Pinnacles Facts and Figures
Hours, prices and access verified by the Pinnacles Tours team against the WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions — last checked 2026-09-03
Every published figure about the Pinnacles in one place, with the body
that publishes it. Where two authorities give different numbers, both are here and the
difference is explained rather than hidden. Pinnacles day tours from Perth carry a guide who can put most of
these in context on the ground.
The desert in numbers
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|
| Tallest pillars | up to 4 metres | WA park authority, Nambung National Park management plan |
| Number of pillars | Thousands; no published count | Nothing official counts them, so nothing here claims a number |
| What they are made of | Tamala Limestone (limestone from wind-blown shell sand) | Management plan |
| When the limestone was deposited | 1,500,000 to 10,000 years ago | Management plan, middle to late Pleistocene |
| When the pillars were exposed | 25,000 to 30,000 years (widely published) | Australia's Coral Coast; the park authority dates the stone, not the pillars |
| One-way desert drive | 4.5 km | WA park authority site page |
| Desert View Walk Trail | 1.5 km | WA park authority |
| Accessible path | 300 m, Class 1 | WA park authority |
The park
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|
| Park | Nambung National Park, Western Australia | — |
| Gazetted area | 18,362 hectares | Management plan, tenure section |
| Amalgamated into one 'A' class reserve | July 1994 | Management plan |
| Reserve created for the Pinnacles specifically | 1967 | Reserve 28393, 'Preservation of Natural Formations — Pinnacles' |
| Named after | The Nambung River | Management plan |
| Meaning of the name | Possibly 'crooked' or 'winding' | Management plan, citing Passfield 1988 |
| Spelling adopted for the river | 1938 | Management plan |
| Traditional owners | Whadjuk and Yued people of the Noongar cultural group | Management plan |
| First European charting of this coast | 1658 (Dutch charts) | Management plan |
| Distance from Perth | 200 km, about two hours | Australia's Coral Coast |
| Distance from Cervantes | 17 km | Pinnacles Visitor Centre |
What it costs to get in
| Vehicle | Fee | Note |
|---|
| Standard vehicle, up to 12 occupants | A$17 | Per vehicle, not per person |
| Concession vehicle, up to 12 occupants | A$10 | — |
| Vehicle over twelve occupants | A$8 per person | A$3.50 concession |
| Motorcycle | A$10 | Per machine |
One figure to be careful with: the Pinnacles Visitor Centre’s own page still
publishes A$15 per vehicle. The park authority sets the fee and its figure is
A$17, which is what visiting the Pinnacles uses.
The sky
Computed for 30.605° S, 115.158° E, local time, on the 15th of each month.
| Measure | Figure |
|---|
| Earliest sunset | 5:26 pm, mid-June |
| Latest sunset | 7:27 pm, mid-January |
| Earliest full astronomical dark | 6:51 pm, mid-June |
| Latest full astronomical dark | 9:00 pm, mid-January |
| Longest day | 14.2 hours, mid-December |
| Shortest day | 10.2 hours, mid-June |
| Visitors expected out of the park by | 9 pm |
That last row is what makes the sky table matter rather than being trivia. In June
you get about two hours of true dark inside the park; in January you get almost none.
The month-by-month page sets it out beside the temperatures.
The weather, in figures
| Measure | Figure | Station |
|---|
| Warmest month, coastal average maximum | 30.8 °C, February | Jurien Bay (Bureau of Meteorology station 009131), 50 km north |
| Coolest month, coastal average maximum | 19.6 °C, July | Jurien Bay (Bureau of Meteorology station 009131), 50 km north |
| Warmest month, inland average maximum | 34.7 °C, January and February | Badgingarra Research Station (009037), 45 km inland |
| Wettest month | 112.2 mm, July | Jurien Bay (Bureau of Meteorology station 009131), 50 km north |
| Driest month | 6.0 mm, December | Jurien Bay (Bureau of Meteorology station 009131), 50 km north |
| Annual rainfall | 529.0 mm | Jurien Bay (Bureau of Meteorology station 009131), 50 km north |
| Rain days a year (≥1 mm) | 69.2 | Jurien Bay (Bureau of Meteorology station 009131), 50 km north |
| Mean 3 pm wind, January | 29.3 km/h | Jurien Bay (Bureau of Meteorology station 009131), 50 km north |
| Mean 3 pm wind, May | 17.5 km/h | Jurien Bay (Bureau of Meteorology station 009131), 50 km north |
| Wildflower season | August to October | WA park authority |
The wildlife list
| Group | Recorded | Note |
|---|
| Native mammals | At least 8 species | Park and neighbouring reserves |
| Birds | 103 species | Park and neighbouring reserves |
| Reptiles | 17 species | — |
| Frogs | 3 species | — |
| Carnaby's black-cockatoo | Rare or likely to become extinct | Gazetted status |
| Carpet python | In need of special protection | Declared status |
| Peregrine falcon | In need of special protection | Declared status |
| White-breasted robin | Disjunct coastal population | The area is its stronghold |
| Vegetation | Low heaths of acacia and myrtle; tuart woodland in the valleys | Management plan |
Dates that matter
| Year | What happened |
|---|
| 1658 | Dutch charts record the North and South Hummocks on this coast; one account has the mariners taking the field for a small city a short distance inland |
| 1839 | George Grey, later Governor of South Australia, is shipwrecked on this stretch of coast |
| 1938 | The spelling 'Nambung' is adopted for the river, from a word possibly meaning crooked or winding |
| 1956 | Reserve 24522 gazetted, for 'National Park and Water' |
| 1967 | Reserve 28393 gazetted specifically for the 'Preservation of Natural Formations - Pinnacles' |
| 1968 | Reserve 29149 gazetted as national park |
| late 1960s | The Pinnacles Desert, until then relatively unknown, is brought into the reserve system |
| July 1994 | The three reserves are amalgamated into one 'A' class reserve: Nambung National Park |
Nearby, and what is in it
| Place | Figure | What it is |
|---|
| Lake Thetis microbial reefs | about 3,370 years old | Living stromatolites on a 300 m boardwalk outside Cervantes |
| Lake Thetis loop | 1.5 km | Sand and boardwalk around the lake |
| Lancelin Sand Dunes | 75 km south of the desert | White dunes, sandboarding, 4WD |
| Hangover Bay | 8 km from the pillars | Swimming beach inside the same national park |
What each of those is actually like, and which departures stop at them, is on
things to do. Pinnacles Tours lists every departure with the
stops it makes.