Kings Park DNA Tower: Perth's Spiral Staircase with a View

What the DNA Tower Actually Is

The DNA Tower is a freestanding double-helix staircase in Kings Park and Botanic Garden, standing 15 metres above the park's elevated plateau. Commissioned in 1966, it has 101 steps arranged in two intertwining helical flights, directly inspired by the staircase at the Château de Blois in France's Loire Valley. The surrounding plaza is paved with stones sourced from 11 towns and 80 Western Australian shires, which gives it a quiet geographic significance that most visitors walk straight past.

As a piece of architecture it is modest in scale but precise in form. The steel and concrete structure does not pretend to be grand; what it offers is a clean, unobstructed vantage point over one of the more photogenic city panoramas in Australia. Perth's downtown skyline, the Swan River, and on clear days the faint blue profile of the Darling Range all come into view from the top platform.

The View: What You'll See and When It's Best

At the top of the 101 steps, the railing-ringed platform gives an uninterrupted sweep from southwest to northeast. To the west and south, the Swan River curves below the park's escarpment and Perth's city towers stand close enough to feel detailed rather than distant. The Narrows Bridge and the inner-city foreshore are clearly readable. On the northern horizon, the outer suburbs dissolve into a low, flat plain.

Morning light is the clearest for photography. Before 9am on weekdays, the platform is largely empty and the city faces east-southeast, meaning the buildings catch good early light while the river below remains soft. By late morning on weekends the tower draws steady traffic, with families and visitors queuing on the lower steps.

Sunset visits are popular but present a trade-off: the western sky behind the tower glows, but the city itself sits in the opposite direction and falls into shade. If a dramatic sky is the goal, sunset works. If you want detail in the skyline, morning is more reliable. Avoid midday in summer: the exposed metal handrails become uncomfortably hot, and the haze over the Indian Ocean softens the horizon significantly.

Getting There and Finding the Tower

Kings Park sits on a ridge immediately west of the Perth CBD. The free 935 bus runs from St Georges Terrace in the city centre directly to the park. From the main Fraser Avenue entrance, the Broadwalk Vista leads south toward the tower; follow the signs for Forrest Drive. If you are visiting as part of a wider day in Perth, the park is easily combined with time in thePerth city centre or a walk along the river foreshore below.

Parking is available within Kings Park but fills quickly on weekends and during the September Wildflower Festival. The bus or a ride-hailing service is more reliable on busy days. The walk from May Drive Parkland to the tower is described by Kings Park as easy and runs approximately 1.5 km on sealed paths.

For anyone planning a full morning in the park, the Fraser Avenue lemon-scented gum walk and the broader Kings Park Botanic Garden are both within easy walking distance and share the same free-entry model.

Climbing the Tower: The Physical Experience

The 101 steps are arranged in two separate helical flights, each accessible from a ground-level entry point. The staircase is open and airy rather than enclosed; as you ascend, the city gradually appears through the gaps in the structure. Each step is moderately steep, and the handrail is essential on the upper section where the wind can be noticeable. Most reasonably mobile adults complete the climb in under five minutes.

The tower is not wheelchair accessible. The official attraction information does not list lift access or an alternative viewing option at the same location. Kings Park broadly offers wheelchair access and accessible parking elsewhere in the park, but the tower itself requires stair mobility. Visitors with limited mobility will find the Synergy Parkland viewing area on the escarpment a more accessible alternative for city views.

Children find the spiral structure genuinely engaging and the relatively contained climb is easier to manage than an open hillside. The low-traffic early morning window is the most comfortable time for young children, before the narrow staircase becomes congested with two-way foot traffic.

Historical and Cultural Context

The tower was commissioned in 1966, a period when Kings Park was undergoing significant development and formalisation as a public amenity. The double-helix form is a direct architectural reference to the François I staircase at the Château de Blois, one of France's most recognised Renaissance landmarks. The design choice was intentional rather than arbitrary: the interlocking spirals allow simultaneous two-way movement without the two flows meeting, a practical elegance that works just as well on a hillside in Perth as it did in a sixteenth-century French château.

The paved surroundings carry a quiet community register. Stones from 80 Western Australian shires and 11 towns were incorporated into the paving and surrounding wall at the time of construction, making the structure a physical catalogue of the state's geography. Few visitors read the inscriptions closely, but they reward anyone who takes a moment to look before ascending.

Kings Park itself sits on Noongar Country and holds deep significance to Western Australia's Indigenous peoples. For broader historical and cultural context about the park, thePerth attraction overview covers the park's place in the city's public life.

Photography Notes

The tower offers two distinct photographic opportunities: the structure itself and the view from the top. For the structure, the most compelling angles are from ground level looking up through the helix, or from a slight distance showing the spiral against the open sky. The open steelwork creates strong geometric shadow patterns in morning light that flatten entirely by midday.

From the top, a wide-angle lens captures the full sweep from the city to the river. A telephoto compresses the skyline against the hills in the background and works particularly well when there is atmospheric haze. The platform railing is low enough not to obstruct a camera lens but high enough to catch in a wide shot if you are not conscious of the framing.