This 12 kilometre return walk starts from the world’s tallest climbable tree - the Gloucester Tree and finishes at the Cascades, a series of babbling rapids along Lefroy Brook. It uses the Bibbulmun Track.
Fill your water flask, don a hat or raincoat (depending on the season) and set off on a half day adventure along a section of the Bibbulmun Track. The track passes through the Gloucester National Park which is a great example of the closed forest ecosytem that extends throughout the Southern Forest region. You start on the 10km Gloucester Route, but when you reach the bitumen road, turn right, cross over the twin bridges, and then right again, following the trail markers back into the forest. From there, you will follow the gurgling East Brook, through the valley. Listen for the stirrings of many different creatures for them, the winding brook is a liquid lifeline. Continue through the forest, following the old railway earthworks. This too, was once a lifeline with heavy logs hauled from the forest on the railway to the Pemberton mill. Listen carefully, you can hear the tram's horn and watch out the tourist trams using the railway line. With time the tell tale scar of the track and the timber harvest on adjacent hillsides is gradually fading as the forest continues its silent regrowth. Timber remains a major industry for Pemberton, as you can see when you look across the town with its weatherboaRoad houses and prominent timber mill. Equally important now, is tourism. Both rely on the same commodity - towering karri forest, now and in the future. Both can continue to exist together, as they do today. Continue to follow the trail markers until you reach the Cascades. Take care! Listen and look out for log trucks when crossing roads.
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Start Point: Gloucester National Park at the Gloucester Tree. Pemberton is 330km (4 hours) south of Perth.
End Point: Gloucester National Park at the Gloucester Tree
Region: Gloucester National Park, South West
For more information, a location map and GPS file please visit Trails WA.
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The Gloucester National Park is accessible via sealed roads from Pemberton.
It’s a good idea to let someone know where you’re going. Fill in a trip intention form to send important details about your trip to your emergency contact. If you are lost or require help and have phone reception, call 000 and ask for police. The international standard emergency number is 112, if you dial this number in Australia you will be treated exactly the same as a 000 call. If you believe your life is at risk, activate your personal locator beacon (PLB), then make your position visible to rescue teams and keep warm and dry.
Only 3km from Pemberton, Gloucester National Park is home to Western Australia’s most famous karri tree. The Gloucester Tree was once a fire lookout tree and can now be climbed by the public. Those who do venture up the 153 pegs to the top will be rewarded with commanding views of the karri forest and surrounding farmland. The karri forest is home to many native mammal species such as quenda, quokkas, mardos and dunnarts. These animals are shy and rarely seen. Sit quietly in the forest at Cascades and you may be rewarded with the sight of honeyeaters, wrens, fantails and robins flitting around through the undergrowth.
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Regional Western Australia
