EAST v WEST which is best?
We put Whitegum 4×4 Park to the test. From Landcruiser Mountain Park, Janowen, the Springs, Scenic Rim or Levuka, we’ve been lucky enough to sample a fair range of 4WD parks on the East coast so understandably we were pretty keen to check out our first here in WA.
We published a separate post regarding the caravan park and camping at Whitegum Farm so we’ll skip straight to the 4wd Park. Whilst there aren’t many natural hills such as say the Springs 4×4 Park the owner has countered that by digging tracks right into the earth with an excavator. It’s pretty unique! You drive below ground level then come up and over some big hills. It’s gotta be said though… sometimes it can be daunting going up a massive hill and not knowing where the ground is because all you see is blue skies!
There’s plenty of variety on offer and you can tackle anything from the wombat holes, driving over the tyres and logs or attempting some of the steep climbs. All require a different line and speed to conquer the obstacles.
We noted the park’s pretty sandy so be sure to drop your pressures accordingly. Willow dropped down to 18psi but one of the other boys dropped his down to 15psi, needless to say I got stuck a bit and Kev crawled through all of the obstacles with ease. I tried taking things slow and taking different lines, my “brick” doesn’t like flexing so I got to use the lockers on a few occasions which I didn’t mind as they hadn’t had a workout in a while.
If you’re new to 4WDing this would be a great place to learn some of the basics. You’d learn that different pressures allow you to navigate different obstacles or learn to work with a spotter on some of the hills.
For the more experienced there’s also the “meteor hole” if you’re game enough and chasing a challenge. We are told quite a few have needed to be recovered by the excavator from this obstacle!
So what’s the verdict? Well every park has its pros and cons, the ones over East perhaps offer a bit more scenic driving as they are usually through bush rather than dug out and there’s some well known climbs like Beer O’clock Hill and Camp Road. But it’s really probably only a matter of time till we discover such tracks over here. That said, we definitely enjoyed what Whitegum has to offer – plenty of variety and it’s awesome in regards to family orientated activities with a dam, paddle boats and even the ability to chuck a line in. It has the best of both worlds; something for the big and little kids alike.
Best of all, it’s just a short distance from Perth so undoubtedly we’ll be back again.
