Overview
- Highlights: River gorges and sandstone cliffs
- Distance: 2.6 km (return)
- Duration: 2 hrs
- Conditions: Loose rocks, steep descents
- Best Time to Visit: June to November
- Facilities: Lookout / deck, toilets, BBQ
- Start/Finish: Z-Bend car park
- Permit/Bookings: None required; entry fees apply to Kalbarri National Park (A$11 per car per day)
- Address: Kalbarri National Park, Western Australia
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Summary
The Z-Bend Lookout in Kalbarri National Park is considered by many as providing the most spectacular views into the park. If you’re feeling a more adventurous as we did, the Z-Bend River Trail provides a hike down into the gorge and the river’s edge. The hike is steep and quite dangerous, but provides a lot of fun. Abseiling is also done here along certain sections of the trail.
Kalbarri National Park: Z-Bend River Trail
By the time we returned from the Kalbarri National Park Loop Walk Trail, it was late morning, so we had some time to make it to the Z-Bend Lookout that provides one of the most breathtaking scenery in the Kalbarri National Park. The Lookout is from an overhanging rock formation that provides spectacular views of the Murchison River Gorge. From the safety of the lookout, the gorge plunges 150m to the Murchison river below where magestic river redgums provide a lush contrast to the earthy hue’s of the Tumblagooda sandstone.
Driving from the Loop Walk Trail to Z-Bend is via a 27-km unsealed road that is rough in sections. We had to take care and drive slowly, as we were in a 2-WD. No trailers or motorhomes are allowed down these roads.
We were able to reach Z-Bend Lookout via a 500-metre walk trail from the car park. It was a moderately easy walk to the rock lookout over the river.
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What I found even more impressive was the Z-Bend River Trail, an hour-long hike down into the gorge and the river’s edge. This demanding 2.6 km return hike provides river access from the Z-Bend Lookout path. The trip requires getting through tights passages, jumping from rock to rock, and meandering through redgums and boulders, which makes it quite adventurous but dangerous as well.
There were plenty of loose rocks, steep descents and ladder climbs. We had to take extreme care in this gorge area, as it was quite easy to twist an ankle with one wrong step.
On our way down, we met up with an abseiling group who were abseiling down a couple of steep ravines. It looked like a lot of fun, and I wished that we had one more day in Kalbarri to fit it in.
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On arrival at the bottom of the trail, the calm and serene river took over our senses. The water level was very low, so we could see the river bed, which was mossy green with lots of little boulders lying around. Other tourists had left at this point, so we got to enjoy the scenery and solitude to ourselves.
We made our way back to the car park, as it was approaching midday, and we needed to head to our hotel for some shade and relaxation after a couple of enjoyable hikes in Kalbarri National Park.
