Chuditch Trail
Lane Poole Reserve
Directions - Starting within the Chuditch Campsite at Lane Poole Reserve, from Dwellingup head towards Nanga Road and drive south until you reach the turnoff for Nanga Mill. Continue through Nanga Mill and follow the signs to Chuditch Campsite. Park at the information board before the loop road around the campsite and walk into the centre of the loop where you will find a large undercover area and trail head for the Chuditch Trail.
The Hike - Being responsible for looking after a section of the Bibbulmun Track near Dwellingup, I visit this area many times a year. Until this year, my travels had never taken me to hike the Island Pool Walk Trail and the Chuditch Trail but I was more than happy to rectify that in 2022. Having hiked the Island Pool Walk Trail earlier in the hiking season, I made a special trip out one Saturday afternoon to finish off the last of the day hikes in Lane Poole Reserve.
I had been saving this hike for spring so I could experience it during wildflower season and to better showcase what this stunning bit of Jarrah Forest could look like. Driving out to Dwellingup, I was going to be walking in a combination of light drizzle and grey skies but this just so happens to be my favourite kind of weather for hiking through the forest. Thankfully the Nanga Road Bridge had been deemed safe enough for vehicles under four tonne, after a safety evaluation shut it down for a couple of weeks, so I made my way in via the Nanga Mill entry and was soon at the Chuditch Campsite. The start of the walk is a bit confusing and after parking at the information board at the start of the campsite loop, I got out to wander around and find the trail. When it didn't appear anywhere, I looked at the map a little closer and it suggested the start was in the middle of the loop around the campsite. Driving around to see if there was any parking closer to the start, I ended up back at the information board so had to walk in.
The trail head is located right next to the big undercover area that serves as a communal kitchen and seating area for those staying at the Chuditch Campsite, which was unusually empty for a Saturday afternoon but I think an important football match had something to do with that. Finally starting the Garmin, the trail takes you through the Jarrah Forest surrounding Chuditch Campsite, across the loop road and then towards the Chuditch day-use area that provides river access. The start was really pleasant with the unmistakable look and feel of the Jarrah Forest soothing my soul, along with some older examples of the Balga providing focus points for my photos. After 400 metres you pop out onto the road for the day use area but the trail continues through the island created by the road looping around on itself. Reaching the little side quest down to Island Pool, I decided to check out what this spot looked like as I'd only ever experienced the views from the other side of the river. With grey skies, it wasn't very photogenic but was still a nice break for photos.
Heading back up the stairs, I walked along the entry road into the day-use area, noticing the first Water Bush and Flame Peas I would end up seeing on this hike. It isn't very obvious where the trail is meant to go from here but continue towards the main road and the trail picks up on the other side, about 30m to your right. After a brief walk on an old rail formation, you take an easy to miss right turn and enjoy one of the few sections of single trail along this hike. This starts a mini climb as you weave among the Balgas that are numerous along here, before reaching the old rail formation that will be home for the next couple of kilometres. Settling into a rhythm, I was happy to be out and about in the Jarrah Forest with the wet smells making for a multi dimensional experience. Doing what I normally do on hikes at this time of year, I was busy scanning both sides of the trail for anything of interest, which there was plenty. Holly-leaved Hovea was plentiful along here, with different types of Wattle providing a splash of colour to proceedings.
While spring had certainly arrived, I was pleased to see a Bracket Fungi attached to the stump of a former tree that had a couple of different mosses and lichens growing off it. It's these little details sprinkled throughout the wide landscape that I enjoy and as the years have progressed, my hiking experience has been enriched greatly by not focusing on speed but getting the most out of my time on the trail. Continuing along, the history of the trail is on show with the long curves visible proof of the railway lines that used to cut through the forest, built to transport the timber being felled for various uses around the world. Wanting to mix up the photos so it wasn't endless shots of wide trail bordered by Jarrah Forest, the environment provided plenty of options to photograph. Drosera vines, a favourite of mine, were scattered on the edge of the trail along with more Flame Peas, including some strewn throughout the leaves of a Zamia Palm. This long stretch of rail formation was proving an enjoyable walk but I was wondering when I was going to reach the loop section.
Reaching a four-way intersection, the purple trail markers for the Chuditch Trail pointed me left and along another wide trail. The forest continued to be regrowth Jarrah with masses of thinnish grey trunks protruding up as far as the eyes could see. I found a spectacular example of a Tassel Flower here with many different branches in flower (the plant is called the Tassel Flower, not the Tassel Plant for some reason). Attached to one of the nearby trees was a Munda Biddi marker, which was odd because I definitely do not remember riding through here in 2021. After seeing plenty more of these markers as I continued along, I surmised that this is the old alignment before the Murray Valley MTB Trails were constructed and they just didn't bother to remove the markers. This has happened along the old alignments of the Bibbulmun Track and I enjoy having them there as a reminder of how these trails are evolving creations. Further along I reached the start of what was a not very enjoyable patch of vegetation.
The first signs came when I spotted a lone pine tree among the Jarrah and then an open area came into view. As I would find on the way back, there are signs telling you that this area is an old pine plantation that is being left to be reclaimed by nature. As this process will take several decades and there are still remnant pines growing in the area, it's going to look super scrappy for quite a while. With the grey skies now exposed a lot more, I scooted around this section quickly, wanting to get back to the regrowth forest that had been home up until now. It only lasts a few hundred metres and it wasn't long before I was back in the forest enjoying the wildflowers and with a canopy over my head. Not long after, you reach the start of the loop section, that given it was a three kilometres walk to get here, I was having serious doubts that the Chuditch Trail was the quoted 7.5km that both DBCA and TrailsWA state it is. Enjoying a break here, after a quick drink I decided that I would do the loop in a clockwise direction.
