HikeWest plans to publish an online resource and/or handy guide book for walks of the Southwest Region; mainly circuit day walks and multi-day bushwalks, and mostly of minimum 15km length. These will mostly not duplicate bushwalks that are already online elsewhere, but will include some loops off the Bibbulmun Track and Cape to Cape Track. They will give experienced walkers opportunities and motivation to reach many excellent locations in the southwest that are bypassed by the Bibbulmun Track.

Many of the walks will intentionally be reasonably adventurous to give walkers opportunities to challenge themselves beyond the more developed trails. The resource will help restore some excellent, long-overlooked SW walk areas to the schedules of today’s bushwalkers.
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Since starting the project in April 2018, we have initial walk summaries including maps and GPS files for around thirty excellent walk possibilities in the SW Region (see map and list). These walks visit at least 18 national parks ranging from Wellington National Park in the north (near Collie) to the various NPs along the SW and southern coast. As most of the suggested routes are new or substantially changed from previous ones in the areas, such as those in the 1985 “Forests on Foot” book, they need testing.
Several of the new walk routes across the South West have already been posted onto local bushwalking website WalkGPS with limited access. WalkGPS is partnering with HikeWest on this project on a voluntary basis, initiating test routes, conducting ‘recces’, generating GPS files, gathering photos, preparing maps & walk descriptions, and using the WalkGPS website to enable the walks to be posted easily online. The Crooked Brook Forest Walk uploaded in January 2020 is an example of the walk information becoming available from the project.
Further new walk descriptions will be posted by WalkGPS during 2020. Access to most of these will initially be limited to WalkGPS subscribers, and also to new Individual HikeWest Members under special, limited-period offers, as a recognition of their support of HikeWest’s voluntary efforts for bushwalking/hiking in WA.
If you are keen to contribute to testing the walks or to providing information about these or other walks from your own past experience in some of the areas, do contact us now!
Walk area | Duration (days) | Walk Distance (km) | Park/State Forest |
Wellington Dam - Arcadia | 1 | 13 | Wellington NP |
Wellington Dam - Devils Elbow | 1 | 17 | Wellington NP |
Gibraltar Rock | 2 | 25 | Mumballup State Forest |
Preston National Park (West) | 1-2 | 15 | Preston NP & part State Forest |
Crooked Brook Forest | 1 | 16 | Forest Reserve? |
Leschenault Peninsula | <1 | 14-20.5 | Leschenault Peninsula CP |
Beedelup | <1 | 13.5 | Greater Beedelup NP |
Boranup | 2-3 | 40 | Leeuwin-Naturaliste NP |
Gardner River | 2 | 24 | part D'Entrecasteaux NP, part State forest |
Gladstone Falls-Woolbales-Mt Chance | 3-4 | 39.5-57 | Shannon & Mt Frankland South NPs |
Greenbushes Loop | <1 | 15.5 | mainly State forest |
Lake Maringup | 4 | 44.5 | D’Entrecasteaux NP |
Coast-Blackwood River-Margaret River | 6-7 | 130 | Leeuwin-Naturaliste NP, Forest Grove NP, etc |
Meelup | 1 | 15 | Meelup Regional Park |
Moons Crossing-Warren River Campsite | 1-2 | 18-23 | State Forest |
Upper Shannon (Bull Rd – Dog Rd) | 2-3 | 24.5-46 | part Shannon NP, part State forest |
St John Brook, Nannup | 1 | 15 | St Johns Brook Conservation Park |
Barrabup Pool - Southeast, Nannup | 1 | 14.5 | St Johns Brook CP & State Forest |
Tone River | 2 | 22.5 | State forest |
Yeagarup | 2 | 28 | D’Entrecasteaux NP |
Warren River – Yeagarup Dunes | 3 | 48 | D’Entrecasteaux NP |
Sabina River | <1 | 11.5-16 | Whicher Range NP |
Black Point | <1 | 13.5-19 | D’Entrecasteaux NP |
Broke Inlet | 3-7 | 51-115 | D’Entrecasteaux NP & Shannon NP |
Mt Roe-Frankland River | 3 | 27-30 | Mt Frankland North NP/Mt Roe NP |
Mt Lindesay | 1-2 | 10-22 | Mount Lindesay NP |
Lower Frankland | 2 | 30 | Walpole-Nornalup NP |
Nuyts Wilderness-Mandalay Beach | 3-5 | 25-47.5 | Walpole-Nornalup NP |
Lowlands Beach-The Deep-West Cape Howe Campsite | 1-2 | 21 | West Cape Howe NP |
West Cape Howe | 3-4 | 33.5-46 | West Cape Howe NP |
Bald Head | <1 | 12.5 | Torndirrup NP |
Mount Martin Botanical Park | <1 | 12.5 | Gull Rock NP |
Mount Richard-Bonito Beach | <1 | 14 | Gull Rock NP |
Stirling Ridge | 2-3 | 19.5 | Stirling Range NP |
Porongurup West | 1-2 | 12.5-19.5 | Porongurup NP |
Cape Le Grand | 1-2 | 20 | Cape Le Grand NP |
Mount Le Grand-summit and beaches | 1-2 | 13-25 | Cape Le Grand NP |
Fitzgerald River NP Coast | 5-7 | 50-110 | Fitzgerald River NP |
Peak Charles & Peak Eleanora | <1 | ~6 | Peak Charles NP |
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