Western Australian Wildflowers bloom on the Coral Coast all year round, but between late July and September you’ll see some of the most stunning displays in the State, when blankets of brilliant wildflowers colour the outback landscape.
Blooms can be seen along the entire Coral Coast, in places such as Lesueur National Park, Cape Range National Park and the Shark Bay World Heritage Area, year round.
The flowers are more seasonal in some regions, such as Coalseam Conservation Park, which bursts into carpets of brilliant colour between July and September, with pink, gold, cream and white Everlasting flowers covering a dramatic terrain of rugged cliffs, rocky outcrops and red soil.
These are the recommended hotspots for viewing wildflowers in our region:
Nambung National Park, The Pinnacles
Made up of 17,000 hectares of coastal heathland, the Nambung National Park is home to a variety of native plants and animals. Wildflowers commonly found in the Nambung National Park during late winter and spring include wattles, quandong, yellowtail flower, thick-leaved fan flower, white clematis, cockies tongues, parrot bush and banksia species.
Whilst driving around this park, please be careful for wildlife including Kangaroo and Emu.
Lesueur National Park
Lesueur National Park situated near Green Head, is one of the most diverse and rich floral areas in the world. The park is home to over 900 species, including many plants found nowhere else in the world. This biodiverse hotspot represents approximately 10% of the state’s known flora.
A two-wheel drive car or campervan is suitable, roads are mostly sealed with only one gravel (compacted road). When driving in the park, please pull over at designated locations to find the flowers. The park has picnic sites, bush toilets and interpretative signage to better understand the landscape's features and plants. Hiking trails and walking tours are offered year round.
Coalseam Conservation Park
Located between Mingenew and Mullewa, the Coalseam Conservation Park is one of Western Australia’s top wildflower hotspots with a vast array of Mother Nature's finest offerings on display. Many varieties of wildflowers are found in abundance here, with the everlasting carpets transforming the usually sparse understorey of wattle scrub during the wildflower season.
Everlastings, Banksias, Hakeas and Grevilleas will ensure an explosion of colour to delight your senses. Keep the camera handy to capture the diversity of wildlife that lives in the park including kangaroos, emus, echidnas, eagles and cockatoos. For the nature lover, this is truly paradise.
Not far from here is Depot Hill, 12kms to the northeast of Mingewnew, an easy five minute drive. Here you will find an abundance of wildflowers and native animals.From August to October as you walk along you will be surrounded by a sea of pink everlastings and then as the terrain changes you will be able to see a mix of flowering shrubs and orchids on mass. In particular snail, donkey, spider, cowslips and purple tassels.
It's a peaceful location for a picnic on the banks of the river under the gum trees. Camping is available at two designated sites within the park. However, it is important to note that drinking water is not available so bring plenty with you. For more information and to book your camping experience online please visit here. Toilet facilities are located within the park.
Pindar and the rare Wreath Flower
Inland from Geraldton, the towns of Pindar and Mullewa are renowned for stunning wildflowers, including the rare Wreath Leschenaultia flower that blooms along the road and in park lands between August and October.
Exquisite rings laid neatly over the gravelled surface of the roadside, each made up of dozens of flowers with frilled petals of red, white and pink. These flowers only grow where the soil has been disturbed, such as gravel roads.
Please park thoughtfully and exercise caution on this road as trucks do use the road. Ask for sightings and wildflower maps during the season at a local Visitor Centre.
Kalbarri National Park
From July until November, approximately 800 species of native flora progressively burst into bloom around Kalbarri and within the Kalbarri National Park. Many of these are endemic to the region, including the Kalbarri Spider Orchid.
Bush flowers such as Banksias, Hakea, Pink Pokers and Flannel Bush and orchids such as Pink Fairies and Snail orchids as well as native flowers like Grevillea, Wattle, Murchison Rose and Thryptomene can be found. Look out for wildflowers on the coastal cliff tops and in the gorge country and ask for sightings at the local Visitor Centre.
Excellent viewing locations include Ross Graham and Hawks Head, along the road and carpark. At Nature’s Window and The Loop, Z-Bend lookout and nearby trails; and coastal sites Rainbow Valley and Mushroom Rock, with orchids at Natural Bridge and Red Bluff sites.
Shark Bay World Heritage Area
Shark Bay has the longest wildflower season in Western Australia with over 700 species of flowering plants from May to October. Of these, more than 150 species are of special scientific interest - several are exclusive to the area. Species include Shark Bay Daisies, Tamala Rose, Dune Wattle, Kurara and Wurmbea Odorata, and Everlasting paper daisies.
The aromatic Tamala rose is one of the region’s most well-known and showy species. The Shark Bay daisy, Royce’s Gum, Rogerson’s grevillea and golden lamb’s tail are also confined to the Shark Bay region. The sceptre banksia features large flower-spikes in summer and, after good winter rains, everlastings often grow in massive drifts of colour.
Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area
The Ningaloo Coast runs from Carnarvon in the south to Exmouth in the north and these areas see the first of the wildflowers in bloom, usually from late May onwards.
The Cape Range National Park is home to 630 species of flowering plants - the Quobba coastline out of Carnarvon has some very unusual looking flowers. The brilliant Red Sturt Desert Pea, which flowers in late winter (June to August) is a particularly popular flora species in the Cape Range along with the purple Mulla Mulla flower. The brilliant Red Sturt Desert Pea and the even rarer White Sturt Desert Pea populate the area. The Green Bird Flower, shaped just like a hummingbird, is found within the Cape Range National Park and in Carnarvon town.
Each year, the town of Carnarvon and its surrounds are flooded with everlasting flowers, just like those found at Coalseam Conservation Park near Mingenew. Carnarvon's everlastings can be found in patches and fields along the North West Coastal Highway and sometimes at Rocky Pool. Carnarvon's everlastings generally start in late July going into September - with everlasting carpets intertwining with purple Dampier Pea, thriving in the red Pindan dirt – very colourful!
