Cape Le Grand National Park
Encyclopedia
Cape Le Grand National Park is a national park
in Western Australia
, 631 kilometres (392 mi) south-east of Perth
and 56 kilometres (35 mi) east of Esperance
. The park covers an area of 31801 hectares (78,581.9 acre)
The area is an ancient landscape has above sea level for well over 200 million years and remained unglaciated. As a result the area is home to many primitive relict
species.
Established in 1966, the park is managed by the Department of Environment and Conservation.
The name Le Grand is from one of the officers on L'Esperance, one of the ships in the 1792 expedition of Bruni d'Entrecasteaux
.
shoreline and white sand beaches are picturesque features of the area. The park is a used for fishing, off-roading
, tourism
, and hiking
.
Beaches within the Park include those at Lucky Bay, Rossiter Bay, Hellfire Bay, Le Grande Beach, and Thistle Cove.
The islands and waters to the south of the park are known as the Recherche Archipelago Nature Reserve, another protected area of the Archipelago of the Recherche
and nearby coastal regions. The Cape Arid National Park
is located to the east.
The south-west section of the Park is dominated by rock outcrops of gneiss
and granite
. These form a distinctive chain of peaks including Mount Le Grand (345 m), Frenchman Peak (262 m) and Mississippi Hill (180 m).
Further inland, the park comprises mostly heath-covered sandplain, interspersed with swamps and pools of fresh water.
s (Banksia speciosa
and Banksia pulchella
).
Other flora that can be found around the park include Melaleuca
s, Grevillea
s, Sheoaks, Christmas Tree and Grass Trees.
Wildflowers bloom in spring lasting until October and species such as Blue China Orchid, Diuris corybosa
, Hakea laurina
, Thysanotus Sparteus
and Thelymitra macrophylla
are represented within the park.
Fauna that are commonly found within the park include bandicoot
s, pygmy honey possum
s, ring tailed possums, quenda and grey kangaroos.
Some of the relic species with strong gondwana
n associations that are found within the park include legless lizard
s like the common scaly-foot
, Delma Fraser
, Delma australis
and Aprasia striolata
. The ancient but non-gondwanan blind snake Ramphotyphlops australis
is also found within the park.
Endemic frogs found within the area include the quacking frog, the western banjo frog
and the humming frog.
s, barbecue
s, campsites, tables, sheltered areas, walk-trails, information bays and water tanks. Two full time rangers are resident within the park.
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, 631 kilometres (392 mi) south-east of Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
and 56 kilometres (35 mi) east of Esperance
Esperance, Western Australia
Esperance is a large town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, located on the Southern Ocean coastline approximately east-southeast of the state capital, Perth. The shire of Esperance is home to 9,536 people as of the 2006 census, its major industries are tourism, agriculture,...
. The park covers an area of 31801 hectares (78,581.9 acre)
The area is an ancient landscape has above sea level for well over 200 million years and remained unglaciated. As a result the area is home to many primitive relict
Relict
A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon.* In biology a relict is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas....
species.
Established in 1966, the park is managed by the Department of Environment and Conservation.
The name Le Grand is from one of the officers on L'Esperance, one of the ships in the 1792 expedition of Bruni d'Entrecasteaux
Bruni d'Entrecasteaux
Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni d'Entrecasteaux was a French navigator who explored the Australian coast in 1792 while seeking traces of the lost expedition of La Pérouse....
.
Geography
The largely graniteGranite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
shoreline and white sand beaches are picturesque features of the area. The park is a used for fishing, off-roading
Off-roading
Off-roading is a term for driving a vehicle on unsurfaced roads or tracks, made of materials such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain.-Off-road vehicle:...
, tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
, and hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
.
Beaches within the Park include those at Lucky Bay, Rossiter Bay, Hellfire Bay, Le Grande Beach, and Thistle Cove.
The islands and waters to the south of the park are known as the Recherche Archipelago Nature Reserve, another protected area of the Archipelago of the Recherche
Archipelago of the Recherche
Archipelago of the Recherche is a group of 105 islands, and over 1200 "obstacles to shipping", off the southern coast of Western Australia. The islands, also known as the Recherche Archipelago, stretch from East to West and to off-shore....
and nearby coastal regions. The Cape Arid National Park
Cape Arid National Park
Cape Arid National Park is a national park in Western Australia , south east of Perth. The park is situated east of Esperance and lies on shore from the eastern end of the Recherche Archipelago...
is located to the east.
The south-west section of the Park is dominated by rock outcrops of gneiss
Gneiss
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
and granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
. These form a distinctive chain of peaks including Mount Le Grand (345 m), Frenchman Peak (262 m) and Mississippi Hill (180 m).
Further inland, the park comprises mostly heath-covered sandplain, interspersed with swamps and pools of fresh water.
