Sugarloaf Rock, Western Australia

Sugarloaf Rock, also known as Sugarloaf Rocks[1] and Sugar Loaf Rock,[2] is a large, natural granite island in the Indian Ocean just off the coast situated approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south of Cape Naturaliste[3] in the South West region of Western Australia.

Sugarloaf Rock

Sugarloaf Rock at sunset

Sugarloaf Rock and coastline

It is separated from the mainland by a thin channel of treacherous water. The rock is one of the most photographed attractions and it has appeared on the cover of the Australian Geographic magazine.[4]

The rock derives its name from the distinctive conical shape reminiscent of an old style sugarloaf.[5]

It is designated as a nature reserve and a nesting site for seabirds such as the red-tailed tropicbird.[5]

The Cape to Cape track passes by the lookout to the rock.[3]

Access to the rock was limited with no road down to the shore present until the mid-1930s;[6] the site was not well known in 1932, with visitors having to "scramble through thickets and down the cliff" to access the coast.[2] The first recorded drowning off the rock occurred in 1934 when a man was washed from it.[7] A danger sign was erected near the site later the same year.[8] Two more fishermen drowned when they were washed off the rock in 1940, with a third surviving by clinging to a ledge then raising the alarm.[1][9]