Bluff Knoll, Stirling Range National Park, Western Australia

Bluff Knoll rises to 1099 metres (3606 feet) above sea level in the Stirling Range in Western Australia. Its aboriginal name Koikyennuruff describes the “place of ever-moving about mist and fog.” Bluff Knoll is one of only a few places to receive regular snowfalls in most years in Western Australia (WA). Stirling Range National Park was declared in 1913 and is now an ecological island in a sea of farmland. 1500 species of flora are packed within the park, more than in the entire British Isles. 123 orchid species grow here. 87 plant species found in the Stirling Range occur nowhere else on earth. The Stirling Range was born from river delta sediments deposited 1800-2000 million years ago (Palaeoproterozoic), then metamorphosed weakly into sandstone, quartzite, and shale rocks and deformed more than 1200 million years ago. Buried deep in the Earth's crust, today's Stirling Range was gradually exposed by weathering and erosion over time. Bluff Knoll is 337 km (4.5 hours drive) southeast of Perth and 100 km northeast of Albany via Chester Pass Road. An ideal time to visit is late spring and early summer (October to December), when days are beginning to warm up and the wildflowers are at their best. Winter, between June and August, is cold and wet. Allow three to four hours to complete 5 km round trip on the Top Trail.

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Filename: 04AUS-11157_Bluff-Knoll_Stirling-Range.jpg
Copyright: © Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com
Image Size: 2850x3800 / 2.7MB; http://www.photoseek.com/; Australia South Pacific Southern Hemisphere WA Western Australia
Contained in galleries: WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Walpole-Nornalup, tingle, karri

Bluff Knoll rises to 1099 metres (3606 feet) above sea level in the Stirling Range in Western Australia. Its aboriginal name Koikyennuruff describes the “place of ever-moving about mist and fog.” Bluff Knoll is one of only a few places to receive regular snowfalls in most years in Western Australia (WA). Stirling Range National Park was declared in 1913 and is now an ecological island in a sea of farmland. 1500 species of flora are packed within the park, more than in the entire British Isles. 123 orchid species grow here. 87 plant species found in the Stirling Range occur nowhere else on earth. The Stirling Range was born from river delta sediments deposited 1800-2000 million years ago (Palaeoproterozoic), then metamorphosed weakly into sandstone, quartzite, and shale rocks and deformed more than 1200 million years ago. Buried deep in the Earth's crust, today's Stirling Range was gradually exposed by weathering and erosion over time. Bluff Knoll is 337 km (4.5 hours drive) southeast of Perth and 100 km northeast of Albany via Chester Pass Road. An ideal time to visit is late spring and early summer (October to December), when days are beginning to warm up and the wildflowers are at their best. Winter, between June and August, is cold and wet. Allow three to four hours to complete 5 km round trip on the Top Trail.