2005044 hills forest magpaper - Department of Environment and ...

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Great places to climb and abseilIf you fancy rock climbing orabseiling, then the historicStatham's and Boya Mountaingranite quarries are the idealvenues.Statham's Quarry in GooseberryHill National Park in HelenaValley has two 25 km highrock faces open for suchactivities, while Boya Quarry(or Mountain Quary) inGreenmount National Park hasfaces of 15 m, 25 m and 50 m.To ensure maximum safety, allabseil leaders must haveNOLRS registration. It is alsoessential to book with CALM.Both quarries have climbinganchor points installed andthere are toilets, a shelter andpicnic tables nearby.Statham's Quarry is on thehistoric Zig-Zag railway thatran from Midland toKalamunda. Both quarries havesignificant heritage value,having been among the firstcommercial quarries operatingin the Perth area.It is estimated that up to10,000 people climb or abseilat the two venues each yearand the number is risingsteadily.For more information or tomake a booking, contactThe Hills Forest DiscoveryCentre on 9295 2244 or emailn2n@calm.wa.gov.au.Pets in parksDogs are welcome at mostregional parks around Perth, aswell as in State forest, timberreserves and some othercategories of reserve such asregional parks or at Lane PooleReserve near Dwellingup.Dogs are, however, not permittedin nature reserves, marine naturereserves or most national parks.NumbatIf you decide to take your doginto State forest or a CALMmanagedreserve where dogs arepermitted, make sure it is on alead and under effective control.1080 poison baits are laid insouth-west forest areas toeradicate foxes and cats as part ofCALM’s wildlife recovery program,Western Shield (for more detailsabout this program see page 3).Native animals are tolerant tothe 1080 baits, which contain anatural poison, but they will killcats and dogs. There is noantidote.Check with the nearest CALMdistrict office to find out whichareas are currently baited. Youmay want to muzzle your dog toprevent it picking up a bait.Visually impaired people withguide dogs can take their dogsinto any CALM-managed area.National park passesWestern Australia boasts some five million ha ofnational parks featuring some of the mostspectacular landscapes in the world.To access parks with entry fees, CALM offersnational park passes.CALM spends the fees it collects at the parks onmaintaining and improving visitor facilities or onconservation projects.The national park passes are available from all CALMoffices (except Crawley), more than 40 WA touristcentres, park entry points or from rangers withinthose parks.At parks where entry points are not staffed, pleasetake one of the supplied envelopes, complete yourdetails, enclose the prescribed fee, tear-off and retainthe receipt and deposit the envelope in the feecontainerprovided.Park passes do not cover camping. Other fees may apply.EchidnaCats should not be taken intoany area managed by CALM.Feral cats are a major threat towildlife, and have been linked tothe extinction of several smallnative mammal species.Day PassOnly four national parks in the Perth hills area —John Forrest, Avon Valley, Serpentine and Walyunga —are currently subject to day pass charges. A fee of $9per car (up to eight legally seated people), $3 permotorcycle and $3.40 per tour vehicle passengerprovides entry to one or more parks on the day.Annual Local Park PassThis pass, at $17 per vehicle (up to eight people),allows you to visit a park or group of parks in thesame area as many times as you wish for one year.Walyunga and Avon Valley National Parks are coveredon the one Annual Local Park Pass.Holiday PassThis pass entitles you to visit as many parks as youwish anywhere in WA during a four-week period. Thefee is $22.50 per vehicle (up to eight people).Annual All Parks PassIf you want to visit any park in WA for 12 months,this is the pass to have. The fee is $51 per vehicle (upto eight people).Gold Star PassThis is an annual all parks pass that includes a12-month subscription to LANDSCOPE. It’s availablethrough CALM offices or when you subscribe to themagazine. The fee is $73 per vehicle (up to eightpeople) and includes four issues of CALM’s awardwinningmagazine.ConcessionsDrivers with a Seniors' Card, aged pension card orDepartment of Veterans' Affairs card pay a concessionprice of $3 per car for day passes or$1 per person when on private outings on buses(not including commercial tours).Groups of people with disabilities, or aged and infirmpeople entering parks on buses, as well as studentsundertaking educational activities in a park areentitled to free entry. Please apply in advance, inwriting, to CALM.CALM’s fees and charges are reviewed from time totime.8
