The Boolagoorda Trail starts and ends at the Hamelin Pool Telegraph Station. It takes the visitor on an easy flat 1.4 kilometre loop walk to a 200 metre Boardwalk. From there you can experience the world's oldest lifeforms, known as stromatolites, thriving in the shallow seas.
The Boolagoorda Trail offers the visitor a unique insight into ancient lifeforms as well as much more recent human activity. Near the trailhead is an assortment of station buildings including the Hamelin Pool Telegraph Station. Built in 1884, the station provided a vital link between Perth and Roebourne, until closure in the 1950s. It's worth paying a small fee for entry into the museum. Just beyond the trailhead is a quarry site where tiny shells compacted over time to form a huge mass. Early settlers cut out blocks which were solid enough for building materials. The old pearler restaurant and St Andrews Church in Denham are built of this shell grit. The trail's furtherest point is where people can get a glimpse of what life was like 3500 million years ago in the primeval seas. These stromatolites look like mushroom shaped rocks, but are infact colonies of cyanobacteria.
Grade 2 (Easy) -Â
A Gentle Introduction to Inclines: Grade 2 on the
AWTGS represents easy walking tracks that offer a slightly more challenging experience compared to Grade 1. Similar to Grade 1, no prior bushwalking experience is required. The track surface is typically hardened or compacted and may have gentle hill sections or occasional steps. The total distance of a Grade 2 walk is typically no greater than 10 kilometers. These walks are still suitable for families with a bit more experience or those seeking a gentle introduction to some inclines.
Start Point: Hamelin Pool Telegraph Station, 30km west of Overlander Roadhouse, 735km north of Perth
End Point: Hamelin Pool Telegraph Station, 30km west of Overlander Roadhouse, 735km north of Perth
Region: Hamelin Pool, Coral Coast
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Getting there
Getting to the trailhead: Hamelin Pool.
Hamelin Pool is accessed from the Shark Bay Road 27km from the North West Coastal Highway. The road is sealed apart from a short unsealed two-wheel drive section to the carpark. It is an easy 750 metre return walk between the carpark and stromatolites.
The 1800 metre Boolagoorda loop trail goes through the old coquina quarry and telegraph station. You can also drive to the telegraph station which also has a commercial campground and tea rooms and offers tours of the telegraph station museum.
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About the region
Hamelin Pool is home to the most diverse and abundant examples of stromatolites in the world. Also referred to as 'living fossils', stromatolites are living representatives of life over 3500 million years ago when there was no other complex life on Earth.
A 200m boardwalk at Hamelin Pool provides excellent views of the stromatolites, microbialites and microbial mats. Please help protect these structures by staying on the boardwalk.
Nearby is the Old Hamelin Pool Telegraph Station which was built in 1884 as part of the communication line between Perth and Roebourne. The original building is now a museum housing many artefacts.
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