Parking
Start at Z Bend carpark, off Z Bend Access Road. The lookout and Z Bend River Trail also start from this visitor area; follow the Four Ways markers for the longer gorge walk.
Overview
About Four Ways Trail
Why go
- A river pool at a junction where two gorges meet the Murchison.
- Close views of the banded gorge walls and river gums.
Heads up
- Loose rock and sandy patches underfoot, followed by a much harder return climb.
Four Ways Trail is a hard out-and-back from Z Bend carpark to a pool at the Murchison River gorge junction. The full mapped line covers about 7 km (4.35 miles) return; official guides give 5.6–6 km, so allow for the extra distance shown by the trail line. It follows a long gully down to where two gorges meet the river, with river gums and red-and-white rock walls. Set aside about four hours for the harder climb back. If you mainly want the Z Bend view, the separate 600 m lookout walk is a much shorter choice.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs the full gorge walk for you?Map & elevation
The route
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Kalbarri Tour Guide
Your drive to Four Ways Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Kalbarri National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Kalbarri audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Z Bend Lookout0:00 / 0:27
“You're coming up on Z Bend, where the Murchison makes a tight turn between red sandstone walls, with river gums far below.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Kalbarri Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- An Orchid's Hidden Partner
- A Nest That Heats Itself
- A Lizard's Water Channels
- The Next River Gums
- 58 audio storiesacross Kalbarri’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Perentie, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Western Grey Kangaroo, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 18 trails, 19 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Four Ways Trail
The way in and the way backFrom the same visitor area as the lookout, follow the shared access toward the gorge, then take…
From the same visitor area as the lookout, follow the shared access toward the gorge, then take the marked Four Ways route down the long gully. The tread is loose and rocky in places, with patches of sand. This is a Class 4 bush walk, not a smooth path to the water. The descent is the easier half; coming back up is much tougher. Four Ways retraces its route. The steep, laddered Z Bend River Trail is a separate walk from the carpark, not an extension of this one.
At Four WaysThe endpoint is a large pool where two gorges meet the Murchison River.
The endpoint is a large pool where two gorges meet the Murchison River. River gums stand along the water beneath the red and pale sandstone walls. It is a good place to stop and take in how the channels join before turning back; the return climb starts from here.
Read the gorge wallsIdinggada Yina, another name for this walk, loosely translates as “people’s trail” in Nhanda.
Idinggada Yina, another name for this walk, loosely translates as “people’s trail” in Nhanda. The Nhanda are the traditional custodians and joint management partners of Kalbarri National Park. The Murchison has cut through the region’s banded gorge country over roughly 400 million years, and this route brings you down to the rock rather than viewing it only from above.
Wallabies and wildflowersThe rocky gorge is one place to keep an eye out for black-flanked rock wallabies.
The rocky gorge is one place to keep an eye out for black-flanked rock wallabies. Kalbarri’s local population was brought back from near extinction in 2015, but a sighting is never guaranteed. Winter is the region’s wildflower season, adding another reason to take this walk slowly when the season is right.
Heat and accessHeat builds quickly in the gorge, and the harder uphill return makes very hot weather a poor…
Heat builds quickly in the gorge, and the harder uphill return makes very hot weather a poor time to hike. The park recommends considering a personal locator beacon for this remote walk. Pets are prohibited in Kalbarri National Park; 1080 baits are used in and around the area.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Kalbarri
29 sightingsPerentieMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
12 sightingsWedge-tailed EagleMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
33 sightingsWestern Grey KangarooMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
44 sightingsBlack-flanked Rock WallabyMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
24 sightingsEmuMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
23 sightingsEchidnaMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Kalbarri. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
