The Bibbulmun Track

The Bibbulmun Track is one of the world's great long distance walk trails. Stretching nearly 1000kms from Kalamunda in the Perth Hills to Albany on WA's South Coast and takes you through the heart of the scenic South West of Western Australia.

The Track stretches nearly 1000kms through a wide variety of jarrah, marri, wandoo, karri and tingle forests with sections of coastal peppermint and heathlands. It travels allong some of the most beautiful and wild areas of the south west, and offers facilities unrivalled on any long trail in Australia.

The Bibbulmun Track caters for everyone and every experience - from a gentle stroll to an 8 week adventure. You can make it a more of a wilderness experience by camping out in the 3-sided timber shelters, you can join a guided group, or you can do it in comfort using the varied accommodation in the towns along the Track.

It takes 6 to 8 weeks to walk the whole Track but many people choose to walk on the Track for shorter walks from half a day to 3 days with 2 nights camping out.

The camp sites are only accessible to walkers, you cannot drive to them so you need to leave your car and start the walks from the designated car access points.

The track seems to be very well marked, in forested areas there are 5 markers per kilometre and in open areas, 2 markers per kilometre. Therefore if you don't see a marker after walking one  kilometre you need to retrace your steps to the last marker seen. Sounds pretty foolproof to me!

There are plenty of organised walks all through the year for beginners walking a half day ramble to experienced walkers, from Dad & Sons days to Women only walks.

For complete information take a look at the very informative website www.bibbulmuntrack.org.au

The whole thing came about in 1972 when a guy called Geoff Schafer had an idea designed to prompt urban people to 'go bush'. He took the idea to the Minister for Forests who liked what he heard and sent Geoff to the Forests Department with a green light to go ahead and so The Bibbulmun Track was born.

Geoff was originally from Victoria, and used that State's 'Alpine Way' as inspiration for his proposed Perth to Albany walk track. His idea worried the Forests Department, which at the time had only a very small recreation budget, and little or no knowledge of long-distance trails. However, within the Department were several people who liked Geoff's idea and they set the process in motion which was to take almost two years.

By September of 1972 a planning team had designed on paper a Lancelin to Albany walk, via the Leeuwin-Naturaliste ridge, but shortly after it was realised this was unrealistic, and was abandoned in favour of a shorter Kalamunda to Northcliffe proposal.

With this change of route the early name of the 'Perth to Albany Track' was abandoned, many other options were considered until a suggestion from Kirup forester Len Talbot that the Track be named the Bibbulmun, in recognition of the pre-European inhabitants of the area. This suggestion was adopted as both unique and appropriate, even though the Track did not follow Aboriginal travel routes. Instead it recognised the Bibbulmun people's practice of walking long distances for ceremonial gatherings.

Early planning was hampered by concerns over public access to domestic water catchment areas, and the possible impact on bauxite mining which, at that time, was going through a rapid expansion. Despite all the concerns, the first pathways of the Track were marked on the ground in March 1974 and went through many changes in the next four years.

Finally, in October 1979 the Bibbulmun Track was officially opened as part of Western Australia's 150 year celebrations. The first 900km journey from Albany to Kalamunda included a full traverse of the Track, and involved over 1000 walkers on different stages.