James Price Point, Western Australia: Why visit this Kimberley headland?
North of Broome in Western Australia, James Price Point offers the Kimberley ideal of red cliffs, white sand and turquoise sea. It’s also home to huge dinosaur footprints.
James Price Point is a headland around 61km north of Broome, Western Australia. The local Goolarabooloo people know it as Walmadany.
This Kimberley headland captures a lot of what north-western Australia is about. The red pindan dirt is dramatic, and the big red cliffs meet stunning white sand and the near turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean.
There are no tourist facilities at James Price Point, which makes in an in-the-know favourite amongst Broome locals. But they almost lost their little hideaway.
James Price Point gas refinery
In 2008, James Price Point was selected by the Western Australian Government as the site for a new natural gas refinery. It would have been one of the biggest gas refineries in the world, with 50 square kilometres of ocean rendered a marine dead zone, and 30 square kilometres of woodland destroyed.
Protestors rallied against the proposed refinery, culminating in 2011 with a 30 day blockade. The plans were eventually dropped, although locals remain suspicious that they will be resurrected.
James Price Point dinosaur footprints
However, there are now formidable heritage reasons to prevent such construction. In 2017, paleontologists identified footprints from 21 different types of dinosaurs along a 25km coastal stretch from James Price Point. One of them, belonging to a Sauropod, is 1.7m long. The footprints also offer the only confirmed evidence of a stegosaurus in Australia.
The tracks are at least 90 million years old, and are similar to those found at Gantheaume Point in Broome.
The road up to James Price Point is generally in good enough condition for a conventional vehicle. The drive from Broome takes just under an hour.
Other things to do in Broome include visiting the Willie Creek Pearl Farm, taking a Broome hovercraft tour and drinking mango beers at Matsos.
More Western Australia travel
See the weirdly bright waters of Black Diamond Lake in Collie.
Soak yourself at the Outback Splash water park in Bullsbrook.
How long is the drive from Denham to Monkey Mia?
Taste WA wines at Oakover Grounds in the Swan Valley.
Visit Hutt Lagoon and Red Bluff on the drive from Geraldton to Carnarvon.