Bald Head Walk Trail

Moderate

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A challenging 12.5km return traverse of the Flinders Peninsula to Bald Head at the park's eastern tip, with sweeping views over the Southern Ocean and King George Sound. DBCA lists it as the longest trail in Torndirrup National Park.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

12.28 km

Est. time

4 hr 14 min

Elevation gain

579 m

Route type

Out & back

Steepest stretch: +72m over ~300m (around the 6.9km mark)

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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 Torndirrup National Park, Albany, 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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In-depth guide

Bald Head Walk Trail: Complete Guide (Torndirrup National Park)

Torndirrup National Park's longest trail, out to Bald Head — real distance, terrain, and a critically endangered lily found nowhere else on Earth.

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.

Albany BanksiaDocumented on this trail

Banksia verticillata

Vulnerable — AUS: Vulnerable, WA: CR▾

Vulnerable — AUS: Vulnerable, WA: CR

Albany banksia refers to two shrubs endemic to southwestern Australia, named after the town of Albany.Banksia coccinea Banksia verticillata

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Torndirrup 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 Proteaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Albany Banksia

Photo via iNaturalist Australia (CC-BY 4.0 (Int)), collected by pimelea

Albany WoollybushDocumented on this trail

Adenanthos x cunninghamii

Near-Threatened — WA: Near-Threatened▾

Near-Threatened — WA: Near-Threatened

Adenanthos × cunninghamii, commonly known as woollybush, Albany woollybush or prostrate woollybush, is a hybrid shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. The Noongar peoples know the plant as boyur.

How to spot it

It has an erect and spreading habit, growing to 1.5 m (5 ft) in height. Young branches are covered by short white hairs, but these are lost with age. The leaves are about 25 mm (1 in) long, and deeply divided into three narrow segments, each of which is typically further divided into two laciniae. Thus most leaves have 6 laciniae, though sometimes there are 8, and very rarely fewer than six. Each lacinia is about 3 mm wide, somewhat concave, with a linear margin. The single red flowers appear in

Family Proteaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Adenanthos x cunninghamii

Oak Leaved ThomasiaDocumented on this trail

Thomasia quercifolia

Near-Threatened — WA: Near-Threatened▾

Near-Threatened — WA: Near-Threatened

Thomasia quercifolia, commonly known as oak leaved thomasia, is a flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has egg-shaped, lobed leaves with a heart-shaped base, and pink to mauve flowers.

How to spot it

Thomasia quercifolia is a densely-branched, low shrub that typically grows to 10–30 cm (3.9–11.8 in) high and 80–100 cm (31–39 in) wide, the stems covered with rust-coloured, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped with a heart-shaped base, 7–30 mm (0.28–1.18 in) long and 10–25 mm (0.39–0.98 in) wide, on a petiole up to 12 mm (0.47 in) long. The leaves usually have 5 lobes, the lobes often further or toothed. Both surfaces of the leaves are covered with star-shaped hairs, more densely so on

Family Malvaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Thomasia quercifolia

Synaphea preissiiDocumented on this trail

Synaphea preissii

Data Deficient — WA: Data Deficient▾

Data Deficient — WA: Data Deficient

Synaphea preissii is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a low, erect shrub with three-lobed leaves, the lobes also three-lobed, the end lobes triangular to lance-shaped, and spikes of widely spaced, yellow flowers.

How to spot it

Synaphea preissii is a low, erect shrub that typically grows to a height of 15–40 cm (5.9–15.7 in) and has stout branches up to 13 cm (5.1 in) long and covered with woolly hairs pressed against the surface. The leaves have three lobes, the lobes also three-lobed, the end lobes triangular to lance-shaped and more or less flat, 30–80 mm (1.2–3.1 in) long and 1.5–4 mm (0.059–0.157 in) wide on a petiole 20–70 mm (0.79–2.76 in) long. The flowers are borne in spikes 20–60 mm (0.79–2.36 in) long, the f

Family Proteaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Synaphea preissii

Blue Tinsel Lily

Calectasia cyanea

Critically Endangered (EPBC Act) — single known population▾

Critically Endangered (EPBC Act) — single known population

A clump-forming perennial herb with an extremely restricted range around Torndirrup National Park and Albany — a 2005 survey counted roughly 70 plants across only about 0.02 km² of yellow sand over laterite.

How to spot it

Grows to about 60cm tall with narrow leaves 6.5-13.2mm long. Flowers have six dark-blue petals fading to white with age, and yellow anthers that turn orange-red as they mature; blooms June-October.

Family Dasypogonaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Calectasia cyanea

Photo: Geoff Derrin (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Wildlife you might see on this trail

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

Noisy Scrub-Bird

Atrichornis clamosus

Endangered — AUS: Endangered, WA: Endangered▾

Endangered — AUS: Endangered, WA: Endangered

The noisy scrubbird is a species of bird in the family Atrichornithidae. It is endemic to the coastal heaths of south-western Australia.

