Circular Cliffs Pool - WA

This pool is located by following the main creek of the Queen Desert Baths south into the Broadhurst Ranges and then crossing the Broadhurst Plateau to the southern side of the ranges. It is necessary to negotiate the pools of the Desert Queen Baths either by swimming or as we did, climbing to the left of the main pool (behind the large Fig Tree) and then heading cross country to meet the creek in the pound area at the top of the Desert Queen Baths Gorge. This walk was 4.5 solid hours of walking and should only be attempted by experienced individuals with appropriate navigation & communication equipment and maps. This pool is not marked on any map. There are no access tracks of any type. The area is only accessible by foot or helicopter. The terrain is often treacherous and the shallow gorges on the higher slopes of the plateau are choked with scrubby thickets.

Circular Cliffs was reached after 4.5 hours of solid walking. It is 2.5 hours south of Middle Pool and 700 metres north west of Explosion Pool. The path down to the main gorge is steep and rocky and takes great care to navigate. Access to the pool area is gained through a narrow cleft in the surrounding rocks which is thick with scrub. There is a sandy area within the gorge that would prove suitable for camping if necessary there are better locations on the plain at the above the falls. The cliffs form a rough semicircle of sheer walls over which the creek plunges 30 metres to the pool below. It would be a spectacular sight in the wet. We believe we are some of the first (non-indigenous) people to visit this location and would like to here from anyone who might visit in the future. The following is an extract from my journal.

"There were two strange rocky knobs at the southern end of the plain and I had no trouble in picking up the creek we were to follow to our destination. It was still a very wide open area as we moved onwards but it soon entered a constricted gully with reasonable rocky walls. Imagine my surprise when I clambered over the high rocks at the end of a dry, shallowrock pool and was confronted with a precipitous drop! We had hoped for cliffs and by god we weren’t disappointed. The creek ended in a plunge of 30 metres into circular shaped canyon at the bottom of which sat a deep pool of dark water. We were chuffed, thoroughly exhausted but thrilled. It was going to be a hell of a climb down though so we followed the ridge to the south east and then climbed down the steep rocky slope into the wide creek bed below the falls."