Six-fifteen in the morning at the Serpentine Falls car park and there were already two vans parked up, kettle steam fogging one window. That's the whole trick to camping near Serpentine National Park for an early walk start, that: you don't drive out from Perth in the dark, you sleep close enough that the drive doesn't exist.
I've done this loop more times than I can count, usually with the dog and a thermos that's seen better days. Serpentine sits close enough to the city that people treat it as a day trip, load the car at seven, hit traffic on the South Western Highway, and arrive with the good light already gone and the car park half full. If you actually want the falls to yourself, or want to be first onto the track before the heat comes up in summer, you need to be camped nearby the night before, not commuting in.
Why the early start actually matters at Serpentine National Park
The Perth Hills warm up fast from October onward, and Serpentine's tracks have a fair bit of exposed granite and open jarrah forest that holds heat. Kitty's Gorge, the main walk trail through the park, follows the creek line and is shaded lower down but climbs into open country where an 11am start in summer is genuinely unpleasant. Get moving by six-thirty and you're back at the van having a second coffee before the day walkers have finished their first.
There's also the parking. The Falls Road car park fills on weekends by mid-morning, and DBCA (that's the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, who manage the park) does charge the standard per-vehicle day-use entry fee, same as most of their parks. Turning up early doesn't get you out of paying it, but it does get you a park bay and a quiet track.
Where to actually camp the night before
Serpentine National Park itself doesn't run a campground, which catches people out. You can't just roll up and set up inside the park boundary. What you're looking for is a base within twenty or thirty minutes so you can be on the track at first light without a long drive undoing the whole point.
Jarrahdale is the obvious pick, a short hop from the park and with enough bush camping and small caravan-friendly spots around it that you're not stuck for options. I've stayed in the area myself in the van a handful of times, and the thing I've learned is that not every spot advertised as