Day 68 Charles Knife Canyon

Overnight there was a cold front that came through dropping the temperature considerably and also very windy, so it was not a day for snorkelling, so we made our way to the Canyons for some 4WDing.

Whilst driving through the town we found a better looking Big Prawn than the one we had in Newcastle many years ago. A 7-meter-tall, 2,000-kilogram fiberglass sculpture of a Western King Prawn.



The Charles Knife Canyon drive journeys along the razor-backed ridges of the canyon, with breathtaking views of stark multi coloured gorges from either side as you wind your way up to the top of the canyon. The canyon rises to 320m above sea level, and is 13km long and 20km wide, with a lookout offering scenic views over the gorge below and to the Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo Reef in the Indian Ocean. We definitely got Grand Canyon vibes from exploring this amazing place.









Not far at all from this canyon is another 4WD track to Shothole Canyon along the bottom of this scenic canyon, in one of the most rugged areas of Cape Range National Park. Only about 6km apart in distance however the two canyons are completely different to each other. Vibrant rock walls contrasting with a colourful carpet of yellow and blue spring wildflowers with shocks of red from the Stuart Dessert Peas.
The name of this canyon is derived from the shot holes left in the terrain, following the explosive charges set for seismic studies during oil exploration work in the early 1950s.