Heading along a gradual downhill section, this was the beginning of some really pleasant hiking that would last for almost the entirety of the loop section. Settling into more of a meander than a saunter, I spotted my first Blue Squills of the hike, along with some Parrot Bush, a plant I've grown to appreciate over the years. The Jarrah Forest continued to be a pleasing feature with more mature examples starting to become more commonplace compared to the out and back trail that you come in on. This combined with an abundance of Balgas made for photogenic scenes and the photo count was starting to creep up, hence why there are so many galleries for this hike. With the cloudy skies providing even lighting, photographing the wildflowers was a delight, more so thanks to the damp conditions that left plenty of water droplets clinging to petals and leaves. Finding the first clumping of Old Mans Beard (or Common Clematis) hiding away in the depths of a Balga, this delicate vine is always a privilege to shoot.
The last of the downhill walking is reached with one final snaking section of trail that provides a nice looking scene as it dips into a valley surrounded by the soft grey trunks of the Jarrah trees. Rising up the hill to your right is an impressive stand of Balgas, continuing the theme through here and soon you are faced with a short hill. This doesn't last long before you are once again confronted with a winding trail as it descends down towards a depression. Spotting my first Honeybush of the walk, these relatively early bloomers are a fixture in the depths of winter hiking and their bright white flowers provide a nice contrast to the greens and browns of the forest. This area contained a few healthy Bull Banksias but there were no new flowers, the best being a crumbling example that was not long for this world. Passing a metal marker that looked like the Transformers logo, this begins a long climb that lasts for a few kilometres. Crossing the real Munda Biddi alignment, you reach the intersection of the loop section of the trail and the linking trail to Nanga Brook.
Having already hiked 5km, it was obvious that this was not the advertised 7km trail so one must assume that they mean the trail is 7km from Chuditch to Nanga Mill using only one half of the loop section. It's also not entirely obvious that this is the turn for the loop section as the markers point to either Chudtich or Nanga and there are no visible markers up the hill where the loop continues. Given you can see the main access road to Chuditch from this vantage point, I assumed this was the turn and after walking up the wide trail for a while, I eventually spotted a marker confirming my decision. The forest continues to be excellent, no surprise given this area is uphill from the section you just hiked along before the turn. Soaking it all in but also weary of finishing the trail before light disappeared (was only expecting this to be a 7m trail), I continued up the hill, stopping to photograph interesting finds like a Calytrix variety (pink flower in the above gallery) and a Hibbertia.
Reaching the top of the first hill, the slight downhill was a nice break as you approach a couple of mountain bike trail crossings that you definitely need to be aware of given the precarious nature of how they join the Chuditch Trail after a downhill run. Around the area of the Karrakatoa crossing, the view looking down the valley over a wash of Balgas is one of the highlights of the trail and in the moody afternoon light, it was a mystical scene. The strongest indication you are walking on an old rail formation comes up ahead as you round a corner and are presented with the trail carved into the landscape. Similar to the section running close to the river along the nearby King Jarrah Walk Trail, the reason for this is to maintain a gentle gradient for the railway without causing tight twists and turns. The result is a deep channel that provides an opportunity to see root systems and smaller plants at eye level.
It's only a short section and soon you are back to a wide trail through agreeable forest. The agreeable forest does end as you approach the end of the loop section with the left side of the trail an extension of the pine plantation recovery area. There is a sign here stating what I said earlier about the area being left to be reclaimed but there is still a bit too much remnant pine left for the area to start to look like natural bush. Reaching the end of the loop, I had another drinks break here to gather my strength for the three kilometre journey back to the car. Although I knew what to expect, I don't find return trails to be lesser or boring as you're seeing things from a new perspective. It also allows you to see spot things you may have missed the first time out and in the case of the Chuditch Trail, this was definitely the case as I saw some fungi I didn't see on the walk out plus some Coral Vine creeping up a Balga.
In the fading light, this was a lovely section to hike back on with the forest being moody, just the way I like it. Reaching the Chuditch day-use area, the drizzle had now cleared and with this spot being a bit more open, the lighting was much better down by the river than it previously was. It was by no means perfect but looking upstream towards the rapids produced much better photos. With just the link trail between the day-use area and the campsite left to do, I savoured the last section of the hike and reflected back on what had been a longer experience than I expected but an enjoyable one that I was happy to have finally visited and then added to the website. Unsurprisingly, the campsite was still empty when I arrived back at the loop road, perhaps there is a big crossover between football fans of a certain team and those that like to camp near Dwellingup.
Final Thoughts – With Lane Poole being an hour away from Perth and a great place to escape for the weekend, it's nice to have these trails to do while you're camping. I'm surprised there aren't more of them at each campsite given the access to the stunning Jarrah forest that lines the Murray River Valley.
The park has received a significant investment in the mountain bike trails recently and they are a fantastic addition to what is fast becoming an adventure lovers paradise.
For those staying at one of the campsites on the southern side of the Murray River, this is a must do activity while you are here. The place comes alive in spring so expect more wildflowers to dot the hills if you hike it during peak season.
Get out there and experience it!
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