
The night skies in the outback are dark and full of stars. It is such a relaxing and rewarding experience to look at the Milky Way and spot occasional stars falling.
Night skies at Coalseam Conservation Park
Lookouts and walking trails in Coalseam
There are a few other things to see and places to visit apart from wildflowers in Coalseam Conservation park. 2km away from the Miner’s camp, there is Irwin River Lookout. An easy 500 meter loop walk to the cliff edge provides spectacular views over the Irwin River.
Irwin River Lookout
Below it (you would need to drive back and around to reach it) is River Bend, where you can view the banded layers in the cliff above. It is a nice picnic spot with bbq and toilets.
River Bend
Seeing a snake is always a little bit terrifying but also exciting! After all, it is an opportunity to see it in their natural environment. We saw this Stimson’s python (also known as Children’s python) on our way to Irwin River Lookout, about 2km away from the Miner’s campground.
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