All the colours of the outback impress as the sun rises over this little-known town in Western Australia’s mid-west.
As the sun rises over the small town of Yalgoo, a seven-hour drive northeast of Perth, a uniquely outback canvas comes to life. Just one hour out of town, the Yalgoo salt flats glow with swirls of red, pink and white dancing under the new day’s sunbeams. It’s a truly magical sight, and one that most Australians don’t know exists.
Visiting the Yalgoo Salt Flats
The Yalgoo Salt Flats painted a dreamy swirl of purple and pink at sunrise. (Credit: C J Maddock)
Leave Yalgoo and follow the historic Miners’ Pathway self-drive trail for about an hour until you hit Salt River. You’ll see the colours around you changing, making a stark contrast to the surrounding farmland. While you can visit at any time, for the most dramatic colours you’ll want to arrive for sunrise (it’ll be worth the early start).
Yalgoo’s fascinating history
The tiny outback town is full of gold-rush era treasures to be found. (Credit: Tourism Western Australia)
Yalgoo may feel like a long way to drive for a view, even one as beautiful as these salt flats. Luckily, there’s plenty to explore closer to town as well.
Steeped in gold rush history, this tiny settlement on the road from Geraldton to Mount Magnet was settled by pastoralists (along with their sheep and cattle) in the 1870s. Then, gold fever hit after rumours of Yalgoo’s rich gold supplies spread around the world. Prospectors and investors arrived in droves during the early 1890s.
Like many towns across Australia that experienced a gold rush boom, Yalgoo now has a very modest population of around 120 people, with 400 people living throughout the entire Yalgoo Shire. While you won’t find crowds of people, you will find turn-of-the-century buildings and plenty of fascinating history to follow up your sunrise visit to the incredible salt flats.
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Beyond the salt flats
Dominican Chapel of St Hyacinth, built in 1919. (Credit: Tourism Western Australia)
Start at Yalgoo Courthouse Museum, where photos and artefacts from the early-1900s gold rush era are on display. The beautiful Dominican Chapel of St Hyacinth is another turn-of-the-century building, created by priest-architect Monsignor John Hawes in 1919.
Visit the 100-metre-long Joker’s Tunnel. Hand-carved by early gold prospectors in 1896 to allow trains to pass through the mining caves, it’s a fascinating site. There are other old mine sites to be spotted around town, as well.
You can even see the only working gold battery in WA – a 19th-century industrial machine using heavy stamps to crush gold-bearing quartz rock – at Paynes Find Gold Battery, just off the Great Northern Highway. Keen to strike gold on your own? Punters still gather for prospecting, usually in the cooler months.
Elsewhere, find roaming wildlife – from emus and kangaroos to native lizards. Arrive in the spring (July to September) to see the land transformed by pretty wildflowers. Think bright orange wild pomegranates, bright pink native foxgloves, a rainbow of orchid species, the striking red of grevilleas, the vibrant yellow of acacias, purple flashes of darwinia and dampiera, and so much more.
Explore the Joker’s Tunnel. (Credit: Tourism Western Australia)
The details
More information: Discover more about the town and its attractions at yalgoo.wa.gov.au. Where to stay: Find Yalgoo Caravan Park in town, as well as many station stays dotted around the shire.
Kassia Byrnes is the Native Content Editor for Australian Traveller and International Traveller. She's come a long way since writing in her diary about family trips to Grandma's. After graduating a BA of Communication from University of Technology Sydney, she has been writing about her travels (and more) professionally for over 10 years for titles like AWOL, News.com.au, Pedestrian.TV, Body + Soul and Punkee. She's addicted to travel but has a terrible sense of direction, so you can usually find her getting lost somewhere new around the world. Luckily, she loves to explore and have new adventures – whether that’s exploring the backstreets, bungee jumping off a bridge or hiking for days. You can follow her adventures on Instagram @probably_kassia.
Time your visit to Margaret River just right, and you can spend the ultimate weekend wining, dining and exploring the region with Pair’d Margaret River Region x Range Rover.
Wine, world-class produce, surf, sun and beaches: it’s an alluring combination. And the reason so many pin the Margaret River region high on their travel hit-lists. There’s drawcard after drawcard to the southwestern corner of Western Australia, and the Pair’d Margaret River Region x Range Rover food and wine festival showcases the best of it over the course of one weekend in November. It’s never been easier to sip, see and savour the Margaret River region.
In partnership with Pair’d Margaret River Region, Range Rover invites you on a seven-day itinerary of refined adventure, where luxury and exploration go hand in hand. It’s the perfect WA road trip, and there’s no better way to do it than in a Range Rover.
Day 1
Check into Pullman Bunker Bay.
There’s no more popular West Australian road trip route than that between Perth and the Margaret River Region. It’s an easily digestible, three-hour drive, with worthy pit stops along the way.
Make the first of them one hour and 15 minutes in, at Lake Clifton. Here, find a 2000-year-old living thrombolite reef. Drive for a further 40 minutes and chance meeting some of Bunbury’s dolphin population at Koombana Bay.
Pullman Bunker Bay is the final stop, just over three hours south of Perth. This beachfront, five-star resort is the ultimate base for exploring the Margaret River Wine region.
Day 2
After a leisurely morning breakfast with an ocean view, start your Range Rover and head towards the Dunsborough town centre. Browsing the decidedly coastal-themed goods of the town’s many independent boutiques is a great way to while away the hours, breaking up the sartorial with an artisan gelato snack stop, or some good old-fashioned Australian bakery fare.
Leave room; you’ll need it for the Good Natured Gathering dinner at Wayfinder. Indulge in a four-course feast by chef Felipe Montiel, which uses produce from the winery’s market garden to enhance a selection of sustainably sourced seafood and meat. But food is just the support act. It’s organic wine that’s the star of the show, generously poured and expertly paired to each dish.
Day 3
Settle in for cabernet at Cape Mentelle Winery.
With a grand total of 20 wines from vintage 2022 to try, it’s a good thing Cape Mentelle’s International Cabernet Tasting kicks off early. Make your way to the estate for a 10:00 AM start, where a global selection of wines will be poured blind, before a long lunch by Tiller Dining is served.
Given that the Margaret River is responsible for more than 20 per cent of Australia’s fine wine production, it’s only right to delve into it while in the area.
Continue exploring the region via taste and terroir aboard Alison Maree, a whale-watching catamaran, as you cruise Geographe Bay. Admire the rolling green hills and crisp white beaches of Quindalup in sunset’s golden light, all the while sipping through the Clairault Streicker catalogue and dining on canapes.
For a more substantial dinner, venture into Busselton for a seven-course British x Australian mash-up, courtesy of Brendan Pratt (Busselton Pavilion) and Oliver Kent (Updown Farmhouse, UK). They’ll be putting their rustic yet refined spin on the likes of local marron, wagyu and abalone – championing the simple beauty of the world-class ingredients.
Day 4
Elevate your dining experiences at Pair’d X Range Rover Beach Club.
Wrap your fingers around a wine glass and wiggle your toes into the sand at Pair’d Beach Club x Range Rover on Meelup Beach. Sit down to an intimate wine session with sommelier Cyndal Petty – or a four-course feast by Aaron Carr of Yarri – and revel in the open-air beach club, bar and restaurant’s laidback coastal vibe. It’s a whole new way to experience one of the region’s most renowned beaches.
Follow up a day in the sun with a casual Italian party at Mr Barvel Wines. Purchase wines –including the elusive, sold-out Nebbia – by the glass and enjoy canapes with the towering Karri forest as a backdrop.
If you’d prefer to keep it local, head to Skigh Wines for the New Wave Gathering, where the region’s independent wine makers and their boundary-pushing wines will be on show. Street-style eats, a DJ and complimentary wine masterclasses complete the experience.
Day 5
Taste your way through Howard Park Wines. (Image: C J Maddock)
Spend the morning at your leisure, driving the winding roads through the Boranup Karri forest in your Range Rover. Soak in the views at Contos Beach, and call into the small cheese, chocolate and preserve producers along the way.
Make your next stop Howard Park Wines for The Grand Tasting presented by Singapore Airlines. Numerous wine labels will be pouring their catalogues over four hours, accompanied by food from chefs Matt Moran and Silvia Colloca, with live opera providing the soundtrack.
Cap off a big weekend with one last hurrah at Busselton Pavilion. Six ‘local legends’ – chefs Brendan Pratt (Busselton Pavilion), Mal Chow (Chow’s Table), Aaron Carr (Yarri), Ben Jacob (Lagoon Yallingup), Corey Rozario (Dahl Daddies) and Laura Koentjoro (Banksia Tavern) – will be preparing a dish each. Dance the night away as vinyl spins and the sun sets on another day.
Day 6
Head underground. (Image: Tourism WA)
After a busy few days of wining and dining, it’s wise to observe a rest day. There’s no easier task than unwinding in the Margaret River Region, also famous for its high concentration of world-class beaches.
Relax on the grassy knoll as you watch the region’s most experienced surfers braving the World Surf League break at Surfer’s Point, or don your own wetsuit and try out one of Gracetown’s more beginner-friendly waves. Swimmers will find their Eden at Meelup Beach, Eagle Bay, or Point Piquet, where the sand is brilliantly white and the water as still as a backyard swimming pool.
Not into sun, sand, and surf? Head underground at Mammoth Cave, just one of the region’s many stalactite-filled caves.
Day 7
Farewell the Margaret River.
Pack up your Range Rover with new favourite wines and newfound memories, ready for the three-hour journey back to Perth.
