Exmouth is a town located near the tip of the North West Cape in Western Australia. It lies on the northern end of the Ningaloo Reef and has easy sealed road access to the tip of the cape and toward the western side of the Cape Range National Park. Exmouth is well known for its great fishing, whereby big game fish such as Marlin and Spanish Mackerel can be taken from within 2kms off the shore. Exmouth Gulf features a rich environment marine life and nursery for humpback whales, dugongs and turtles.

Exmouth has experienced some substantial weather extremes. Tropical in location, summer average maximum temperatures reaches a staggering 37 degrees Celsius; while winter maximum averages is a warm 24 degrees Celsius. On 22nd March 1999, the topical cyclone Vance reached a category 5 status where winds of 267kms an hour were recorded at Learmonth - the highest ever wind gust reported on the Australian mainland.

The town of Exmouth with its population of over 2060 people relies heavily on tourism. During the height of the tourist season, the population in this coastal town can reach over 6000 people. Some of the popular things to do in and around Exmouth include: tours to view or swim with whale sharks, manta rays, humpback whale watching from Vlamingh Head Lighthouse (July – November) and viewing the colourful rock layers at Shothole Canyon and Charles Knife Gorge.

During the course of this trek you'll only traverse public roads and highways, so no permits are needed. Please note however that connecting routes within the area may require permits.

A common side-trip for those with 4WD vehicles is to leave the Minilya Exmouth Road and the small dirt track signposted as Ningaloo Road. This is the only track leading off the highway giving access to the coast. If you plan to do this, you will need to be well prepared: the trip to the coast will take at least an hour, it is heavily corrugated so those with standard trailers may find the trip rather daunting, and once there if you wish to camp you must have brought in your own eco-toilet. Soft sand and 4WD access only to the beaches, accessible only within Ningaloo Station property.

There are no fuel stops between Coral Bay and Exmouth so be sure to fill up before the journey.

From Coral Bay, the trip goes through some rather dry and barren lands. There are some long straight roads with a number of rest stops to pull in to. Once past Learmonth, the Minilya Exmouth Road closely follows the coast, making the last 30kms or so quite scenic and enjoyable.