Mount Meharry is the highest mountain in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

. It is located in the

Hamersley Range The Hamersley Range is a mountainous region of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The range was named on 12 June 1861 by explorer Francis Thomas Gregory after Edward Hamersley, a prominent promoter of his exploration expedition to the n ...

within the southeastern part of

Karijini National Park Karijini National Park is an Australian national park centred in the Hamersley Ranges of the Pilbara region in the northwestern section of Western Australia. The park is located north of the Tropic of Capricorn, from the state's capital cit ...

in the Pilbara region, approximately south-southeast of Wittenoom, and east-southeast of Tom Price. The Pandjima peoples are the traditional owners of the area. The indigenous name for Mount Meharry is Wirlbiwirlbi.

History

Mount Meharry is named after William Thomas Meharry (1912–1967), Chief Geodetic Surveyor for Western Australia from 1959 to 1967. It was discovered by Surveyor Trevor Markey and his party in 1967. Tom Meharry directed the survey party and performed the calculations that confirmed the mountain was the highest peak in Western Australia, being higher than Mount Bruce which lies 62 km northwest of Mount Meharry. After Meharry's sudden death on 16 May 1967 the Nomenclature Advisory Committee (now the Geographic Names Committee) recommended to the Minister for Lands that the recently discovered peak be named after him. The Minister for Lands

Stewart Bovell Sir William Stewart Bovell (19 December 1906 – 15 September 1999) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the electorates of Sussex and Vasse between 1947 and 1971. Bovell served as a m ...

approved this on 28 July 1967 and a notice naming the peak was published in the Western Australian Government Gazette on 15 September 1967. In 1999, Gina Rinehart, daughter of

Lang Hancock Langley Frederick George "Lang" Hancock (10 June 1909 27 March 1992) was an Australian iron ore magnate from Western Australia who maintained a high profile in the spheres of business and politics. Famous initially for discovering the world's ...

applied to the Geographic Names Committee to rename the mountain after her father. The application was declined and in 2002 she lobbied the then-

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Geoff Gallop Geoffrey Ian Gallop (born 27 September 1951) is an Australian academic and former politician who served as the 27th Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He is currently a professor and director of the Graduate School of Government a ...

with the same proposal. He, too, declined the request.

Geography

The summit of Mt Meharry can be reached from the

Great Northern Highway Great Northern Highway is an Australian highway that links Western Australia's capital city Perth with its northernmost port, Wyndham. With a length of almost , it is the longest highway in Australia, with the majority included as part of the ...

via an unsealed road in length and a vehicular track in length. Permission should be sought from the managers of the land over which the road and track pass. These are Juna Downs Station and the

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and en ...

, which manages Karijini National Park. In dry conditions, a two-wheel-drive vehicle can reach the national park boundary at about 800 metres altitude, requiring a walk of about 7 kilometres to the summit.

References

Meharry Hamersley Range {{Australia-mountain-stub