Water activities rare, but dams offer plenty for touristsThe network of rivers flowing through theDarling Range largely sustains Perth and itssurrounding areas.Dams in the valley gorges of the Helena, Canningand Serpentine rivers create reservoirs fromwhich the bulk of the region's drinking andirrigation water is taken.To prevent contamination of this resource,water-based activities such as swimming,boating, canoeing and fishing are not permittedin most areas surrounding the reservoirs.One of the few places where swimming ispermitted is near the picturesque SerpentineFalls in Serpentine National Park, downstreamfrom the drinking water supply reservoir.At this popular recreation spot, water cascades15 m down a sheer rock face and feeds two rockpools, one of which is open to swimmers. Pleaseobserve the warning signs. A nearby picnic areais also equipped with barbecues and picnicfacilities.The Mundaring Weir (now called Lake C YO’Connor) on the Helena River in MundaringNational Park has a special place in WA's history.In the late nineteenth century, WA's ChiefEngineer, C Y O'Connor, after whom the lake isnamed, built a 560-km pipeline, largely uphill, tosustain the Goldfields east of Perth during thegreat gold rush.The pipeline stands as one of the greatengineering achievements of the era andcontinues to sustain the Goldfields today.Those interested in history can visit South Ledgelookout overlooking the weir and Helena Valley.There are also several tracks adjacent to thepipeline. The National Trust's Golden Pipelinetour (walk/drive) starts at the old No. 1 PumpStation Interpretive Centre below the dam walland follows the pipeline, providing interpretiveinformation along the way.Dams at North Dandalup and South Dandaluphave picnic areas with gas barbecues and toilets,as well as walking trails. South Dandalup is thelargest of the dams that supply drinking water toPerth, with a storage capacity of more than 200million cubic metres.So, while water-based activities are rare in thereservoir areas, there is plenty for visitors to seeand do.For more details about tracks and trails aroundthe Serpentine, Mundaring and Canning dams,contact CALM's Tracks and Trails Unit on 9334 0265.For information about what activities allowed inthe area, visit the ‘Waterways’ section of theDepartment of Environment’s website(www.environment.wa.gov.au).Leave the car and hit the tracks for a closer viewIf you like to walk or ride a mountain bike youwill be spoilt for opportunities in the Perthhills.Apart from the popular Bibbulmun Track andthe Munda Biddi Trail, there is a vast networkof more than 50 tracks and trails spanning thehills, many of them offering interpretivesignage providing information about theenvironment.The tracks allow you to leave your car behindand enjoy the best natural sites up close. Insome cases they will take you from the top ofthe scarp, to the very bottom and along thebanks of rivers.A favourite among walkers in the Jarrahdalearea is a track that runs from Gooralongthrough the Serpentine National Parkfollowing the river and finishing at SerpentineFalls.Another favourite is the Eagle View Walk Trailthat takes in part of John Forrest National Parkand allows visitors to experience a variety offlora, fauna and landscapes from high ground.Many mountain bikers favour the RailwayReserve Bike Trail that follows the route of adisused railway up the scarp and features a340 m tunnel built by WA's famous ChiefEngineer of the early twentieth century, C YO'Connor.Horse riders can enjoy the particularly scenicLower Helena Bridle Trail from Kalamunda toMundaring.For more details about walking and ridingopportunities in the hills, contact CALM’sPerth Hills District Headquarters atMundaring on 9295 1955 or CALM’sDwellingup office on 9538 1078. Detailedbrochures and maps are available for many ofthe trails.CALM has also produced two publications,Family Walks in Perth Outdoors and MoreFamily Walks in Perth Outdoors, which bothcontain maps and descriptions of around 50walks in and around the Perth area. Thesebooks retail for $16.95 and are availablefrom newsagents and bookstores as well asfrom CALM offices and online at CALM'sNatureBase website at www.naturebase.net9
Page 1 and 2: A guide to thePerth hillsRich herit
Page 3 and 4: Rich flora display makes hills a bi
Page 5 and 6: Kalamunda National ParkKalamunda Na
Page 7: Today at each site you can see the
Page 11 and 12: A forest adventure on two wheelsA s

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