The 1.3 million hectares of Karlamilyi National Park straddles the Rudall River, embracing desert dunes, spinifex grasslands, salt lakes and weathered plateaux and escarpments of sandstone and quartzite. Past ice age glaciers have abraded bedrock, striated and polished pavements and carved out valleys that remain today as features of the landscape.
The Little Sandy Desert is to the south-west, and the Great Sandy Desert to the north-east. There is a central belt of stony hills and undulating plains. The main vehicle access, known as the Telfer-Talwana Track, or the Kintyre track,crosses the park from north to south. Other tracks run east and west of the Rudall River Crossing but their condition is poor and driving them is not recommended.