Featuring granite outcrops, forests and bountiful fauna, the Avon Valley's eponymous national park is most easily accessed vie Toodyay on Morangup Rd, 23km to the southwest. The Avon River chugs through the centre of the park in winter and spring, but it's often dry at other times. There are campsites with basic facilities (pit toilets and barbecues) if you want to pitch a tent (the cheapest beds in the valley!).
The park is the northern limit of southern WA's famed jarrah forests, with the jarrah and marri trees here mixed with wandoo woodland. For the twitchers among us (you know who you are), bird species include rainbow bee-eaters, honeyeaters, kingfishers and rufous treecreepers. In the understorey, honey possums and western pygmy possums bumble through the dead leaves after dark, while skinks and geckos scuttle about.
Park accommodation is limited to campsites; the nearest supermarkets and cafes are in York and Northam. You'll need your own wheels to get and be here.
