Red Bluff Lookout, Kalbarri, WA: Sights and walking trail
The Red Bluff Lookout near Kalbarri, Western Australia, offers Indian Ocean sunsets, 100 metre sandstone cliffs and Wittecarra Creek – the landing site of the first Europeans to live in Australia.
What is the Red Bluff Lookout?
The Red Bluff Lookout is a viewpoint in the Kalbarri National Park, Western Australia. It takes in high cliffs and the Indian Ocean.
Why visit Red Bluff, Kalbarri?
Red Bluff, Western Australia, is a fabulous place to take in 100 metre cliffs and the Indian Ocean. Come during the winter months, and you’ve also got a great chance of seeing migrating humpback whales. Come late in the day, and you can see a spectacular Indian Ocean sunset.
Red Bluff is just south of Kalbarri on the Western Australian coast. It’s part of the Kalbarri National Park, and just one in a series of high coastal cliffs. What makes Red Bluff special is the distinctive red rock, with clear layers, created over what’s believed to be 400 million years.
6 great Kalbarri experiences to book before you arrive
- See the colours of the giant cliffs change on a sunset cliffs cruise.
- Have fun catching the local lobsters on a lobster pot pulling tour.
- Learn about the area’s history, nature and wildlife on a Murchison River cruise.
- See migrating humpbacks on a seasonal whale-watching experience.
- Take a scenic flight to Monkey Mia for a dolphin-feeding encounter.
- Fly over the infamous Batavia shipwreck on an Abrolhos Islands tour by plane.
Sights from the Red Bluff Lookout, Kalbarri
The Red Bluff Lookout isn’t just about the sandstone rock, however. You can see along the Kalbarri coastline, too. You can see Red Bluff Beach, Jakes Point, Meanarra Hill and the mouth of the Murchison River.
The first European landing site in Australia?
Just north of Red Bluff is Wittecarra Creek, thought to be the landing site of the first Europeans to permanently land in Australia. Two mutineers from the Batavia were exiled here after the ship crashed into the Houtman-Abrolhos Islands in 1629. No-one knows what happened to Wouter Lous and Jan Pelgromm after they were abandoned here.
Red Bluff walking trail
There is a walking trail from the Red Bluff Lookout down to Red Bluff Beach. It’s relatively short – about 1.3km from the lookout and 2km return from the car park – but steep. Surfaces can be slippery and unstable in places and, of course, coming back up to the lookout is less fun than going down.
The Red Bluff Lookout is a 7km drive south of Kalbarri. There’s a dirt road turning off State Route 139, which is fine for conventional vehicles. You can drop by on the Geraldton to Kalbarri leg of the drive from Geraldton to Carnarvon before reaching the town centre.
You can combine a visit to the Red Bluff Lookout with other marvellous coastal sights near Kalbarri. These include Pot Alley, Mushroom Gorge and Rainbow Alley.
Other key Kalbarri National Park sites, such as Nature’s Window and the Kalbarri Skywalk, are in the inland section of the park.
More Western Australia travel
Browse the stalls at the Wanneroo Markets in Perth’s northern suburbs.
See the weirdly bright waters of Black Diamond Lake in Collie.
How long is the drive from Monkey Mia to Coral Bay?
Get wet at the Outback Splash water park in Bullsbrook.
How long is the drive from Denham to Monkey Mia?