Wildlife
The sandplains support dense stands of banksiaBanksia
Banksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones" and heads. When it comes to size, banksias range from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up...
s (Banksia speciosa
Banksia speciosa
The Showy Banksia is a species of large shrub or small tree in the plant genus Banksia. It reaches up to 8 m in height...
and Banksia pulchella
Banksia pulchella
The Teasel Banksia is a species of small shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs on the south coast of Western Australia from Fitzgerald River National Park east to Israelite Bay....
).
Other flora that can be found around the park include Melaleuca
Melaleuca
Melaleuca is a genus of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae known for its natural soothing and cleansing properties. There are well over 200 recognised species, most of which are endemic to Australia...
s, Grevillea
Grevillea
Grevillea is a diverse genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the protea family Proteaceae, native to Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Sulawesi. It was named in honour of Charles Francis Greville. The species range from prostrate shrubs less than 0.5 m tall to trees...
s, Sheoaks, Christmas Tree and Grass Trees.
Wildflowers bloom in spring lasting until October and species such as Blue China Orchid, Diuris corybosa
Diuris
Diuris is a genus of herbaceous plant belonging to the orchid family , with more than fifty described species. The genus is presently being revised, with many newly described species....
, Hakea laurina
Hakea
Hakea is a genus of 149 species of shrubs and small trees in the Proteaceae, native to Australia. They are found throughout the country, with the highest species diversity being found in the south west of Western Australia....
, Thysanotus Sparteus
Thysanotus
Thysanotus is a genus of perennial herbs in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Lomandroideae, which are native to Australia, Malesia and Asia.Species include:*Thysanotus acerosifolius Brittan*Thysanotus anceps Lindl Fringe-Lily...
and Thelymitra macrophylla
Thelymitra macrophylla
Thelymitra macrophylla, commonly called the Large-leafed Thelymitra, is a species of orchid endemic to western and southwestern Australia....
are represented within the park.
Fauna that are commonly found within the park include bandicoot
Bandicoot
Bandicoots are a group of about 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia.- Etymology :...
s, pygmy honey possum
Honey Possum
The honey possum or tait, its Native Australian name or noolbenger is a tiny Australian marsupial weighing just seven to eleven grams for the male, and eight to sixteen grams for the female—about half the weight of a mouse. Their physical size ranges from a body length of between 6.5 –...
s, ring tailed possums, quenda and grey kangaroos.
Some of the relic species with strong gondwana
Gondwana
In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...
n associations that are found within the park include legless lizard
Legless lizard
Legless lizard may refer to any of several groups of lizards which have independently lost limbs or reduced them to the point of being of no use in locomotion. It is the common name for the family Pygopodidae, but often refers to other groups, such as limbless anguids, depending upon the region of...
s like the common scaly-foot
Pygopus
Pygopus is a genus belonging to the family of Australian legless lizards. Members of this genus are also called Scalyfoot.Classification of the genus Pygopus*Pygopus lepidopodus .*Pygopus nigriceps ....
, Delma Fraser
Delma
Delma is a genus of lizards in the family Pygopodidae. It contains sixteen described species.- Species :Classification Genus Delma according to the :* Delma australis Kluge, 1974* Delma borea Kluge, 1974* Delma butleri Storr, 1987...
, Delma australis
Delma
Delma is a genus of lizards in the family Pygopodidae. It contains sixteen described species.- Species :Classification Genus Delma according to the :* Delma australis Kluge, 1974* Delma borea Kluge, 1974* Delma butleri Storr, 1987...
and Aprasia striolata
Aprasia
Aprasia is a genus of lizards in the family Pygopodidae.Genus Aprasia*Aprasia aurita*Aprasia haroldi*Aprasia inaurita*Aprasia parapulchella*Aprasia picturata*Aprasia pseudopulchella*Aprasia pulchella...
. The ancient but non-gondwanan blind snake Ramphotyphlops australis
Ramphotyphlops australis
Ramphotyphlops australis, or the Southern blindsnake, is a species of snake in the Typhlopidae family....
is also found within the park.
Endemic frogs found within the area include the quacking frog, the western banjo frog
Limnodynastes dorsalis
Limnodynastes dorsalis is a frog species from the family Myobatrachidae. The informal names for this species are Western Banjo Frog, Pobblebonk, Sand frog and Bullfrog. It is one of the endemic amphibians of Western Australia....
and the humming frog.
Facilities
Facilities include toiletToilet
A toilet is a sanitation fixture used primarily for the disposal of human excrement, often found in a small room referred to as a toilet/bathroom/lavatory...
s, barbecue
Barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
s, campsites, tables, sheltered areas, walk-trails, information bays and water tanks. Two full time rangers are resident within the park.