Best 4WD-Accessible Beaches Near Perth

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Having lived in a place where you can drive onto any beach for the past few years, there is nothing worse than driving to the beach in Perth only to have to lug your esky and other belongs another few hundred metres to the water's edge.

Yes, there are good reasons why you can't drive onto the beaches of Perth and set your awning up for the day - there are just too many people here - but

Here are a few beaches within a few hours' drive of the city where you can enjoy the convenience of parking up on the beach with all your belongings in tow.

North of Perth

Wedge Island
As a four-wheel-drive-owning p-plater growing up north of the river, you were either a Lancelin person or a Wedge Island person. I was the latter.

Back then it took more than three hours to drive to Wedge Island, but with the advent of the Indian Ocean Drive, it is now a little over two hours.



You can't camp there anymore, but it is an easy day trip now and the beautiful white beach stretches out beyond the horizon north and to the namesake point and island south.

It is a perfect beach highway with little traffic outside of New Year's Eve, Easter and Australia Day. The sand is compact too, so no worries about bogging down.

Lancelin
Lano is very well-known for its sand dunes and that excellent beer garden at the pub. At less than two hours from Perth, it is an easy day trip for anyone wanting to slow down and lap up the sun.

Follow the tracks between the sand dunes and the coast and you will find plenty of access tracks onto the beach to the north of town. Beware though, the sand can be very soft here, so let your tyres down and bring your maxtraxs with you.

Wilbinga
Now that Yanchep and Two Rocks beaches are closed to four-wheel-drives thanks to all the cookie-cutter developments going up, Wilbinga is the closest place north of Perth you can drive onto the beach.



The 4WD community has worked hard to ensure responsible use of the area and as a result, there are well-trodden tracks through the dunes to get to the beach.

The fishing here is excellent, and it is still a relative-unknown compared to Lano or Preston Beach down south. That means no crowds, which is exactly the reason you get off the beaten track.

South of Perth

Preston Beach
I have only recently discovered this spot about an hour-and-a-half outside of Perth, and needless to say, I have many visits planned this summer.



The long, white beach stretches as far as the eye can see in both directions, and I am told you can take the beach route all the way back up to Tim's thicket.

The sand is fairly soft without being too boggy. Let your tyres down and you should be fine even if you do lose momentum. Worth carrying a set of maxtraxs and a shovel just in case.

Tim's Thicket

Given the rate of development down this way, we can count ourselves lucky this stretch of beach is still open and accessible to four-wheel-drivers.

I haven't been here myself but have heard more than enough stories from mates south of the river to have this one on my list of must-visits.

Like all of the aforementioned spots, it is critically important 4wders are responsible and stick to the tracks, take their rubbish with them and drive slowly if we are to keep these spots open for the next generation.

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