Map of Francois Peron National Park, Shark Bay World Heritage Area

Other Information: Family Friendly

Overview: François Péron National Park lies 10km from Denham, 340km from Carnarvon and 430km from Geraldton and approximately 800km from Perth. The park was once a pastoral station, and you can reach the Péron Heritage Precinct by two-wheel drive (entry fees are payable) to experience what life would have been like on a remote sheep station. Adventuring beyond this precinct requires a high-clearance four-wheel drive.

One of the park's highlights is its scenic coastline, where dramatic red cliffs contrast with blue water and white beaches. From the cliffs of Skipjack Point visitors may see bottlenose dolphins playing, dugongs feeding, green and loggerhead turtles surfacing for air and large manta rays gliding past just beneath the surface. The Péron Peninsula, including the Péron National Park, is interspersed with gypsum claypans known as birridas. Most birridas were landlocked saline lakes when sea levels were much higher than at present, and gypsum was deposited on the lake floors. In some places the sea has invaded the claypans, such as at Big Lagoon, to form a shallow inland bay.

Tips: The park is accessed from the Monkey Mia Road, about 4km east of Denham. Péron Heritage Precinct is usually accessible to two-wheel drive vehicles but conditions vary so check with DEC’s office in Denham first. To travel further north into the park a high-clearance four-wheel drive (4WD) is essential and it is imperative to lower your vehicle's tyre pressure because of the very soft sand tracks. This area is unsuitable for large caravans or boat trailers; only camper trailers and dinghies may be taken beyond this point.

Many old station tracks are being revegetated, and some are for management purposes only. Follow the signs and stay on the correct roads. Do not drive over the soft gypsum pans (birridas). They have a thin surface crust over a bog mire, kept wet by groundwater. Vehicles attempting to cross birridas will become bogged. Recovering bogged vehicles is costly and time consuming, scars the birrida and degrades the surrounding vegetation.

Entrance and camping fees apply. A visitor fee collection box is located at the park entrance, where you turn off the Monkey Mia Road. Your fees are used to maintain and develop the park.

You may camp at Big Lagoon, Gregories, South Gregories, Bottle Bay and Herald Bight. There is no booking system so sites are available on a first come, first served basis. The busiest times are during the school holidays and when the southerly winds drop in winter. Only limited facilities are provided in these camping areas. No provision is made for caravans.