Sunset, then stars

What time is sunset at the Pinnacles?

Between about 5:25pm (mid-June) and 7:26pm (early January). Western Australia doesn't use daylight saving, so the times change slowly through the year.

Sunset times for Cervantes, the nearest town, from a sunset calculator, with full dark (the end of astronomical twilight) worked out for the same dates:

Times are approximate and shift by a minute or two across each month.

Can you enter the Pinnacles at night?

The park authority publishes no closing time, but Australia's Coral Coast says visitors are expected to have left by 9pm. Plan around that unless a tour says otherwise.

That 9pm line comes from the regional tourism body; we didn't find it on the DBCA pages, which list no opening hours at all for the park. The Discovery Centre closes at 4:30pm. If the gate house is unattended when you arrive, DBCA's fee page describes card pay stations and self-registration envelopes at its parks. A Holiday Pass bought online before the trip settles it.

After dark, bring a torch, stay on the marked paths, and drive slowly. Kangaroos and emus move at dusk.

Which tours stay for sunset and stargazing?

Two. The sunset and stargazing tour serves a picnic dinner at the park and brings a telescope; the pub dinner tour eats in Cervantes and returns to the pillars after dark.

The sunset and stargazing tour is 9 hours from the Criterion Hotel, with departures shifted through the year to catch the light. The listing includes dinner with a glass of wine, a telescope and Aboriginal Dreamtime stories, all weather permitting. Guests report the stargazing as a highlight when the sky is clear.

The pub dinner tour arrives in the late afternoon, watches the sunset, drives to Cervantes for a sit-down dinner and goes back for the stars. Its listing is frank: a relaxed sightseeing tour, not an astronomy expedition, and weather can shorten it. Back in Perth around 11pm.

Sunset at the pillars, a pub dinner in Cervantes, then back for the stars. Listed as wheelchair accessible.

★ 4.4 · 9 hours · from $174

Explore the sunset tour with pub dinner → Tour details

When can you see the Milky Way at the Pinnacles?

All year on a clear, moonless night, but the bright core of the Milky Way is best from April to August. January to March is the summer Milky Way season.

• January to March: the summer Milky Way, with Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades.
• April to August: the winter season, when the galactic core rides high, and the Emu in the Sky, an Aboriginal constellation traced in the dark dust lanes.
• September and October: the Small Magellanic Cloud, a faint patch in the southern sky.
• November and December: the Large Magellanic Cloud rising in the south-east.

These seasons come from the Coral Coast stargazing page. The moon matters as much as the month: a full moon washes most of this out. Pick the week either side of a new moon.

Where is the best stargazing near the Pinnacles?

The Pinnacles for photographs, and Lake Thetis for comfortable viewing. Lake Thetis is the official Astrotourism WA observing site for Cervantes, about 2 km from town.

Lake Thetis has hard-packed parking and wide paths, which helps with tripods. It sits inside Nambung National Park, so the same fee applies, and it has no toilets. Coral Coast also names the Cervantes sand dunes as an informal spot. No formal dark-sky certification covers the area, but light pollution is low.

Driving in from Perth? The Gravity Discovery Centre near Gingin runs observatory sessions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, 7:30pm to 9:30pm.

How do you photograph the Pinnacles at sunset?

Arrive 90 minutes early, walk in from the loop's parking bays, and shoot low with the sun to the side. Pillars throw shadows across the sand for metres in the last half hour.

The Desert View Walk gets you in among the tallest stones quickly. For stars, use a tripod, a wide lens and a long exposure, and let your eyes adapt with a red light. Don't climb or lean on the pinnacles for the shot. They can fall.

What should you bring for sunset and stars?

A warm layer, a torch, water, and a fly net in summer. Nights cool fast in the desert, even after a hot day.

• A jacket: June and July lows average about 10°C at Jurien Bay, and the sand loses heat quickly.
• A torch: red light if you have one, so others keep their night vision.
• Water and snacks: no drinking water is listed for the park, and the Discovery Centre closes at 4:30pm.
• Insect repellent and a fly net from spring to autumn.
• Closed shoes: the sunset tour's listing asks for them.

The best time guide covers weather month by month.

Frequently asked questions