Parking
Start at the Knox Gorge Lookout carpark at the end of Joffre Road. A toilet and picnic table are at the site.
Overview
About Knox Gorge Trail
Why go
- Walks down to the gorge floor, between red-banded walls and pools
- A striking geological story is visible in the rock layers
Heads up
- Loose-rock descent and climb back are demanding
- Class 5 terrain is too difficult for a casual gorge visit
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Karijini map
Full mapElevation645–672 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Karijini Tour Guide
Your drive to Knox Gorge Trail, 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 trailhead
Knox Lookout: Two Gorges Meet0:00 / 0:29
“You’re nearing Knox Lookout, where you can trace Knox Gorge to its meeting with Wittenoom Gorge. Allow about fifteen minutes for the lookout walk; this is a good choice if you want the view without a strenuous descent.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Karijini Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Oxer and Junction Pool Lookouts
- The Scales in a Moth's Pattern
- Weano and Hancock Gorges
- Joffre Falls and Lookout
- 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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Knox Gorge Trail
Is this your kind of hike?Knox Gorge Trail is a 2 km return, Class 5 scramble from the Knox Gorge Lookout carpark down to…
Knox Gorge Trail is a 2 km return, Class 5 scramble from the Knox Gorge Lookout carpark down to the gorge floor and back. It is a proper descent into the layered red-rock chasm, not just a walk to a viewpoint. Allow about three hours and choose it only if you are very experienced, fit and agile. The short distance hides a loose, steep scramble.
Down to the gorge floorThe path drops over loose rock from the rim, then the walk changes to rock-hopping around…
The path drops over loose rock from the rim, then the walk changes to rock-hopping around ledges and pools between close-set walls. Fig trees cling to cracks in the rock. Take your time on the descent; the return is the same way, so every steep step you go down has to be climbed back up.
Turn at the signThe public walk ends at a stop sign.
The public walk ends at a stop sign. Turn around there; the canyoning terrain beyond is restricted. If you want the gorge view without the scramble, the separate Knox Gorge Lookout walk is an 800 m return from the same site and takes about 20 minutes. It stays above the gorge and is a very different, much easier outing.
Pools in ancient rockKnox Gorge cuts through banded iron formation, the iron- and silica-rich layers laid down on an…
Knox Gorge cuts through banded iron formation, the iron- and silica-rich layers laid down on an ancient seafloor more than 2.5 billion years ago. Water has since cut through those hard bands to make the steep-sided gorge. The walk reaches the point where Knox Gorge meets Wittenoom Gorge; from the floor, the walls and pools keep changing around the bends. Fig trees rooted in the cliff cracks are one of the details to look for.
Light and waterMorning or late-afternoon light comes in at an angle and brings out the bands in the walls.
Morning or late-afternoon light comes in at an angle and brings out the bands in the walls. At the narrow end, frame a little of the rocky floor beneath the tall walls to show how close they stand. Pools may be swum, but the water can be extremely cold, especially from April to September; there is no guarantee of a suitable pool on a particular visit.
Getting there safelyStart at the Knox Gorge Lookout carpark at the end of Joffre Road.
Start at the Knox Gorge Lookout carpark at the end of Joffre Road. A toilet and picnic table are at the site, but there is no food or drinking-water supply along the walk, so bring what you need. Heat can be severe in Karijini, and rain can turn a gorge into a flash-flood path: do not enter when rain threatens and leave promptly if it starts. Do not jump or dive into pools. Pets are not permitted; certified or approved assistance animals are the exception.
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.
