The golden-hued Wheatbelt provides a visual, natural and cultural smorgasbord on this wildflower adventure covering 7 days and looping over 843 kilometres.
Splendorous spring wildflowers (September to November), extraordinary rock formations, bird-filled woodlands and ancient Aboriginal history illuminate your journey.
From Perth, roam into the picturesque Avon Valley and overnight in endearing Toodyay, with its colonial architecture, vineyards and wildflower-rich Pelham Reserve.
The famously tidy town of Wyalkatchem is next. On the way, check out Oak Park Reserve’s orchids, Goomalling’s historic vibes, Dowerin’s birdlife, and the floral displays running wild through Tin Dog Creek Trail and Namelcatchem Nature Reserve.
Granite outcrops, vivid wildflowers and woodland trails offer tempting detours as you pass Korrelocking Nature Reserve, Billyacatting Rock and Talgomine Reserve. Keep an eye out for "gnamma" holes – curious rock pools that were once valuable water sources for the local Aboriginal people.
Soak up some country hospitality with a night in Mukinbudin. Amble around Pioneer Botanical Walk and Weira Reserve for another wildflower fix - orchids, gimlets, mallee and wattle, set to a songbird soundtrack.
Towards Beacon and beyond, discover the soaring granite curves of Elachbutting Rock and Beringbooding Rock, both doing their best to impersonate famous Wave Rock. Pose for pictures at the balancing boulders of Billiburning Rock.
Koorda roses, orchids and tinsel lilies line the road to Koorda, where the town’s Heritage Trail pays homage to its pioneer legends. On the home run to Perth, wheat-coloured Wongan Hills serves up some final floral splendours along the Mount Matilda, Christmas Rock and Reynoldson Reserve walking trails.
Escape to Perth’s Avon Valley, taking an easy one-hour drive from the city via Roe Highway and Toodyay Road to the historic town of Toodyay.On its main street, you’ll see some of Western Australia's finest examples of 19th century heritage, offering glimpses of town life in the early convict era, including the Old Gaol and Museum.Call into the…
Escape to Perth’s Avon Valley, taking an easy one-hour drive from the city via Roe Highway and Toodyay Road to the historic town of Toodyay.
On its main street, you’ll see some of Western Australia's finest examples of 19th century heritage, offering glimpses of town life in the early convict era, including the Old Gaol and Museum.
Call into the Toodyay Visitor Centre for a wildflower map and further information about local parks, reserves, scenic drives passing stunning country gardens, rolling lavender fields, vineyards and olive groves.
Enjoy a tranquil picnic in Duidgee Park on the Avon River, or head up to Pelham Reserve for a walk in the York gum and jam tree woodland, and sensational views of the town.
Look out for everlastings, donkey and cowslip orchids, purple tassel, Hibbertia, kangaroo paw, triggerplant and wandoo trees.
Dine at Toodyay’s historic hotels and choose from charming bed and breakfasts, luxury romantic retreats or budget-friendly accommodation.
Many of the towns you’ll be visiting over the next few days offer only basic supplies, so be sure to stock up on food, drinks and a picnic breakfast before departing Toodyay.Take the Goomalling-Toodyay Road and follow Wongan Road 15 kilometres north from Goomalling to Oak Park Reserve.Enjoy your picnic breakfast among the orchids, Verticordia and…
Many of the towns you’ll be visiting over the next few days offer only basic supplies, so be sure to stock up on food, drinks and a picnic breakfast before departing Toodyay.
Take the Goomalling-Toodyay Road and follow Wongan Road 15 kilometres north from Goomalling to Oak Park Reserve.
Enjoy your picnic breakfast among the orchids, Verticordia and many other wildflower varieties and check out the curious gnamma holes made by the local Aboriginal people to collect water in days gone by.
Return to Goomalling and stop to take a step back in time at the School House Museum, Heritage Town Walk and Old Railway Station.
Continue east to Dowerin, the home of Western Australia’s largest regional agricultural shows and a rich variety of birdlife. Visit the bird hide or explore the local flora of nearby Tin Dog Creek Trail.
Just 10 kilometres east of Dowerin lies Namelcatchem Nature Reserve. Explore this wandoo woodland, looking out for orchids, blue Leschenaultia and Dryandra, before continuing on to Wyalkatchem.
The town’s reserve is an interesting tract of open heathland where you may find the rare and endangered native foxglove amongst the wandoo, eucalyptus, Melaleuca, sheoak trees and Verticordia.
History buffs shouldn’t miss a visit to Wyalkatchem's Agricultural Museum which houses an impressive collection of early farming equipment and transportation, including one of the few remaining 'Waterloo Boy' tractors in Australia.
Overnight in Wyalkatchem.
To the north-east of Wyalkatchem, on Tyler Road, the open woodland of Korrelocking Nature Reserve showcases some of the best salmon gums in the region.View the Gnamma holes and follow the walk trail through York gums, Gimlet, pink everlastings and orchids including enamel, china, fairy, spider and donkey varieties.Continue east through Trayning to…
To the north-east of Wyalkatchem, on Tyler Road, the open woodland of Korrelocking Nature Reserve showcases some of the best salmon gums in the region.
View the Gnamma holes and follow the walk trail through York gums, Gimlet, pink everlastings and orchids including enamel, china, fairy, spider and donkey varieties.
Continue east through Trayning to Billycatting Rock and follow the interpretive woodland trail around the base of this fascinating granite rock admiring the numerous spring wildflowers, including orchids, Hibbertia and Kunzea. This is also a top spot for a picnic lunch.
Returning to Nungarin-Wyalkatchem Road, take Talgomine Reserve Road east from Nungarin to the mammoth granite outcrop of Talgomine Rock.
