Avon Valley National Park

Located 47kms northeast of Perth, the Avon Valley National Park is 43.66km² with the most incredible diverse sceneries.

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From the typical Australian bush, to jungle-like forests, rocky outcrops, dense forage one minute and sparse the next, ruins, the old Chris' Quarry (although very little remains today), two halves of a car separated some 100m, an industrial railway line with painted train cars, old Westrail and Brookfield infrastructure, amazing views as well as the Avon River... this is one of the few places I've been to where there is so much to see!

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The Avon River was first seen by Ensign Robert Dale of the 63rd Regiment on 7 August 1830 during one of his early exploration trips heading east from the Swan River settlement. However, he didn’t actually use the name “Avon” until a later visit on 28 October 1830, when he returned to the area with Governor Stirling and recorded the name in his journal.

 

In Irish and Welsh origins, the name Avon means river.

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Avon Valley National Park was formally applied as the name of the Reserve No. A30192 National Park on 15 October 1971 (p.4023).

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To enter the park, a standard fee for a vehicle with 12 people or less is $17 and $10 for concession. When I arrived at the forlorn-looking toll booth, I parked my car up on the side, read the posted rules and saw that there was an honour system, which meant you had to put money into an envelope, then into a box and then put something on your dashboard when you parked. There was nothing of that there at the time and probably hadn't been for a long time and I was unable to pay online at the time.

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Some of the unsealed roads around the park are pretty gnarly, especially with very loose gravel, extensive areas of corrugating, big potholes, some deep washouts and a tree that had fallen some ¾ across the road. My sedan took it well, although I slid out at one point (which was kinda fun) and I made it all the way to the Valley Campground from the Morangup Road entrance.

 

All the roads in the park are unsealed and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions doesn't recommend coming here with your caravan.

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I was initially worried about my car potentially being broken into but I didn't see a single person or car in the entire time I was in the national park. As the sun began to set, dark clouds rolled in with a few drops of rain falling by the time I returned to my car. Although it would probably take a substantial amount of rain for the roads to become increasingly difficult, I was conscious of it becoming slippery and as driving out of the park was most certainly on a steep incline in some areas, it would've no doubt spelled trouble.

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There are a number of campgrounds located in the park, as well as toilet, bin and barbeque facilities, as would one expect. I didn't notice any taps (or tanks) but no doubt, there would've been a number of them for people to wash up plates or refill water bottles.

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No dogs or pets are allowed in the park.

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The cooler periods certainly makes visiting this national park a more enjoyable experience, particularly compared to those nasty hot summer days where you end up a burnt sausage, covered in flies.