Watheroo National Park is a national park 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 ...

, 187 km north 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 ...

. It contains Jingemia Cave. The park is situated in the

Mid West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

region of Western Australia to the west of the Midlands Road between the towns of Badgingarra to the west and Dalwallinu to the east. The border of the park abuts Pinjarrega Nature Reserve to the north but is otherwise surrounded by farmland. Low Creek borders the park to the east, and then flows south to join

Moore River Moore River is a river in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Geography The headwaters of the Moore River lie in the Perenjori, Carnamah and Dalwallinu Shires. The river then drains southwards through Moora, flows westerly before j ...

. The park is mostly composed of sand plain country, which supports populations of

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 ...

, mallee and

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 ...

and many wildflowers.

Eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', '' Corymbia'', '' Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

stands can be found to the western end of the park. Other species include spinifex,

wandoo Wandoo is the common name for a number of Western Australian ''Eucalyptus'' species, all of which have smooth white bark. The original "wandoo" is ''Eucalyptus wandoo''. Additional species have been given this name because of a perceived likeness w ...

and yorm gum. Some of the wildflowers found within the park include

kwongan Kwongan is plant community found in south-western Western Australia. The name is a Bibbelmun (Noongar) Aboriginal term of wide geographical use defined by Beard (1976) as Kwongan has replaced other terms applied by European botanists such as ...

, bush cauliflower and scarlet featherflower. The name of the park comes from the

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

name of a nearby

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

; it is also the name of a town located to the east of the park. Composed mostly of

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

-based sand with outcrops of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

at times having a

laterite Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

cap, the area acts as a basin between the

Dandaragan plateau Dandaragan plateau is a feature between the Darling Scarp and Gingin scarp in Western Australia. Dandaragan locality and Shire of Dandaragan council of the same name occur on the plateau. The integrity of the Boonanarring reserve on the platea ...

and the

Darling plateau Darling is a term of endearment of Old English origin. Darling or Darlin' or Darlings may also refer to: People *Darling (surname) *Darling Jimenez (born 1980), American boxer *Darling Légitimus (1907–1999), French actress Places Australia ...

. In 2010, the

Environmental Protection Authority of Western Australia The Environmental Protection Authority of Western Australia (EPA) is a statutory authority within the Government of Western Australia, established on 1 January 1972, which acts as the primary provider of independent environmental advice to the ...

gave approval to survey the Warro

gas field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

that is located beneath the park. The company Latent Petroleum was given permission to conduct a

seismic survey Reflection seismology (or seismic reflection) is a method of exploration geophysics that uses the principles of seismology to estimate the properties of the Earth's subsurface from reflection (physics), reflected seismic waves. The method require ...

, allowing them to drive over vegetation.

References

See also