Ancient Empire Walk

Easy

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A free ground-level loop through the forest floor beside the Tree Top Walk, passing through the hollowed base of a living tingle tree, per trailswa.com.au.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

0.65 km

Est. time

10 min

Elevation gain

3 m

Route type

Loop

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In an emergency

Call 000 for police, fire or ambulance — Australia's emergency number works even with a weak signal, and without a SIM if any carrier has coverage.

You're in Walpole-Nornalup National Park, Great Southern, WA. Mobile reception in this area is not guaranteed — this is exactly why the offline map and GPS position on this page work without signal.

Tell someone your plan and expected return time before you set off. A PLB is the most reliable backup where there's no reception at all.

Tracks & plans

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Species to look for on this trail

Ancient trees and rare flora confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Red TingleDocumented on this trail

Eucalyptus jacksonii

Walpole giant, Near Threatened▾

Walpole giant, Near Threatened

One of the tallest and most range-restricted eucalypts on Earth, the red tingle grows only in and around Walpole. Individual trees develop huge buttressed, often fire-hollowed bases and can live for centuries; the species is listed Near Threatened.

How to spot it

Thick, rough, stringy grey-brown to red-brown bark from trunk to smallest branches; large buttressed, often hollow, fire-scarred bases; white flowers in clusters of seven from January to March. Best seen on the Ancient Empire boardwalk and around the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia — Eucalyptus jacksonii

Photo: Gypsy Denise (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Andersonia auriculataDocumented on this trail

Andersonia auriculata

Data Deficient — WA: Data Deficient▾

Data Deficient — WA: Data Deficient

Andersonia auriculata is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae and is endemic to southern Western Australia. It is an erect or spreading shrub with twisted lance-shaped leaves and white or blue flowers.

How to spot it

Andersonia auriculata is an erect or spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of 10–30 cm (3.9–11.8 in). Its leaves are spreading, twisted lance-shaped, 5–15 mm (0.20–0.59 in) long and 1–3 mm (0.039–0.118 in) wide. The bracteoles on the higher flowers are sepal-like and sometimes longer than the sepals. The sepals are lance-shaped, 10–17 mm (0.39–0.67 in) long and greenish white. The petals are shorter than the sepals, white or blue with lobes about twice as long as the petal tube. The s

Family Ericaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Andersonia auriculata

Stylidium leeuwinenseDocumented on this trail

Stylidium leeuwinense

Near-Threatened — WA: Near-Threatened▾

Near-Threatened — WA: Near-Threatened

Stylidium leeuwinense is a species that belongs to the genus Stylidium. The specific epithet leeuwinense refers to the Cape Leeuwin region in Western Australia where the type location for this species is. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows from 15 to 60 cm tall and has divided stems covered with tile-like leaves that are arranged in a spiral formation around the stem. The lanceolate leaves are basifixed and held closely against the stems. The leaves are around 2.5-3.5 mm long and 0.5-0.8 mm wide. Terminal inflorescences are racemose or spike-like and produce flowers that are reddish purple with laterally-paired lobes and bloom from February to May in their native range. S. leeuwinense is only known from south-western Western Australia along the coast from Augusta to Denmark. Its habitat is recorded as being black, peat-sand soils in swampy areas or heathland. S. leeuwinense, along with S. preissii, is distinct within its subgenus because it possesses leaves without an apical mucro. It differs from S. preissii by its spike-like racemes.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Walpole-Nornalup National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 2007) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Stylidiaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Stylidium leeuwinense

Wildlife you might see on this trail

Animals confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Osprey

Pandion haliaetus

Migratory — WA: Migratory, Bonn: Listed▾

Migratory — WA: Migratory, Bonn: Listed

The osprey, historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than 60 cm (24 in) in length and a wingspan of 180 cm (71 in). It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Walpole-Nornalup National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 2005) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Accipitridae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Osprey

Caspian Tern

Hydroprogne caspia

Vulnerable — VIC: Vulnerable, WA: Migratory, JAMBA: Listed▾

Vulnerable — VIC: Vulnerable, WA: Migratory, JAMBA: Listed

The Caspian tern is the world's largest species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no accepted subspecies. The genus name is from Ancient Greek hudro-, "water-", and Latin progne, "swallow". The specific caspia is from Latin and, like the English name, refers to the Caspian Sea.