Once used as a turning point for airforce training flights during World War II, the surrounding fields are blanketed in pink and yellow everlastings after good winter rains.
Return to Nungarin for your overnight stay or take the 45-minute drive north to Mukinbudin.
From the corner of Mukinbudin/Kununoppin Road and Earl Drive in Mukinbudin, take a morning stroll on the Pioneer Botanical Walk to the rare species garden where you’ll encounter a number of unique native wildflowers.For a picnic lunch and bushwalk among the native birdlife and wildflowers, head for nearby Weira Reserve on Koorda-Bullfinch Road – a…
From the corner of Mukinbudin/Kununoppin Road and Earl Drive in Mukinbudin, take a morning stroll on the Pioneer Botanical Walk to the rare species garden where you’ll encounter a number of unique native wildflowers.
For a picnic lunch and bushwalk among the native birdlife and wildflowers, head for nearby Weira Reserve on Koorda-Bullfinch Road – a pretty spot surrounded by sheoak, hop bush, orchids, twisted Gimlets, red-flowered Mallee and zigzag wattle.
Join the gravel road (suitable for 2WD) heading north-east on Elachbutting Road to reach the gigantic granite outcrop of Elachbutting Rock.
Follow the track around the base to view the striking rock’s coloured wave, which creates a 30-metre tunnel and unusual cave-like amphitheatre. Along the way, look for eucalyptus orbifolia, granite rock box, wattles, native grasses and reeds, and see masses of donkey orchids on the eastern side.
Or, take the drive to the top of the outcrop, through poverty bushes and Kunzea, to take in the awe-inspiring view of the surrounding plains.
Camp overnight here, under a star-filled outback sky.
A short drive west will bring you to Beringbooding Rock, where you can view a treasure trove of flora and a great engineering feat of the 1930s – one of the largest water tanks in the southern hemisphere.Look out for the amazing balancing boulder, huge gnamma hole, Indigenous Kalamaia tribe paintings and blooms of pink tea tree, Eucalyptus…
A short drive west will bring you to Beringbooding Rock, where you can view a treasure trove of flora and a great engineering feat of the 1930s – one of the largest water tanks in the southern hemisphere.
Look out for the amazing balancing boulder, huge gnamma hole, Indigenous Kalamaia tribe paintings and blooms of pink tea tree, Eucalyptus orbifolia, Acacia, Grevillea, Hakea, Eremophila, quandongs, sandalwood, orchids, granite Kunzea and one-sided bottlebrush.
As you continue west to Beacon, through the Wheatbelt towns of Bonnie Rock and Wiaki, you may spot purple Cyanostegia augustifolia, yellow Glischocaryon, gimlet thicket, Pityrodia and dwarf grass trees, as well as kangaroos and bobtail skinks.
To the north of Beacon, Billiburning Rock is a must-see for birdwatchers. Wedge-tailed eagles, budgerigars, black cockatoos, purple-crowned lorikeets, Major Mitchells and mallee fowl are often sighted here.
Nearby, Karroun Hill Reserve is filled with one-sided bottlebrush, sun and yellow-spotted donkey orchids and pink and white everlastings after good winter rains.
Camp overnight at Karroun Hill Reserve, or return to Beacon.
Enjoy a morning walk in the wildflowers at Beacon Botanical Park. Or take your breakfast out to the pretty picnic spots at Beacon's pioneer wells – Tampu and Datjion – before rejoining the road west to Mollerin Lake Nature Reserve.Wildflowers abound beside the roads in this region, and Mollerin Rocks offers a good opportunity to spot Koorda rose…
Enjoy a morning walk in the wildflowers at Beacon Botanical Park. Or take your breakfast out to the pretty picnic spots at Beacon's pioneer wells – Tampu and Datjion – before rejoining the road west to Mollerin Lake Nature Reserve.
Wildflowers abound beside the roads in this region, and Mollerin Rocks offers a good opportunity to spot Koorda rose (Darwinia purpurea), tinsel Iily (Calectasia grandiflora) and many orchids.
Make a lunch stop in Koorda and take a little time to explore the town’s tribute to its local pioneer legends on the two-kilometre Koorda Heritage Trail.
Just over one and a half hours to the west lies Wongan Hills Nature Reserve – a haven for hundreds of species of flowering plants, some of them rare and unique to this region.
Hike the Mount Matilda Trail, or drive to the Mount O'Brien Lookout (partly sealed road, accessible to 2WD) for spectacular sweeping views and a close-up look at the local flora.
Return to Wongan Hills for your overnight stay.
Head to the visitor centre for maps and guides, or join a wildflower walking tour.Just outside town, Christmas Rock Walk leads you on an easy 40-minute stroll through wattles, one-sided bottlebrush and everlastings. Six rare varieties of wildflowers can also be spotted here.If you’re visiting later in spring (October to November), take a short…
Head to the visitor centre for maps and guides, or join a wildflower walking tour.
Just outside town, Christmas Rock Walk leads you on an easy 40-minute stroll through wattles, one-sided bottlebrush and everlastings. Six rare varieties of wildflowers can also be spotted here.
If you’re visiting later in spring (October to November), take a short drive north to Reynoldson's Reserve when the area is ablaze with seven wonderful varieties of Verticordia.
Dryandra, Mircocorys, Acacias, Hakea and Grevillea, everlastings, lsopogon, Eucalyptus, orchids pea flowers and egg and bacon can also be found here.
The two-and-a-quarter-hour return journey to Perth takes you through Goomalling. Stop here and take one last step back in time at the School House Museum, the Old Railway Station and the Heritage Town Walk.
From here, you can also opt to extend your wildflower wander or head home.
Itinerary content originally published on westernaustralia.com