Wave Rock, Located near the Wheatbelt town of Hyden, is a popular tourist destination in Western Australia. It is a natural rock formation that is shaped like a tall breaking ocean wave. This world-famous rock is a granite cliff, about 14 m (46 ft) high and around 110 m (360 ft) long.
It forms the north side of a solitary hill, which is known as “Hyden Rock”. This hill, which is a granite inselberg, lies about 3 km (2 mi) east of the small town of Hyden and 296 km (184 mi) east-southeast of Perth, Western Australia. Wave and Hyden Rock are part of a 160 ha (395-acre) nature reserve, Hyden Wildlife Park.
Wave Rock has cultural significance to Ballardong people. Local tribes believed that the rock was a creation of the Rainbow Serpent, and was created in his wake by dragging his swollen body over the land after he had consumed all of the water in the land. They respected this area as an icon of cultural learning; a moral from this Dream time tale was to be remembered for life. More than 140,000 tourists visit Wave Rock every year.