How to spot it

The noisy scrubbird features a dark brown coloured back, rust-like coloured wings and a speckled chestnut colored breast region with a grey-brown or pink bill and brown or silver legs and feet. They vary from 19–23 cm. in length and 25-58 grams. The males are distinguished from the females by exhibiting a black triangle on their throat . They are closely related to the lyrebird, having only evolutionarily separated from them approximately 30-35 million years ago. They prefer feeding upon small i

Family Atrichornithidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Atrichornis clamosus

Wilson's Storm-Petrel

Oceanites oceanicus

Near Threatened — TAS: Near Threatened, WA: Migratory, JAMBA: Listed▾

Near Threatened — TAS: Near Threatened, WA: Migratory, JAMBA: Listed

Wilson's storm petrel, also known as Wilson's petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is one of the most abundant bird species in the world and has a circumpolar distribution mainly in the seas of the southern hemisphere but extending northwards during the summer of the northern hemisphere. The world population was estimated in 2022 as stable at 8–20 million birds. In 2010 it had been estimated at 12–30 million. A 1998 book had estimated more than 50 million pairs. The name commemorates the Scottish-American ornithologist Alexander Wilson. The genus name Oceanites refers to the mythical Oceanids, the three thousand daughters of Tethys. The species name is from Latin oceanus, "ocean".

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Torndirrup National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 1951) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Oceanitidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Oceanites oceanicus

Great Knot

Calidris tenuirostris

Critically Endangered — AUS: Vulnerable, NSW: Vulnerable, QLD: Vulnerable, VIC: Vulnerable, SA: Endangered, WA: CR, NT: Critically Endangered, Bonn: Listed, CAMBA: Listed, JAMBA: Listed, ROKAMBA: Listed▾

The great knot is a medium-sized wader. It is one of the largest species in the genus Calidris. It is a migratory bird which breeds in eastern Siberia, Russia, and flies to southern Asia and Australia in the northern winter.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Torndirrup National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 1981) — 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 tenuirostris

Peregrine Falcon

Falco peregrinus

Other Specially Protected — WA: Other Specially Protected▾

Other Specially Protected — WA: Other Specially Protected

The peregrine falcon, also referred to simply as the peregrine, is a bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae known for its speed. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, barred white underparts and a black head. As is typical for bird-eating (avivore) raptors, peregrine falcons are sexually dimorphic, with females being considerably larger than males. Historically, the bird has also been known as the "black-cheeked falcon" in Australia and the "duck hawk" in North America.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Torndirrup National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 2023) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Falconidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Falco peregrinus

Sooty Shearwater

Ardenna grisea

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

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

The sooty shearwater is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. In New Zealand, it is also known by its Māori name tītī, and is harvested by Māori people for muttonbird, like its relatives the wedge-tailed shearwater and the Australian short-tailed shearwater.

How to spot it

Sooty shearwaters are 40–51 cm (16–20 in) in length with a 94–110 cm (37–43 in) wingspan. It has the typical "shearing" flight of the genus, dipping from side to side on stiff wings with few wing beats, the wingtips almost touching the water.

Family Procellariidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Ardenna grisea

Dibbler

Parantechinus apicalis

Endangered (IUCN)▾

Endangered (IUCN)

A small, mouse-sized carnivorous marsupial thought extinct until it was rediscovered at Cheyne Beach in 1967. It survives in a handful of coastal heath and mallee remnants on WA's south coast and a few translocated island populations.

How to spot it

Grey-brown fur flecked with white, a distinctive white eye-ring, and a short tapering tail (unlike the long brush-tipped tail of similar dunnarts). Strictly nocturnal — most likely detected via camera trap or spotlighting in dense coastal heath-mallee.

Family Dasyuridae · Source: Wikipedia: Dibbler

Greg Schechter, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Main's Assassin Spider

Zephyrarchaea mainae

Threatened (WA Wildlife Conservation Act)▾

Threatened (WA Wildlife Conservation Act)

A relict, ancient spider lineage barely 3mm long that ambushes and eats other spiders with its elongated jaws. Its entire known range runs from Torndirrup National Park, where it was first collected, west to Walpole-Nornalup and east to Bremer Bay.

How to spot it

Minute size (about 3mm), a raised, hump-backed carapace, and six small tubercles on the abdomen arranged in pairs. Found in leaf litter under dense coastal heath — a 2008 survey confirmed it still inhabits Torndirrup.

Family Archaeidae · Source: Wikipedia: Main's assassin spider

Michael G. Rix and Mark S. Harvey, Western Australian Museum, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons