No matter where you are within the state, you are sure to spot some wildflowers within the wildflower season each year (July through to November). Lucky for us, the Golden Outback region covers over half of WA, meaning the wildflowers seen within our region are some of the best and most awe-inspiring. We have compiled some of the well-known hot spots from the last few years to inspire your wildflower road trip travels!
* We must remind you to never pick the wildflowers you see growing, this is illegal. Take only photos. Do not trespass on private property to find wildflowers.
This is where you will want to head if you want to catch the start of the Golden Outback wildflower season. Depending on rainfall, you can expect to see some blooming flowers from late July in the northern part of the region.
• Mount Augustus - the contrast between huge Mount Augustus (2.5x the size of Uluru) and the delicate wildflowers that grow here make this a total wildflower bucket list spot.
• Kennedy Range - between Mount Augustus & Carnavon, the waterfalls & gorges of Kennedy Range NP are some of the best places to see wildflowers on a bumper wildflower year.
• Gascoyne Junction - there are usually beautiful wildflowers to be found on the walking trails alongside the Gascoyne River. Bilung Pool is also worth a visit.
• Cue & Mount Magnet - keep your eyes out for carpets of everlastings around town.
• Paynes Find - the gateway to the Murchison, you can find everlastings and wattles brightening up the red roadsides around this old gold-mining hub.
• Yalgoo - a popular spot for seeing wreath flowers, there are also everlastings and orchids to be found around this historic town.
• Woolen Station, Nalbarra Station and Melangata Station – these vast stations are home to many wildflower species including everlastings and mulla mulla.
As the Wheatbelt is one of the larger regions, the spread of wildflowers covers majority of the land, with different wildflowers popping up in different places – you’ll find different varieties in the North to those in the South.
Esperance and the Fitzgerald Coast burst into life during wildflower season, and some flowers can even be seen through to late October. The national parks especially are full of colour, and the green shrubbery and ocean waters as the backdrop make for a jaw dropping wildflower location.
The Goldfields is one of the lesser known areas for wildflowers, but there are some amazing local bushes and trees that come to life within wildflower season.
• Coolgardie - there are plenty of wildflower hotspots along the Great Eastern Highway into Coolgardie, like Yellowdine Nature Reserve, Karalee Rock, Boorabin National Park and Boondi Rock. Around Coolgardie itself, you can usually find eremophilas, native hop bushes, mulla mullas and bush tomatoes.
• Kalgoorlie-Boulder - one of the best places to see wildflowers in the Goldfields is Karlkurla Park, where you’ll find plenty of wildflowers endemic to the region, including eremophilas, jam wattle, tan wattle, Kalgoorlie hop bush, thorny hovea, lemon-flowered gum, Goldfields daisy, cassia and westringia rigida.
• Menzies & Lake Ballard - not only is Lake Ballard one of our favourite places in the Golden Outback, it’s also a great spot to see bush flowers, wattles, native cornflowers, everlastings and eremophilas. You can also see them around Goongarrie and Niagara Dam. Menzies Cemetery also usually has lots of flowers blooming around it and you can sometimes see sturt peas on the road up to Menzies from Kal.
• Leonora & Gwalia - the Leonora Loop Trails are a good place to start when wildflower-searching in the Goldfields. You can usually see everlastings, smoke bush and billybuttons, along with purple flannel bush.