Heathlands Walk Trail

Moderate

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A 4.6km trail with a gentle climb over a limestone ridge to a lookout with views of Lake Preston, passing through woodland before reaching the water's edge, per DBCA's Yalgorup National Park page.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

3.98 km

Est. time

1 hr 2 min

Elevation gain

43 m

Route type

Out & back

Steepest stretch: +24m over ~300m (around the 0.7km 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 Yalgorup National Park, Preston Beach, near Mandurah, 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.

Reflexed BedstrawDocumented on this trail

Galium leptogonium

Data Deficient — WA: Data Deficient▾

Data Deficient — WA: Data Deficient

Galium leptogonium is a plant species in the family Rubiaceae. Common name is rock bedstraw. It is found only in Australia but widespread there, found in every state except Tasmania.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Yalgorup 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 Rubiaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Galium leptogonium

Acacia semitrullataDocumented on this trail

Acacia semitrullata

Near-Threatened — WA: Near-Threatened▾

Near-Threatened — WA: Near-Threatened

Acacia semitrullata is a shrub of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae that is endemic to south western Australia.

How to spot it

The slender, erect and pungent shrub typically grows to a height of 0.2 to 0.7 metres (0.7 to 2.3 ft). It has orange-brown coloured branches and hairy branchlets with narrowly triangular stipules that are 1 to 2 mm (0.039 to 0.079 in) in length that are incurved. Like most species of Acacia it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The patent and occasionally reflexed, rigid, greem phyllodes have a narrowly semi-trullate shape with a length of 5 to 10 mm (0.20 to 0.39 in) and a width of 1.3 to 2

Family Fabaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Acacia semitrullata

Grand Spider OrchidDocumented on this trail

Caladenia huegelii

Endangered — AUS: Endangered, WA: CR▾

Endangered — AUS: Endangered, WA: CR

Caladenia huegelii, commonly known as the grand spider orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has a single, hairy leaf and up to three relatively large red, green and cream-coloured flowers which have "split-hairs" on the sides of the labellum.

How to spot it

Caladenia huegelii is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single erect, hairy leaf, 100–180 mm (4–7 in) long and 7–12 mm (0.3–0.5 in) wide. Up to three flowers 70–120 mm (3–5 in) long and 70–100 mm (3–4 in) wide are borne on a stalk 250–600 mm (10–20 in) tall. The flowers are pale greenish-yellow with red markings and the lateral sepals have light brown to yellow, club-like glandular tips. The dorsal sepal is erect, 45–120 mm (2–5 in) long and 2–4 mm (0.08–0

Family Orchidaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Caladenia huegelii

Tuart

Eucalyptus gomphocephala

Vulnerable (IUCN) — narrow coastal endemic▾

Vulnerable (IUCN) — narrow coastal endemic

A tall eucalypt restricted to a narrow coastal strip of the Swan Coastal Plain running from Yanchep to Busselton, with outlying patches north to Geraldton. Tuart forest is a distinct, threatened plant community — Yalgorup National Park protects one of its significant remaining stands.

How to spot it

Grows 10-40m tall with rough, box-like bark. Glossy light-green oval-to-lance leaves 90-180mm long; white-cream flowers form unbranched in the leaf axils, followed by bell-shaped fruit.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Yalgorup National Park; Wikipedia: Eucalyptus gomphocephala

Photo: Dcoetzee (Public domain) via Wikimedia Commons

Wildlife you might see on this trail

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

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

Western Grey Kangaroo

Macropus fuliginosus

IUCN Least Concern▾

IUCN Least Concern

A large, common kangaroo of southern Australia, ranging from south of Shark Bay across coastal Western Australia and South Australia into western Victoria and the Murray-Darling basin; it does not occur in Tasmania or far north Queensland.

How to spot it

Distinguished from the eastern grey kangaroo by darker grey-brown fur, darker colouration around the head, and sometimes a blackish patch near the elbow. Males can be up to twice the size of females; look for them grazing in open woodland, coastal heath and farmland edges across the southern mainland.

Family Macropodidae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Charles J. Sharp (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo

Zanda latirostris

IUCN Endangered; EPBC-listed Endangered▾

IUCN Endangered; EPBC-listed Endangered

Endemic to south-western Australia's Wheatbelt and coastal plain, Carnaby's black-cockatoo has declined by more than 50% over the past 45 years due to widespread clearing of the eucalypt woodland and kwongan heath it depends on for nesting and feeding. Large flocks are a familiar sight over Perth's pine plantations and banksia woodlands outside the breeding season.

How to spot it

53-58cm, mostly greyish-black with fine pale scalloping, a short crest and a prominent white/off-white cheek patch and white tail band. The bill is comparatively short and stubby (compare to the longer-billed Baudin's black-cockatoo, which overlaps only at the eastern edge of its range). Call is a loud, wailing two-note 'wy-lah'. Look for them feeding on Banksia, Hakea and Grevillea seed pods, or flying over in noisy flocks at dusk heading to roost.

Family Cacatuidae · Source: Wikipedia; IUCN Red List

Photo: Paul Weber, paulweberphoto.com (CC BY 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons