Railway Reserves Heritage Trail

Moderate

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A 41km trail through John Forrest National Park and surrounding Perth Hills reserves that follows the route of the old Eastern Railway, per DBCA's Explore Parks page.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

4.94 km

Est. time

1 hr 19 min

Elevation gain

68 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 John Forrest National Park, Perth Hills, 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

+ Add to tracks / plans

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.

Jarrah

Eucalyptus marginata

Near Threatened (IUCN) — dieback-affected▾

Near Threatened (IUCN) — dieback-affected

A tall eucalypt endemic to the forests of southwest WA, prized for hard, insect-resistant timber, and increasingly threatened by Phytophthora cinnamomi dieback — including within John Forrest National Park's own jarrah forest.

How to spot it

Rough, greyish-brown, deeply grooved fibrous bark shedding in long flat strips. Narrow, often-curved lance-shaped leaves 8-13cm long. White-stamened flowers in spring-early summer. Typically 40m tall, occasionally to 50m.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Eucalyptus marginata; Wikipedia: John Forrest National Park

Photo: Gnangarra (CC BY 2.5 AU) via Wikimedia Commons

Wildlife you might see on this trail

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

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

Baudin's Black-Cockatoo

Zanda baudinii

IUCN Critically Endangered (2021)▾

IUCN Critically Endangered (2021)

Baudin's black-cockatoo is confined to the tall karri and marri forests of far south-western Australia, where it relies on old-growth hollows for nesting and marri seed capsules for food. It is easily confused with the more common Carnaby's black-cockatoo but has a distinctly longer, narrower bill adapted for extracting marri seeds.

How to spot it

About 56cm, dark grey-black with fine pale scalloping, white cheek patches and a white-banded tail - near-identical to Carnaby's black-cockatoo except for its longer, narrower upper mandible. Best told apart by habitat: Baudin's sticks to tall karri/marri forest rather than Wheatbelt woodland. Its wailing call is softer and higher-pitched than Carnaby's.

Family Cacatuidae · Source: Wikipedia; IUCN Red List

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