Meelup TRail
Meelup Regional Park
Directions - Located near Dunsborough, from the centre of town take Cape Naturaliste Road north until you reach the turn for Eagle Bay Road. Turn right and follow this all the way into Eagle Bay, turning right again at Gypsy Street. At the bottom of the hill you find Reidle Park on the corner of Eagle Bay-Meelup Road. There is parking on Gypsy Street and the trail head is located next to the toilet block. The end of the trail at the north end of Dunsborough is located along the one way Hurford Street that is accessed at the end of Gifford Road.
The Hike - The Meelup Trail is a highlight of the Cape Naturaliste trails landscape near Dunsborough that is already pretty spectacular thanks to the Cape to Cape Track. As one of the last trails in the area to visit, along with the suite of hikes surrounding Yallingup, I was saving the Meelup Trail for the height of wildflower season in spring. With a short but action packed road trip to the South West, this would be the highlight of a four trail day that had seen me hike the Cape Naturaliste Track and Bunker Bay Loop already this morning.
Being a one-way trail and me being on my lonesome this trip, I had to figure out the logistics of getting back to my car after I had finished because as nice as it would have been, hiking the additional 8km back to the start wasn't going to fit into my tight schedule. Problem solvered with the application of a mountain bike, so after having lunch in Dunsborough, I located the finishing spot and had a look for where I could lock up my bike. Fortunately there are proper bike racks there and I was soon driving out to the start located within the rich people holiday hamlet of Eagle Bay. Parking up at Reidle Park, I double checked I had the keys to my bike lock, along with plenty of water and set off to find the trail head. It's conveniently located next to the toilet block and the shire seem to have put in a lot of effort into the whole Meelup Park trail network. Walking through this small park, I was impressed with the flowering Peppermint Trees as I passed the play equipment and into the forest for the first section to Point Picquet.
Passing some invasive South African Daises, I was hoping for less of that and more native wildflowers along this 8km route that runs parallel with the stunning coastline overlooking Geographe Bay. This first part sees you walk through the mixed coastal forest and heathland as you eventually reach the edge of the water. I was more than happy to see some trees today after a couple of sandy coastal walks that were quite exposed. For the sake of the photos, I was doing this north to south as this creates the ideal lighting conditions given that you're not facing into the sun for the majority of wide shots. Reaching a junction almost immediately, I took a left turn at the sign pointing me to Point Picquet and was rewarded with some cool finds that included a Hibbertia, Donkey Orchid and Leafy Sundew. The shade of the trees doesn't last too long and soon you enter a patch of open hillside where the granite has left large gaps in the vegetation. This provides new photographic opportunities with large boulders a thing on this trail, along with different wildflower finds.
Reaching another intersection, the Baudin Memorial was a short side quest off the main trail so I decided to go see what it was. It turned out to be a lookout in the shape of a ships prow along with a mast to mark the spot where French explorers landed in search of fresh water back in the early 1800s. Doing the touristy thing, I took a photo and then scurried back into the forest to return to the main path. Walking along the rocky path, there was plenty to enjoy through here with large boulders up the hill and plenty of wildflowers including a couple of varieties of Pimelea, Basket Bush and Milkmaids. I was happy to see a dieback boot cleaning station along the edge of the trail and the markers indicated that the area coming up was dieback free. Doing my bit and brushing off my boots, I was excited to see what was up ahead if the quality of the flora so far had come from a known dieback area. The discoveries kept on with what I think may be my first sighting of a Granite Claw Flower, a plant that dominates certain sections of the trail with bright red flowers.
This usually marked an exposed area where there would be nice views of the hills sloping up from Geographe Bay. For the majority of the hike it's a nice feeling of being sandwiched between the hills to your right and the turquoise waters to your left. With the first glimpses of the water, not counting the side trip to the Baudin Memorial, it was starting to feel more like a coastal walk. The view is always changing and you switch between tunnels of vegetation in the lower parts of the trail and sweeping vistas as you rise to the tops of little hills. Both have their advantages and in one of the depressions I spotted a native Blue Banded Bee as I was photographing a Pimelea flower, after already finding a Queen Triggerplant and a Lemon-scented Sun Orchid. While I had planned this hike to fall during the time of year when a lot of the orchids and wildflowers would be in flower, I was not expecting this level of wow. Not far ahead I heard a rustling in the bushes and after stopping to see what it was, I discovered a large kangaroo playing peek-a-boo with me through the branches.
Normally they are very skittish and give you a startle as they bound away in a great hurry but this one was happy watching me take photos of it. Leaving it be, it did jump away as I moved past, so I continued up the hill and towards a place called Rainbow Rock. A large boulder to the left of the trail, as you walk up the hill, Geographe Bay comes into view and it's a great photo opportunity. Looking down to Point Picquet, I could see a guy on a SUP in the pristine waters and had I stayed there for maybe 5-10 minutes more, I would have spotted a couple of whales swimming close to shore. I wasn't to know at that stage so continued walking the final section to Point Picquet where I was lucky enough to spot my first Spider Orchid that turned out to be a regular old White Spider Orchid. Right near it was a Purple Enamel Orchid and by this stage I had racked up a nice variety of flora that I was excited to enter into iNaturalist when I eventually edited these photos months later.
Popping out of the bush, I crossed Eagle Bay-Meelup Road and walked through the car park for Point Picquet. I noticed a few people standing on the edge and looking out over the water so casually asked if they were looking at anything in particular. A couple responded saying there were a couple of whales breaching right near shore but had passed now. Just my luck I thought but you can't have it all sometimes. Moving on, I headed to where I thought the trail would go but apparently this was not the way. I decided to walk along the rocky beach as it seemed an obvious way but the trail officially goes on a separate path above the beach. In the end I think this was a better route as you get to interact with the rocks and sand, plus have uninterrupted views overlooking the azure waters. About halfway along the beach I came across some youths that had setup on a patch of sand and given the crowds I saw at other beaches I would visit, they were smart in doing so. Reaching the end of the bay, it turns into a rock jumping exercise as you walk towards the Gannet Rock car park. There were plenty of sea birds along the rocks here and Gannet Rock seems to be a popular spot for them.
Crossing the car park, I found the proper trail again as it headed through more coastal vegetation where I spotted the only flowering Banksia of the walk. Rounding the edge of the small headland, you sweep inland and are soon overlooking one of the more popular beaches around Dunsborough, Meelup Beach. Given it was a bright, sunny day in the middle of the September school holidays, it was no surprise to find the beach alive with activity. Families, couples, grey nomads, there were plenty of people dotted along the pristine white sands and along the grassed areas. The area is well setup with toilets, BBQs and shady areas for when the sun becomes too much, and was a place I had not visited before. I felt a little out of place with my backpack, trail runners and camera but everyone was friendly as I walked along the footpath and disappeared into the next section of the trail. Back in familiar territory, the pathway becomes unsealed after the car park as you walk through stunted forest.
The wildflower finds continued with Lemon-scented Darwinia, Prickly Hakea and Rosy Rice Flower all making an appearance along this stretch. There are plenty of gaps in the vegetation where you will get views looking down to Meelup Beach, with lots of small granite rocks in the water providing safe spots for the sea birds to hang out on. Rounding another headland, this one is a bit more exposed and produced some iconic shots, including what will be the cover photo for my upcoming guidebook to Walks of the South West (stay tuned for more details in mid-2023). The combination of beautiful waters, rugged boulders and distant headland produced a stunning view that is worth the price of admission. Around the corner is the smaller and less visited Castle Rock Beach, so named for the iconic location that is a bit further up the trail. Crossing a small car park, this is where recent bushfires have left their mark on the route, with the inland section of the trail being visibly scarred from the fires. It will grow back eventually but walking through, you certainly notice the difference compared to previous sections.
Reaching Castle Rock, this impressive structure juts out into the water and is a well recognised location around Dunsborough. I remember jumping off it and swimming around as part of the run leg of an adventure race way back in my younger days. Snapping a few photos, I noticed a few beach goers had setup right at the base and I didn't feel right going down and having them in shots from the beach so decided to check out the side quest up to the Whale Lookout, in the hopes they might not be there when I returned. Heading straight up the hill, this little detour got the heart pumping but the reward was some amazing views from a little wooden bench near the top. As I was gazing out over Geographe Bay, I noticed something in the distance near some boats and sure enough, there were a couple of whales gliding by. While tiny specs in the water, I at least got to see some during my visit to Cape Naturaliste. Heading back down the hill, the people were still there so I continued on and headed towards Half Moon Bay. A tiny little cove, this is the only official beach walking of the whole trail and lasts for maybe 20m before you are climbing back up into the coastal heathland.
Having seen so much already and been blessed with some great scenes, the final kilometre and a half could have been a barren, sandy trail and I would have been happy. It was not and some of the best wildflower finds were still to come, which was the cherry on top of a fantastic trail experience. I stumbled across a couple of ladies who were out orchid hunting and together we walked a stretch with our eyes scanning the edge of the trail. Among the finds were a Tall Leak Orchid, Blue China Orchid, Shingleback Lizard, White Spider Orchid, Diamond Spider Orchid, Karri Spider Orchid, Chapman's Spider Orchid, Swan River Myrtle and a Donkey Orchid. Delighted with the bounty of botanical finds, I had a huge smile on my face as I popped out of the bush and at the finishing car park. With no direct route to get back to my car, I had to use the MTB network through the golf course (some good trails through there), and then ride along Cape Naturaliste Road (not a stress free section of road), before enjoying the hilly descent down Eagle Bay-Meelup Road to my car.
Final Thoughts – What a trail and what a time to have hiked it!!!
I knew from pictures and hearing people talk about the Meelup Trail that it was going to be good but nothing really prepares you for what it's like in real life.
Saving this until peak wildflower season was a quality decision and really should be the time you aim to hike this one if you can plan it that way. I loaded in about 50 different flora observations into iNaturalist and that was just the photos I edited. I'm sure if I combed through the raw images a bit more, I could extend that out a bit.
Add in the pristine beaches you'll visit along the way, the bird life and the iconic rock formations littered up and down the coast, and you have one of the best trails in the South West.
Get out there and experience it!
Be sure to tag any Meelup Trail photos on Instagram with #thelifeofpy and if you enjoyed this hike then feel free to share this page on Facebook with your friends.
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.