Cape Le Grand National Park is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, south-east of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and east of Esperance. The park covers an area of The area is an ancient landscape which has been above sea level for well over 200 million years and remained unglaciated. As a result, the area is home to many primitive

relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...

species. Established in 1966, the park is managed by the

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

. The name Le Grand is from one of the officers on ''L'Espérance'', one of the ships in the 1792 expedition of

Bruni d'Entrecasteaux Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni, chevalier d'Entrecasteaux () (8 November 1737 – 21 July 1793) was a French naval officer, explorer and colonial governor. He is perhaps best known for his exploration of the Australian coast in 1792, while ...

Geography

The largely

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

shoreline and white sand beaches are picturesque features of the area. The park is a used for

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

off-roading Off-roading is the activity of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain. Types of off-roading range in intensity, from leisure drives with unmodified vehicl ...

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

, and

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

. Beaches within the Park include those at

Lucky Bay Lucky may refer to: *An adjective of luck Lucky may also refer to: Film and television * '' Lucky: No Time for Love'', a 2005 Hindi-language romance starring Salman Khan, Sneha Ullal, and Mithun Chakraborty * ''Lucky'', a 2005 short film by Avi ...

Rossiter Bay Rossiter Bay is on the southern coast of Western Australia, in the Cape Le Grand National Park east of Esperance. The bay is noted as the place that the explorer Edward John Eyre and his Aboriginal companion Wylie met the crew of the French wh ...

, Hellfire Bay, Le Grand Beach, and Thistle Cove. The islands and waters to the south of the park are known as the '' Recherche Archipelago Nature Reserve'', another protected area of the

Recherche Archipelago The Archipelago of the Recherche, known locally as the Bay of Isles, is a group of 105 islands, and over 1200 "obstacles to shipping", off the south coast of Western Australia. The islands stretch from east to west and to off-shore encomp ...

and nearby coastal regions. The

Cape Arid National Park Cape Arid National Park is a List of national parks of Australia, national park located in Western Australia, southeast of Perth. The park is situated east of Esperance, Western Australia, Esperance and lies on the shore of the South coast of W ...

is located to the east. The southwest section of the park is dominated by rock outcrops of

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

and

. These form a distinctive chain of peaks including Mount Le Grand (345 m), Frenchman Peak (262 m), and Mississippi Hill (180 m, named after the ''Mississippi'', a French

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

). Further inland, the park comprises mostly heath-covered sandplain, interspersed with

swamps A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

and pools of fresh water.

Wildlife

The sandplains support dense stands of

banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and fruiting "cones" and heads. ''Banksias'' range i ...

s (''

Banksia speciosa ''Banksia speciosa'', commonly known as the showy banksia, is a species of large shrub or small tree in the family Proteaceae. It is found on the south coast of Western Australia between Hopetoun (33°57′ S) and the Great Australian Big ...

'' and '' Banksia pulchella''). Other flora that can be found around the park include species of ''

Melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They range in size ...

'', ''

Grevillea ''Grevillea'', commonly known as spider flowers, is a genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. Plants in the genus ''Grevillea'' are shrubs, rarely trees, with the leaves arranged alternately along the b ...

'',

sheoak The Casuarinaceae are a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants placed in the order Fagales, consisting of four genera and 91 species of trees and shrubs native to eastern Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, and the Pacific ...

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...

and grass trees. Wildflower blooms peak in the austral spring, lasting until October and species such as blue china orchid '' Cyanicula gemmata'', ''

Diuris corymbosa ''Diuris corymbosa'', commonly called the common donkey orchid or wallflower orchid, is a species of orchid which is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is similar to the purple pansy orchid ('' Diuris longifolia'') but its flower ...

'', '' Hakea laurina'', '' Thysanotus sparteus'' and ''

Thelymitra macrophylla ''Thelymitra macrophylla'', commonly called the large-leafed sun orchid or scented sun orchid, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae, and is Endemism, endemic to the Southwest Australia, south-west of Western Australia. ...

'' are represented within the park. Fauna that are commonly found within the park include

bandicoot Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipelago t ...

s, pygmy honey possums,

ring tailed possum The common ringtail possum (''Pseudocheirus peregrinus'', Greek for "false hand" and Latin for "pilgrim" or "alien") is an Australian marsupial. It lives in a variety of habitats and eats a variety of leaves of both native and introduced plants, ...

quenda The southern brown bandicoot (''Isoodon obesulus'') is a short-nosed bandicoot, a type of marsupial, found mostly in southern Australia. It is also known as the quenda in South Western Australia (from the Noongar word ''). Taxonomy George Shaw ...

and

western grey kangaroo The western grey kangaroo (''Macropus fuliginosus''), also referred to as a western grey giant kangaroo, black-faced kangaroo, mallee kangaroo, sooty kangaroo and (when referring to the Kangaroo Island subspecies) Kangaroo Island grey kangaroo, is ...

s. Some of the

relict species In biogeography and paleontology, a relict is a population or taxon of organisms that was more widespread or more diverse in the past. A relictual population is a population currently inhabiting a restricted area whose range was far wider during a ...

with

gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

n links that are found within the park include species of

legless lizard Legless lizard may refer to any of several groups of lizards that have independently lost limbs or reduced them to the point of being of no use in locomotion.Pough ''et al.'' 1992. Herpetology: Third Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall:Pearson Education ...

, like the common scaly-foot ''

Pygopus lepidopodus The common scaly-foot (''Pygopus lepidopodus'') is a widespread species of legless lizard in the Pygopodidae family. It is endemic to Australia. Habit Mostly active at dusk or dawn ( crepuscular), it can be nocturnal after high daytime tempera ...

'', and ''

Delma fraseri Fraser's delma (''Delma fraseri'') is a species of lizard in the Pygopodidae family endemic to Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Austra ...

'', ''

Delma australis The ''Delma australis'' is often known as the southern legless lizard, or the marble-faced delma. This terrestrial lizard falls into the category of slender Pygopodidae, a legless lizard. There are 21 known species in the Pygopdidae family in A ...

'' and '' Aprasia striolata''. The ancient, although non-gondwanan, blind snake '' Ramphotyphlops australis'' is also found within the park. Endemic frogs found within the area include the quacking frog ''

Crinia georgiana The quacking frog (''Crinia georgiana'') also known as the red-thighed froglet due to its legs tending to be bright red. It is a species of frog from the Myobatrachidae family and is in a clad with five other species. The frog is well known fo ...

'', the banjo frog ''

Limnodynastes dorsalis ''The western banjo frog (Limnodynastes dorsalis)'' is a species of frog from the family Limnodynastidae. The informal names for this species are pobblebonk, sand frog and bullfrog. It is one of the endemic amphibians of Western Australia. A lar ...

'' and the humming frog ''

Neobatrachus pelobatoides The humming frog (''Neobatrachus pelobatoides'') is a species of frog in the family Limnodynastidae. It is Endemism, endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, temperate shrubland, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, in ...

''.

Facilities

Facilities include toilets, barbecues, campsites, tables, sheltered areas, walk trails, information bays, and water tanks. Two full-time rangers are residents of the park. Check the Cape LeGrand Campground website for booking details. During busy holiday periods, there is a 'camp host' couple who helps manage the site.

Gallery

Image:Lucky Bay.jpg , Overlooking Lucky Bay, one of the beaches at Cape Le Grand Image:Lucky Bay beach.jpg, Lucky Bay is a popular destination for tourists Image:Frenchmans Peak.jpg, Frenchman Peak

References

{{Authority control National parks of Western Australia Goldfields-Esperance Protected areas established in 1966

Geography

Wildlife

Facilities

Gallery

See also

References