Peak Charles 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 ...
in
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 ...
, 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 north west of
Esperance.
The park is named for one of the main features, Peak Charles, which is an ancient granite peak with an elevation of
that dominates the park along with its neighbour Peak Eleanora. Both afford excellent views over the park, which is primarily composed of dry sand plain
heath
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
s and
salt lake
A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...
systems.
It is located within the
IBRA
The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) is a biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian government's Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population, and Communities. It was devel ...
sub region of the
Eastern Mallee
Eastern Mallee is an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) subregion in southern Western Australia.
Geography
Eastern Mallee is roughly defined as the eastern half of the Mallee biogeographic region. It has an area of aroun ...
and has a number of rare plants within its boundaries including ''
Gastrolobium acrocaroli
''Gastrolobium acrocaroli'' is an erect open shrub that is endemic to an isolated location in the south-west of Western Australia. It is a member of the family Fabaceae, grows to 2.7 metres high and produces orange yellow pea-flowers in either ...
''.
No entry fee applies to enter the park but there are few facilities available to tourists. A car park, campground and toilets are available.
A looped walk trail to a lookout at the top of Peak Charles is also available which requires rock scrambling.
See also
*
Protected areas of Western Australia
Western Australia is the second largest country subdivision in the world. It contains no fewer than separate Protected Areas with a total area of (land area: – 6.30% of the state’s area). Ninety-eight of these are National Parks, totalli ...
References
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National parks of Western Australia
Protected areas established in 1979
Goldfields-Esperance
1979 establishments in Australia
Great Western Woodlands