Wildflowers near Eneabba

Eneabba
Sand mining town in heart of wildflower area
Located 278 km north from Perth via the Brand Highway, Eneabba is basically a sand mining town surrounded by some of the most extensive and spectacular wild flower displays anywhere in Western Australia. The town itself is, to be fair, a real non-event with dreary modern housing (with more than a hint of construction town design), a small shopping centre and a service station all of which look as though they have sprung up in the last 20-30 years.

The wealth of the area is based on the rutile sands which lie to the south of the town as well as farming, particularly cattle grazing. With an estimated 80 per cent of the world's known rutile supplies the town can boast that it has the biggest deposits of rutile in both Australia and the world.

The major mining company in the area is Iluka Resources Ltd. Eneabba is basically a service town for the mines but some of the miners, realising that Eneabba is hardly a paradise, have opted for commuting and live on the coast at Leeman and drive to work preferring the beach to the dry inland.

Things to see:  

Wildflowers in the Eneabba Nature Reserve

Looking at wildflowers
Eneabba is surrounded by no fewer than nine national heritage reserves. The local community, passionate about the wildflowers, have put up on the Internet no fewer than 200 flower photographs. If you want to check them out simply click the Flower Photo Album

There is the Alexander Morrison National Park 30 km south east of the town which is a sandplain with low lateritic breakaways. It is important as it has extensive stands of the low woodland and mallee which is typical of the area.

30 km to the south west is Mount Lesueur Reserve which extends from the huge white coastal sand dunes inland to Mount Lesueur. It is home to a wide variety of banksias and eucalypts as well as 10 species of mammals and 78 species of bird.

Beekeepers Reserve, 20 km north of Eneabba, is a haven for wildflowers. It has been preserved for local beekeepers who, during the spring and summer, reap a rich harvest from the pollen and nectar of the local wildflowers.

Lake Indoon Reserve, 14 km west of Eneabba, is a low lying lake about 2 km long and 1 km wide which is a popular picnic spot. There is camping available with toilets, rainwater tanks and barbecue facilities. It is surrounded by stands of paperbark, giant cycad, flooded gums, river gums and banksias. For more information click on the Lake Indoon site.

The unimaginatively named Reserve 29073 is 10 km west of Eneabba and has the finest wild flower displays in the area. In season it is just awash with colour. Similarly South Eneabba Reserve, 5 km south of the town, although in the rutile belt (and some mining has occurred in the area) is a wonderland of wildflowers.

Stockyard Gully, 15 km southwest of Eneabba, is notable for its caves and caverns and Tathra National Park, 20 km east of the town, lies on the edge of the wheatbelt. Somehow the area around Eneabba seems to have escaped the ravages of local wheat farmers eager to clear the land.

	Caravan Parks
	Halfway Mill Roadhouse Caravan Park Brand Hwy Eneabba WA 6518 Telephone: (08) 9952 9054
	Udale Caravan Park Three Springs Rd Eneabba WA 6518 Telephone: (08) 9955 1016
	Western Flora Caravan Park Brand Hwy Eneabba WA 6518 Telephone: (08) 9955 2030 Rating: **