_{In partnership with the Shire of Lake Grace}

Situated 350 kilometres from Perth, the Shire of Lake Grace comprises four towns – Lake Grace, Newdegate, Lake King and Varley. This part of Western Australia is one of the planet’s hotspots for plant biodiversity with its unique flora. Striking salt lakes and unusual granite outcrops are also rich throughout the region. 

Lake Grace is the major centre, named after the large shallow lake situated west of the town – one of Western Australia’s largest inland salt lakes and nationally significant wetland. Art and culture are abundant with an art gallery, numerous public art displays, a winery and the only remaining Australian Inland Mission Hospital in the state – which provides an insight into the medical challenges faced by isolated pioneers.   

Newdegate is the gateway to the Holland Track. Follow traces of John Holland’s epic 1893 journey when he and his partners cut the now-famous Holland Track. Visit the Hainsworth Museum, originally a grocery store established in 1931–32 and a beautiful reconstruction of a bygone era. You can also visit the amazing Newdegate Skate Park, see the stunning public silo mural by Brenton See, and enjoy the Newdegate Machinery Field Days held each September.

Deep in sheep and wheat farming country, Lake King comes alive in spring with an abundance of wildflowers. The Roe Heritage Trail retraces part of Surveyor-General John Roe’s historical journey in 1848. The Tractor Museum is a collection of unique homemade tractors used for land clearing in the early 1970s.

Varley is a small community with the motto ‘great place, small crowd’. Camp overnight at the Varley Chicken Ranch; visit the community’s tribute to the rabbit plague of the 1920s at the Rabbit Cemetery; fossick at the uninhabited settlement of Hatters Hill, where gold was discovered in the early 20th century; and view memorabilia and historic town records at the Varley Museum.

For more information, visit lakegracevisitorcentre.com.au.

_{Image © Present Moment Photography}