Lake Brown / Campion

by admin · December 1, 2018

Location Details

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our hours out of Perth and one hour north of Merridin, lies one of the most picturesque salt lakes of the wheatbelt region. Lake Brown (located in the Lake Campion nature reserve) is a large salt lake that is dry for most of the year, forming a thick crust of white salt that is beautiful to behold. Occassionally the salt bed is criss-crossed with the small lines of pressure ridges, providing wonderous patterns that enhance the otherwise featureless surface.

Having walked out all alone onto the lake in the deep of the night, it is difficult to fully describe the experience. The surface of the lake glows faintly under the pale starlight. The gentle breeze the only sound filling the desolate landscape. From horizon to horizon is darkness with no sign of people or man-made structures anywhere. The Milkway arcing overhead, brilliant under the darkest and clearest of skies.

However, this is a reasonably popular camping spot and one may have some company along the shore. The camping spot is on the western side of the lake and is a great location for camping which is large and numerous.

Surrounding the camping sites and lining the western shore is a good size rocky ridge. This natural granite formation is peppered with small caves, ridges, boulders and pockets of bush - a fantastic place to wander and explore. One can easily climb the ridge which provides a clear elevated view of the lake and the surrounding region. From the ridge the lake lies to the east, and to the west are fields of waving wheat (depending upon the time of year). This ridge also holds the well known Eaglestone Rock, a large roundish rock of granite that is occassionally frequented by Wedgetail Eagles.

Summary Info

CATEGORY: Lake (and landscape)
RATING: Excellent
ACCESS: 2wd, sealed roads with short good gravel road at the end to camping grounds.
FEATURES: lake views, Eaglestone rocks, elevated ridges on western shore.
CONSTRAINTS: Most access is on western and northern side only.
SUMMARY: Excellent spot with Eaglestone rocks providing good elevation and mostly good views of lake (and fields to the west). Lake is primarily dry and white salt. Many camping spots and photo compositions possible. Very dark skies in this area, with very distant light pollution on far eastern and southern horizon (not really a factor).

Lake Brown on Near Eaglestone Rock Looking West

The skies over lake brown are very dark. The horizon is dark in all directions, with only the smallest hint of light pollution at one spot on the eastern horizon - not even bright enough to interfere with targets low on that horizon. Views are clear in all direction, although if you are close to the western side of the lake then the ridge that skirts the shore will block low views of the western horizon.

There are several camping areas along the track. The first small campsite you get to isn't the main area, keep going around the rock until you reach the large area on the far side.