Overview

This page has a full description of this section of the trail, including supporting photographs. You can read this page and/or

• Download a PDF summary of this (click on this link); and

• A JPEG version of the map only (the figure below - click on this link).

Starting point

The starting point is the northern car park at Cape Peron.

Getting there using public transport

There are no buses that go to Cape Peron, so you have two options: catch a taxi/Uber to the start or do the walk in reverse – i.e. start from Shoalwater. If the later, take the 551 bus from Rockingham Station, and get off at the stop just south of the intersection of Safety Bay Road (the road the bus takes) and Boundary road.  It’s a 600m walk to the foreshore carpark.

Turn around point

The turn around point is a small carpark at the end of Boundary road, where it meets Ardadia Drive.

Getting back to the start from the turn around point – if you don’t want to do an out-and-back walk

If you start from either end, it is not possible to get back to the starting point using public transport. A taxi/Uber is your only option. The 551 bus returns to the Rockingham train Station.

Summary of the walk

Figure 1 below shows the suggested route in red - it is not a simple out and back walk - and an alternative route in orange. The one-way distance is 4.6km and the return leg is 2.9km making it a 7.5km out and back walk. If you select the additional return leg, it will add an additional 800m making it an 8.3km out and back walk.

Water and toilets

NOTE: there are no toilets or drink fountains on this walk so come well prepared.

Information about Cape Peron

Cape Peron is part of the Rockingham Lakes Regional Park, and Figure 2 below shows the zoning map from the approved management plan for the area. You can download the management plan by clicking on this link - http://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/documents/parks/management-plans/decarchive/rockingham_lakes_regional_park_management_plan__cover.pdf

The site for the proposed Mangles Bay Marina is shown in pink as an “area subject to further planning”.

Walking guide

The path starts from the NW corner of the carpark (Plate 1), and continue on this passed the turn around place of the last walk. The path changes from bitumen to re-formed limestone, and continue on this until the first junction (Plate 2). Take the right fork which goes to Cape John, the northern-most point of Cape Peron.

The views from Cape John are spectacular and well worth a visit (Plate 3).

Head back to the track junction, and continue following the path south along the limestone cliffs that make up the coast here. There are a couple of small side tracks which will take you closer to the coast with equally spectacular views (Plate 4).

Continue along this path, and take the path and steps that leads to a small beach (Plate 5). You could continue along the path if you wish.

At high tide, it could be tricky getting on to the beach as the waves wash over the rocks that you have to climb down to get to the beach. There is some erosion here, but the beach is generally wide enough to walk on. It’s worth noting that if you had stay on the path, you could have visit one of the two hill top look-outs in the area. There is as track at the end of the beach which goes through the dunes (Plate 6) and take this to the main southern car park at the Cape (Plate 7).

As can be seen in Plate 7, there is a concrete path that lead to a viewing platform with more spectacular views, this time to the Islands and reef to the south, and Shoalwater (Plate 8). This is the northern boundary of the Shoalwater Islands Marine Park and Reserve – see next walk for more details.

From the viewing platform, head back down the path and head south through the carpark to the end (Plate 9). The path then forks to the right and left (Plate 10).

The path to the right which lead to another lookout (Plate 11) and the start of the Cape Peron snorkel trail (Plate 12).

From this look out head back to the carpark and then down the track to the beach (Plate 10 above). The beach for first half of the walk shows signs of significant erosion (Plate 13).

As can be seen, some of this beach walk would be tricky in a high tide. You can avoid the worst of the erosion by heading up to Cape Peron Road just near a small carpark (Plate 14) and then re-enter the beach through the Apex Holiday Centre (Plates 15 & 16). HOWEVER, this is not a pleasant detour given how busy Cape Peron Road is, so, if the tide is low, continue on the beach rather than do this detour.

Caution – the western end of the Centre has been closed works is being carried out to remove asbestos.

Between two shacks at the corner where the entry road ends there is a narrow sand track to the beach (Plate 17).

The remainder of the walk is straight forward as the beach to the south of the holiday parks is relatively stable (Plate 18).

The turn around point was top of the first steps you come to at the end of the regional park (Plate 19). There is a seat here which gives nice views of Cape Peron and the off-shore islands (Plate 20).

This is the start point if you take the bus (see above).

The return leg is shorter because when you reach the Cape Peron carpark, instead of re-tracing your steps around the Cape, head north through the carpark and take the path up to an old World War II armaments look-out (Plate 21). It was a steep climb but the views were spectacular (Plates 22 & 23).

From here it is either a short walk back to the carpark (head north) - visible in the bottom left of Plate 23 – or you can take the longer (orange) rout back.

If you take the orange route, walk downhill until you arrive at an intersection and turn right. Continue on this track and after about 300m you will see a track off to the right up to another look out. Once you return to the main track, continue along until you come to a 'T' junction, and turn right. This will take you back to the carpark.

Garry Middle, December 2017