Mandu Mandu Gorge - Cape Range NP

Mandu Mandu Gorge can be found in Cape Range National Park near Exmouth, West Australia. The range overlooks the spectacular Ningaloo Coast, a World Heritage Site famous for its coral reefs and marine life. The Mandu Mandu Gorge ‘walk’ starts off in the bed of an ancient river which carved the sheer walls of the gorge over millions of years, then it takes you to the top of the gorge before leading back along the dry river bed.

A National Park sign suggests the walk will take two hours. We recommend it will too! Best bring plenty of water, as it can get hot and wear sturdy walking shoes. It is a tight track in places.

We decided to walk to the top of the gorge first, you could go either way. The top track was quite tricky, so we wanted to do it while we were fresh. The trail takes you up and down some very steep paths. You need to be extremely careful at the top of the gorge as the wind gusts felt like they could blow you over. The views of the Ningaloo Coast were spectacular. The wind, however, was most welcome as it helped cool us during the steeper parts of the walk! We decided to walk back along the riverbed – to gain another perspective of this beautiful gorge. 

The start of the walking trail is about 11 kilometres south of the Milyering Visitor Centre, along the Yardie Creek Road - a small car parking area is available off the main road. There are no facilities here and early mornings are often the best times to view wildlife as they enjoy the cooler parts of the day. We completed our walk after a picnic lunch and carried plenty of water along the 3-kilometre return trail. 

All in all, an exciting walk and highly recommended. Again, we recommend you wear good shoes - we saw people in thongs on the trail and did not know how they were going to make it to the end.