The best waterfalls in Western Australia

Just a 40-minute drive from Perth, Serpentine Falls is one of those spots that feels far more remote than it actually is. Tucked inside Serpentine National Park, it's an easy half-day trip that works whether you're bringing the whole family or tackling one of the park's hiking trails.

What You'll See

The falls tumble into an emerald-green pool so clear you can see straight to the bottom. The water is cold — the kind that makes you gasp on first contact — but that never seems to stop anyone. Kids in particular tend to lose all track of time here, splashing around long after the adults are ready to head back to the car.

This has to be the most popular waterfall around Perth, and every time I go it's busy — big drop, plenty of water, dog-friendly, and you get a view over the city from the top. It's become a bit of a yearly thing for me.

It's about a 30 to 40 minute drive from the CBD, out in Mundy Regional Park, and easy enough to find if you just search the name. There are two car parks, one at the top and one at the bottom of the falls. Only the top one has toilets, and even though neither is small, we still end up squeezed onto the roadside pretty much every time we go.

If you park at the bottom, you head to the base of the falls first. There's a fairly steep shortcut nearby that cuts straight up the hillside to the lookout at the top, but it's rough going with kids, so if you've got them with you it's easier to go back to the car park from the base and take the gentler slope up instead. Do it the other way round — park at the top — and you walk the easy slope down to the bottom, cross over to the base of the falls, then climb the shortcut back up if you're up for it.