Goldfields Wildflower Trail

Following the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail and the path of Western Australia’s great engineering feat – the CY O’Connor Water Pipeline – you’ll reach Merredin in just over three hours.

Make your first stop at the Central Wheatbelt Visitor Centre for current wildflower information and maps of self-drive trails. Not only does this wildflower-friendly town boast a plethora of wildflowers in nature reserves - keep a close eye on their road verges as well.

Immerse yourself in the town’s rich history, admiring its colonial and 1920s heritage architecture, or head up to Merredin Peak Reserve for a woodland walk and picnic beside the dam.

Discover more local history and nature at Tamma Parkland – a natural bushland featuring a 1.2km natural history interpretive walk trail and filled with delicate orchids in spring.

Finish your first full day in the outback venturing south to the vast granite outcrops of Totadgin Dam Reserve. It’s just a 14-kilometre drive from Merredin and includes historic Hunt’s Well, ‘Mini Wave Rock’ and a diverse range of flora from Verticordias, cricket ball Hakeas and Acacias, to orchids, everlastings and eucalypt woodlands.

Stay in town, or experience real country life at a Wheatbelt farm stay.

From the Great Eastern Highway, make the 35-minute drive to Westonia and take the sealed Boodarockin Road to Sandford Rocks Nature Reserve.

Among the granite outcrops, tranquil pools and bushland you’ll find striking silver Mallee and may even spot a rare bird or two from the secluded Bird Hide.

Return to Westonia and head for Southern Cross, just another 45-minutes to the east. Stop to pick up lunch and guides to the walk trails and wildflowers of Yilgarn and the Great Western Woodlands.

From Southern Cross, you’ll reach Boorabbin National Park in just 45 minutes. Make a beeline for Boorabbin Rock at the park’s eastern end where the poison plant, firebush and Goldfields York gums surround the original dams, aqua-ducts and pump station of the Goldfields Pipeline.

If you’re travelling by 4WD, take a detour on the way to Coolgardie to visit Caenyia Rock. Here, you’ll notice a dramatic change from eucalypt to heathland filled with grasstrees and swordfish Banksia.

Continue east to Coolgardie and along the last 40-kilometres to Kalgoorlie, look out for the rich variety of eucalypts. There are 15 different species in this area alone, from gimlet to pretty pink salmon gums.

Exploring the main streets of Kalgoorlie, Australia’s largest outback town, you’ll get a grand introduction to the town’s gold rush architecture, as well as a good choice of cuisines, drinks and entertainment.

You can opt to start your day digging into gold rush history at the Museum of the Goldfields, where you can gaze in awe at the State’s largest display of gold bars and nuggets.

Or explore more of the region’s natural treasures on the interpretive walk trails of Kalgoorlie Arboretum and nearby Karlkurla Bushland Park exploring the flora and fauna of the Goldfields and Great Western Woodlands.

Continue your exploration of gold rush history at the place where it all began – the Golden Mile. From the Loopline Railway Station you can tour the original mine site on the old train that once carried hundreds of miners to work.

Or step into the modern-day goldfields and pull on a hard hat for a mind-blowing tour of one of the world's largest open cut mines – the colossal 3.5-kilometre-long Super Pit.

Heading north on the Goldfields Highway, following the Golden Quest Discovery Trail, you’ll enter striking salt lake and spinifex country coloured with the large bright-orange blooms of the tree Grevillea Juncifolia between November and December.

A short detour by 4WD to Goongarrie Siding and Commet Vale will reward you with a closer view of this unique landscape.

Continue on to the historic gold mining town of Menzies and stop for lunch at the hotel.

Take the unsealed road heading north-west from Menzies to Lake Ballard, where 51 sculptures by the artist Antony Gormley create one of the largest and most striking outdoor galleries on Earth.

The late afternoon is a great time to view and explore the artworks in their 10-square-kilomtre salt lake gallery.

Return to Menzies for an overnight stay at the hotel or caravan park.

Stock up on water, fuel and picnic supplies and head north from Menzies (on the sealed and unsealed road) to the living ghost town of Kookynie.

Look out for flowering mulga trees and perennial shrubs, and take a couple of detours along the way. Follow the 2WD route to heritage listed Niagara Dam for a closer look at the local flora, including everlastings, purple and green mulla mulla, sennas, eromophilla and hop bush.

Continue north to Leonora on the unsealed road, or return to the Goldfields Highway to reach Leonora, where you can lunch at the legendary State Hotel or head out to Malcolm Dam with a picnic and enjoy the birdlife.

Take the unsealed road from Leonora to the historic gold rush precinct of Gwalia, where historic Hoover House and the Gwalia Historical Museum offer you a window to an era when former American President, Herbert Hoover, managed the local mine.

The Agnew Loop tells the early settlers’ fascinating stories of survival in this remote region, while the Darlot Loop explores the varied landscapes and seasonal wildflowers of the north-east Goldfields, from dramatic breakaways to samphire flats, mulga plains and salt lakes.

In just over three hours, the Goldfields Highway will lead you back to the Goldfields hub of Kalgoorlie in time for lunch and a cold drink on the wide veranda of a grand old Kalgoorlie hotel.

Head up to Mount Charlotte and learn more about the CY O’Connor pipeline that brought the most precious resource to the Goldfields – fresh water. From this vantage point, you can also enjoy superb sunset views of Kalgoorlie town and surrounds.

The drive back to Perth takes approximately six and a half hours, and you can choose to break the journey for refreshments at Southern Cross, Merredin or the historic town of Northam.