Cranbrook Wildflower Walk
Cranbrook
Directions - Located just outside the small town of Cranbrook, about 40 minutes north of Mount Barker, head east on Salt River Road from the centre of town. Just after crossing the railway line, you'll find the small car park for the Cranbrook Federation Wildflower Walk on the left hand side.
The Hike - It's an exciting time when July and August rolls around in the South West of WA, and the wildflowers start to come out in greater numbers. With no big trips planned for 2025, and a quieter year in terms of adventures, I was looking forward to joining Carbon Positive Australia on one of their projects to plant out 3800 seedlings on a property in Manypeaks. Having partnered up with them in 2024 to donate part proceeds from my book sales to their regeneration efforts across Australia, I was lucky enough to join them for a couple of days on the South Coast.
With a long drive to get down to Manypeaks (located east of Albany along the coast), I decided to make a couple of stops along the way to take in some trails that have been on my to-hike list. Marketed as the gateway to the Stirling Range, I've passed through Cranbrook many times to access the Stirling Range from the north, but had never stopped in. I had my eye on the Cranbrook Wildflower Walk, with the hope of seeing a few early season orchids, so after three and a half hours of listening to podcasts in my car, I arrived to stretch my legs. My quick look at iNaturalist before I arrived suggested there would be plenty to see, and this would be one of those walks where the wildflowers would be the main attraction, not the trail design or geological features. That was fine with me, as the main drawcard was the wildflowers (and maybe orchids), so anything above that would be a bonus. Having experienced a pretty wet winter so far in Perth, the large puddles in the car park indicated that the Great Southern had also copped a few cold fronts.
Starting from the pleasant wooden sign stating the full "Cranbrook Federation Wildflower Walk", I was armed with my camera, and ready to see what I could find. Walking along the linking trail that takes you to the start of the loop section, it didn't take long before I had seen my first species, with Prickly Moses, Hakea marginata and Honeybush all found right along the edge of the trail. So far, so good, and having reached the start of the loop, it felt natural to walk it in a clockwise direction. Being so close to town, I wasn't sure what the surrounding area would be like, and I was pleasantly surprised to find open woodland, with no hint of anything man made around me. The taller trees seemed to be in flower but I wasn't able to find a branch low enough to photograph, so instead settled on flowers that had fallen into leaf litter. They were from the Flat-topped Yate that grows around here, and provided a nice feature as the path winds around various mature examples.
Coming across a bridge over what seemed to be a very straight creek, the information board nearby told me the history of this drainage channel, dug out in 1917 to protect Cranbrook from flooding. It has naturalised a little bit over the years, and the new looking bridge is certainly not original. Crossing over, I was wondering where all the wildflowers had gone, as the undergrowth was a little sparse, apart from a few species on repeat. The rest of the scenery was making up for the lack of flowers, with the track winding past a low lying area that had flooded over onto the track. Getting wet trail runners as I kept to the main trail, it seemed that the cold and rainy winter had delayed the wildflower season, like it had in Perth. As I made my way through the flooded section, I was enjoying the woodland vibes, that were very photogenic in the mid afternoon sun. Rounding a corner, I then entered thicker undergrowth, and this is where things started to improve in the flora department. After spotting a couple of different types of Sundews, I found a nice looking Leucopogon, maybe fimbriatus or cucullatus, along with a Posy Starflower and Isopogon spathulatus.
This was more like it but it was about to get even better. After passing a few more mature eucalyptus that might have been Wandoo, my orchid spotting radar went off when I caught something wispy blowing gently in the breeze. Sure enough there were few Dwarf Common Spider Orchids on the side of the trail, and this made me a happy boi. Getting right down to ground level to do the dance of photographing tiny orchids, I spent a bit of time making sure I got all the angles, just in case this was the only sighting of the day. It was not, as a hundred metres down the trail were more, and these were a little bigger, making me think they were the regular Common Spider Orchid, although there is nothing common about them to me. Excited by the finds, I was wary of the time, as I wanted to get in one more walk in the Stirling Range, and find my meeting place before it got dark. Hurrying along the final part of the loop trail, the variety of wildflowers dropped off, although it was still quite a pretty walk. Spotting some kangaroos as I reached the linking trail, they were too quick for me to get a photo, as they bounded off into the distance.
Final Thoughts - With the list of trails left to do for the website, it's a rare occasion these days to visit one, so I like to walk them in the best possible conditions.
While still a few weeks too early for peak wildflowers and orchids, there was plenty to enjoy about the Cranbrook Wildflower Walk, with a decent display of wildflowers, and an early season Spider Orchid find.
I think this will be a regular stop for when I'm visiting the Stirling Range during late winter and spring, and hopefully I will see a bit more over the years.
Get out there and experience it!
If you've found this page or the website helpful and you want to show your support then consider making a small donation by visiting our Ko-fi page. You can give as little as a dollar with no sign-up required and everything will be put towards the website, creating new content and promoting the trail community.