How to spot it

It is the world's largest tern with a length of 48–60 cm (19–24 in), a wingspan of 127–145 cm (50–57 in) and a weight of 530–782 g (18.7–27.6 oz). Adult birds have black legs, and a long thick red-orange bill with a small black tip. They have a white head with a black cap and white neck, belly, and tail. The upper wings and back are pale grey; the underwings are pale with dark primary feathers. In-flight, the tail is less forked than other terns, and wingtips are black on the underside. In winte

Family Laridae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Caspian Tern

Sanderling

Calidris alba

Vulnerable — NSW: Vulnerable, WA: Migratory, Bonn: Listed, CAMBA: Listed, JAMBA: Listed, ROKAMBA: Listed▾

Vulnerable — NSW: Vulnerable, WA: Migratory, Bonn: Listed, CAMBA: Listed, JAMBA: Listed, ROKAMBA: Listed

The sanderling is a small wading bird. It is a circumpolar Arctic breeder, being among the most extreme northern breeding birds in the world, nesting only on the coldest tundra, north of the 5°C July isotherm; in Europe, its southernmost breeding locality is Svalbard, where only a handful (5–15) pairs breed. It is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to South America, western and southern Europe, Africa, and Australia. It is highly gregarious in winter, sometimes forming large flocks on coastal mudflats or sandy beaches.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Walpole-Nornalup National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 2024) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Scolopacidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Calidris alba

Red-Necked Stint

Calidris ruficollis

Migratory — WA: Migratory, Bonn: Listed, CAMBA: Listed, JAMBA: Listed, ROKAMBA: Listed▾

Migratory — WA: Migratory, Bonn: Listed, CAMBA: Listed, JAMBA: Listed, ROKAMBA: Listed

The red-necked stint or rufous-necked stint is a small migratory wader that breeds in northeast Russia and spends the non-breeding season along the coastlines of Southeast Asia and Australasia.

How to spot it

These birds are among the smallest of waders, very similar to the little stint, Calidris minuta, with which they were once considered conspecific. The red-necked stint's small size, fine dark bill, dark legs and quicker movements distinguish this species from all waders except the other dark-legged stints. It measures 13–17 cm (5.1–6.7 in) in length, 28–37 cm (11–15 in) in wingspan, and 21–51 g (0.74–1.80 oz) in weight.

Family Scolopacidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Calidris ruficollis

Ruddy Turnstone

Arenaria interpres

Vulnerable — AUS: Vulnerable, NSW: Vulnerable, QLD: Vulnerable, VIC: Vulnerable, WA: Migratory, Bonn: Listed, CAMBA: Listed, JAMBA: Listed, ROKAMBA: Listed▾

Vulnerable — AUS: Vulnerable, NSW: Vulnerable, QLD: Vulnerable, VIC: Vulnerable, WA: Migratory, Bonn: Listed, CAMBA: Listed, JAMBA: Listed, ROKAMBA: Listed

The ruddy turnstone is a small cosmopolitan wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus Arenaria.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Walpole-Nornalup National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 2021) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Scolopacidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Arenaria interpres

Tingle Pygmy Trapdoor Spider

Bertmainius tingle

Endangered — AUS: Endangered, WA: Endangered▾

Endangered — AUS: Endangered, WA: Endangered

Bertmainius tingle, also called the tingle trapdoor spider, is a small basal spider endemic to the tingle and karri forest of southwestern Western Australia. This migid family species of Bertmainius was first recorded in the 1990s.

How to spot it

Bertmainius tingle is less than 10 millimetres long, the female carapace length is 2.6 - 3.1 mm. The carapace and legs are black and shiny. The Western Australian species of the family Migidae remained undiscovered until 1990 and were first described and named in the genus Moggridgea by Dr Barbara Main in 1991. B. tingle was discovered by accident in a laboratory analysis of another arachnid and the bark in which it was living, the spider was noticed when it emerged as the sample was discarded.

Family Migidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Bertmainius tingle

Western ringtail possum

Pseudocheirus occidentalis

IUCN Critically Endangered▾

IUCN Critically Endangered

A cat-sized, nocturnal marsupial endemic to a narrow strip of south-western Australia, now restricted to the Swan Coastal Plain, the Southern Forests around Manjimup, and the south coast between Walpole and Cheynes Beach. Known to the Noongar people as ngwayir, it has suffered severe decline from land clearing, climate-driven heat stress, and predation.

How to spot it

Dark grey-brown to black fur with light patches behind the ears and a creamy underside, stocky body, and a long prehensile tail with a whitish tip used for climbing. Almost entirely arboreal - look up into peppermint (Agonis flexuosa) groves and eucalypt canopy at night rather than on the ground, where it forages for leaves and flowers.

Family Pseudocheiridae · Source: Wikipedia; IUCN Red List

Photo: Kaori Yokochi and Roberta Bencini (CC BY 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons