On the coast, where the region's major river, the Gascoyne, meets the Indian Ocean, stands this region's largest town, CARNARVON.

The traditional owners of the region around Carnarvon are the Inggarda people, other groups in the Gascoyne region were the Baiyunga, Thalanji, Malgana and Thudgarri people. Before European settlement the place now called Carnarvon, located at the mouth of the Gascoyne River was called Kuwinywardu (Kow-win-wordo) which means ‘neck of water’.