Pinnacles Desert, Koalas and Sandboarding 4WD Day Tour from Perth
Lunch includedSandboards providedHotel pickup
From $196 per person
The Pinnacles with Kids: What to Expect, How Long to Allow and Which Tour to Book
Short answer. Yes, it works with children, and the desert is not the hard part — the four hours of driving is. Check the age minimum before you check the price: one departure bars under-fours from its four-wheel-drive leg and another does not carry children under six at all. The sandboarding is what they will talk about afterwards.
Is it worth it with children?
Yes, with one condition: pick a day that has something physical in it. The pillars themselves hold a child’s attention for a good while — they are strange, they are climbable-looking without being climbable, and there is sand everywhere. What children do not enjoy is two hours in a coach each way with nothing at the end but a walk.
That is why the departures that work best here are the ones that bolt the Lancelin dunes or a wildlife park onto the desert. The desert is the reason for the trip; the dunes are the reason the trip is fun.
Check the age rules first
These are not the same across the departures, and they are the thing that quietly rules a tour out after you have already picked it.
| Rule | What it means |
|---|---|
| Children under 4 excluded from the 4WD leg | On the wildlife-park day tour, the forty-five-minute dune run is the part they cannot join |
| Not suitable for children aged 5 and under | One small-group evening departure states this plainly |
| Child restraints for 1-7 year olds | One evening departure provides them; contact the operator at booking |
| Infant seats available | Three of the private departures state this |
| Infants must sit on laps | Two of the coach departures state this instead |
| Children must be accompanied by an adult | Stated on both of the large-coach departures |
Read the age rule before the price. Every one of these is on the listing, and getting it wrong means a cancellation rather than a compromise. If you are travelling with a toddler, a private departure is the one format that adapts to you rather than the other way round.
What they will actually like
- The sandboarding. It appears again and again in reviews as the surprise of the day, from adults as well as children.
- The 4WD dune run. Described by reviewers as a roller coaster, which is accurate.
- Hand-feeding kangaroos at the wildlife park on the day tour, plus koalas and a wombat.
- The pillars themselves, for about half an hour, which is longer than you would expect.
- A telescope, on the evening departures. Looking at the moon through one is reliably a highlight.
What to prepare for
The drive is 200 km each way and there is no way around it. Load whatever keeps your children occupied for two hours, twice. Most departures break the run north at a beach or a lookout, which helps more than it sounds like it will.
The other thing is the heat. There is no shade in the field at all, and a reviewer on a January day tour describes the temperature cutting their stop down to quick photographs. In summer, take an evening departure. The safety page has the rest.
How long to allow
Eight to eleven and a half hours door to door for a day departure, and about the same for an evening one, finishing much later. If that is too long, the honest alternative is to drive yourself and turn back whenever you need to — entry is A$17 a vehicle, so a family car is the cheapest option here by a distance.
Pushchairs, and the path that works
The 300 m Class 1 path to the viewing platform is sealed and takes a pushchair without difficulty, and the one-way drive can be done without getting out at all. Two of the private departures state that they are stroller accessible; the coach tours do not.
The trails page sets out all three routes through the field with their surfaces and distances.
Which departure to book
If your children are five or over and you want one day that does everything, take the wildlife-park day tour: koalas and hand-fed kangaroos in the morning, a fish and chips lunch, an hour among the pillars, then the dunes. If they are younger, or if you want to set your own pace, take a private day. Pinnacles and Lancelin sandboarding tours show the age rules and the group cap for each one.
A realistic timeline for the day
Knowing where the hard parts fall makes them easier to plan around.
| Roughly | What is happening | How it lands with children |
|---|---|---|
| First hour | Out of Perth, city traffic | Fine - it still feels like the start of something |
| Hours two and three | The run north on the coast road | The hard part. Most departures break it at a beach or a lookout |
| Midday | A stop - wildlife park, dunes or lunch | The high point of a day tour |
| Mid afternoon | One to two hours among the pillars | Holds attention for about half an hour, then they want to run |
| Late afternoon | The dunes, on the departures that include them | The part they describe afterwards |
| The last two hours | Home | Usually asleep |
The pattern to notice is that the desert is not the endurance test — the road is. Pick a departure that breaks it up, and the rest of the day looks after itself.
Driving yourselves instead
With a family this is often the better answer, and the arithmetic is why. Park entry is A$17 for the whole vehicle, so a family of four pays it once rather than buying four seats. You can turn back whenever you need to, stop when somebody is carsick, and stay exactly as long as attention lasts.
What you take on is 400 kilometres of driving in a day, and the last stretch in the dark if you stay for the sunset. Kangaroos and emus are active along Indian Ocean Drive at dusk, which is the one genuine reason to let somebody else drive that leg. Getting there has both routes.
What to pack for them
Closed shoes, because the trail is soft sand with limestone edges. A hat that stays on in wind — the mean afternoon wind on this coast is 29 km/h in January. More water than you think, because there is none in the park. And a change of clothes if there is sandboarding in the day, because sand goes everywhere.
Pinnacles Tours lists every departure with its age rules, its group cap and what its fare covers, so you can check the rule before you fall in love with the itinerary.
Check the age minimum before the price, then book the day with the dunes in it.Most departures refund in full; each card states its own window.
See the departuresDepartures that work with children
Pinnacles Desert Sunset Dinner and Stargazing Tour
Park fees includedDinner includedTelescope provided
From $160 per person
