Mount Roe

Mount Roe National Park is a 2,590-hectare protected area in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, located near Wellstead east of Albany. The park protects mallee-heath, woodland, and granite outcrop habitats on the agricultural plains of the lower Great Southern. Mount Roe is a prominent granite inselberg rising above the surrounding wheatbelt landscape, providing panoramic views over farmland and remnant bushland. The park is managed by DBCA.

The park supports the fauna of dry sclerophyll woodland and kwongan heath in the Great Southern. Western grey kangaroos, echidnas, quendas, and honey possums (Tarsipes rostratus) are resident. Carnaby's black-cockatoo forages in proteaceous heath. Malleefowl may occupy undisturbed mallee areas. Reptiles on the granite outcrops include skinks and legless lizards. The granite summit provides nesting habitat for raptors.

The granite inselberg supports extraordinary plant diversity on its rock faces, ledges, and base soils. Annual and perennial species colonise temporary soil pockets. The summit is covered in cushion plants, Stylidium, and endemic Goodenia species. Surrounding kwongan heathland includes diverse Banksia, Hakea, and Acacia species. The Great Southern Floristic Province contains over 2,000 endemic plant species.

Mount Roe is a granite dome — an exhumed Archaean pluton approximately 2.6 billion years old. The surrounding landscape has been weathered and eroded over millions of years, leaving the more resistant granite exposed as an inselberg. Granite joint patterns are visible on the rock surfaces. The surrounding agricultural plain is covered in laterite-derived sandy soils.

Mediterranean climate with warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Annual rainfall 450–550 mm. Spring is the wildflower season.

Mount Roe lies within Minang Noongar country. Granite inselbergs were gathering places for Noongar people, providing water in rock holes and diverse food resources. The Wellstead-Borden area was settled for dryland farming from the early twentieth century.

Mount Roe National Park was proclaimed to protect the granite inselberg and surrounding native vegetation in the agricultural landscape of the Great Southern. The park provides a biodiversity refuge in a heavily cleared farming region.

Summit walk to panoramic views over the Great Southern agricultural plains and coast. Spring wildflower observation on granite rock communities. Birdwatching.

Located near Wellstead, east of Albany. Access via local roads. No formal facilities. Free entry. Albany and nearby towns provide services.

Phytophthora cinnamomi dieback, invasive weeds, and feral predators are the primary threats. The agriculturally cleared landscape surrounding the park isolates the reserve, reducing wildlife movement and genetic connectivity.