Atlas › Karijini NP - Pilbara WA
Hancock Gorge
verified
Ungraded
Extreme flood risk
Tom Price, WA
The slot canyon scene of Karijini. A metal ladder drops into a narrowing banded-iron passage, then the Spider Walk where you brace the walls above the creek, then a natural amphitheatre at Kermits Pool. Class 5 walk on the public segment; canyoneering proper continues past the rope barrier.
Hancock has no ropewiki page of its own; data is from Parks WA and Trails WA. The publicly walkable trail is the headliner; the deeper canyoneering past Kermits Pool (Reagans Pool, Centre of the Earth) is what most overseas canyoneers come for, run by commercial operators in season. The Class 5 rating refers to Australian trail difficulty (rough rock-hop, ladders, wading), not ACA grade.
Logistics
| Manager | DBCA Parks and Wildlife Service, Karijini NP |
|---|---|
| Permit | Park entry fee $17 per vehicle (DBCA). Public trail ends at the roped-off section above Kermits Pool; the gorge continues but is signed off-limits without a commercial guide. Spacechameleon and other operators run permitted canyoneering tours into Regans Pool and the Centre of the Earth section. |
| Distance | 0.5 mi RT (Class 5 public trail) |
| Elevation | ~100 ft loss to Kermits Pool |
| Time | 2 to 3 hr |
| Technical | Class 5 trail in Trails WA classification: metal-ladder descent, wading through cold pools, the Spider Walk where you straddle the gorge with hands and feet above running water, into a natural amphitheatre. No rappels on the public segment; the commercial extension past Kermits Pool involves abseils and swims through the deeper slot. |
| Season | May to Sep |
| Flood risk | Extreme. The full upper catchment funnels through; the slot is inescapable below the ladder. Cancel on any chance of rain across the Hamersley Range. |
| Vehicle access | Passenger sedan to Weano car park on sealed road. |
| Crowd | Heavy in dry season. The Spider Walk is one of the headline Karijini photos. |
| Coordinates | -22.3569, 118.2854 |