D’Entrecasteaux National Park

Day 1:
Morning:
Our journey kicked off at Moon’s Crossing – a beautiful section of the Warren River, about 20 minutes North of Northcliffe (about 4 hours from Perth). Whilst there are no camping facilities on the site, you are permitted to camp at the crossing. We spent a night under the tall Karri trees by the river, before setting off on our adventure into D’Entrecasteaux National Park towards Coodamurrup Hut. The trip begins with the shallow water crossing, before winding your way through the forest heading South.

Afternoon:
The trip down to Coodamurrup Hut is a beautiful drive that requires no technical 4WDing. As you enter D’Entrecasteaux National Park, the roads become unsealed but are well maintained in most areas. A few sections of softer sand here and there, but an easy drive for the most part. We dropped our tyre pressures down to around 25psi to make the scattered, moderate corrugations more comfortable. We opted to drive to Coodamurrup Hut via Chesapeake Road; an old logging track that winds through the forest with enormous Karri trees closely lining the track. This really is tall tree country. Whilst not a difficult drive, there are narrower sections where overhanging scrub can have its way with your rig’s paintwork, so be prepared for a few light scrapes if you take this route. It is, however, the more interesting way to get there in our opinion! We actually encountered a tree down across the track which had recently fallen and needed to navigate around it, but it was still passable. The alternative route down to Coodamurrup Hut is via Deeside Coast Road. This will see you driving a wide open, flat unsealed road with no chance of scratches. This is still a beautiful drive (we took this route on the way back out).

Evening:
We arrived at Coodamurrup Hut to be greeted by a quiet campground entirely to ourselves, which was nestled in the forest about 2.5km from the stunning Coodamurrup Beach. (It seems that we timed this perfectly, visiting a few days before Christmas. We imagine it gets very busy at times!)

The Hut is a relic from the days where graziers worked the surrounding land some 100 years ago, and thanks to some maintenance over the years still stands in good condition today. There are approximately 10 campsites scattered around the peppermint woodland-surrounded Hut, along with a rainwater tank (please take enough water to be self-sufficient on the trip – there are no guarantees that the tank will have water, but if it does – you can boil it). You can walk through the Hut which houses an old fireplace and a single bed frame, but is otherwise empty.

We cooked dinner out of our MRT canopy, then settled in for a peaceful night in this isolated paradise.