Overview
About Fern Pool
Why stop
- A shaded pool beneath the red gorge walls
- The ferns and paperbarks make it feel lush
Heads up
- A stair climb back out of the gorge
- Tour groups can make it busy
Map
Where it is
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Karijini Tour Guide
Your drive to Fern Pool, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Karijini 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 Karijini audio tourRecorded for this place
Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool“You're approaching Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool in Dales Gorge. Spring water keeps the falls flowing year-round, spilling over rock steps into a fern-lined pool.”
Plays as you drive up to Fern Pool in the Parkwolf Karijini Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Dales Campground: A Base for the Eastern Gorges
- Circular Pool Lookout and Dales Picnic Area
- The Bee That Shakes a Flower
- Which Way the Water Moved
- 141 audio storiesacross Karijini’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Dingo, Rock Wallaby, Mulga Snake, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 22 trails, 30 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!!!!”
Guide
More about Fern Pool
A shaded swim in Dales GorgeFern Pool is a small swimming pool upstream of Fortescue Falls, in the red walls of Dales Gorge.
Fern Pool is a small swimming pool upstream of Fortescue Falls, in the red walls of Dales Gorge. Paperbarks and ferns crowd its banks, and two low waterfalls feed the water. Make time for it after the falls if you want a swim and a shaded pause. Tour groups can make it busy, so the quiet isn't guaranteed.
The way down and backStart at Dales Recreation Area, near the Fortescue Falls car park, and take the stairway into…
Start at Dales Recreation Area, near the Fortescue Falls car park, and take the stairway into the gorge. From there, follow the creek-side route to the pool; this is a walk, not a roadside stop. Visitors often mention the tiring climb back up the stairs. There are toilets at the recreation area, so use them before heading down.
A place to treat gentlyFern Pool is sacred to the Banjima people. Keep voices low and don't jump into the water.
Fern Pool is sacred to the Banjima people. Keep voices low and don't jump into the water. The pool is an invitation to slow down and enjoy the place quietly.
Check conditions before swimmingGorge-pool water can be extremely cold, especially from April through September.
Gorge-pool water can be extremely cold, especially from April through September. Flash floods can occur: don't enter the gorge if rain is in the area, and leave right away if it starts raining. Never dive or jump into the water.
The green in the gorgeThe paperbarks and delicate ferns make a cool, damp pocket against the arid Pilbara and Dales…
The paperbarks and delicate ferns make a cool, damp pocket against the arid Pilbara and Dales Gorge's red, terraced cliffs. Karijini's landforms were carved from rock more than 2.5 billion years old; the permanent water and greenery here make a striking contrast with the dry country above.
Take in the whole poolFrom the public visitor bank, frame the water with the paperbarks and the twin falls, with a…
From the public visitor bank, frame the water with the paperbarks and the twin falls, with a little of the red gorge wall behind them. That wider view shows why this is a place to linger, not just another stop for a quick look.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Karijini
44 sightingsDingoMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
18 sightingsRock WallabyMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
15 sightingsMulga SnakeMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
36 sightingsHamersley Rock MonitorMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
13 sightingsWestern BowerbirdMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
34 sightingsChildren's PythonMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Karijini. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
