Nyaania Creek Walk Trail
Nyaania Creek Reserve
Directions - The Nyaania Creek Walk Trail starts at the end of Glen Road in the Perth Hills. Take Great Eastern Highway up the hill towards Darlington and then take a right at Scott Street. Turn left at the end and join Clayton Road, following this all the way to a left turn at Victor Road. Keep going for another kilometre and then turn right onto Glen Road, where you'll find a small area to park at the end of the road. Walk through the gates to start the walk.
The Hike - The northern side of the Helena River Valley has always seemed like a fun area to explore but lacking in trails to do so. Although the Railway Reserves Heritage Trail runs through this area, that feels more like an urban trail given how close you are to roads and houses, despite pockets of bushland. Having hiked the Helena Pipehead Walk a few times, you stare up at the forested hills in the distance and wonder why there aren't more trails up there. The reason is Water Corp and not allowing walkers in water catchment areas but further up the hill you have Nyaania Creek, where there are some "unsanctioned" trails.
I'd seen the Nyaania Creek Walk mentioned a lot on the interwebs but had always said to myself that I'd wait until spring when the water was flowing and the wildflowers were in full bloom. With a spare morning in September before leaving for a three week road trip, I decided that today would be the day to check out what Nyaania Creek was all about. Having covered the majority of the Perth hiking trails over the last ten years, it's always fun exploring a new area and adding something new to the website. Having seen lots of photos of the main highlight of this trail, I was keen to see how the rest stacked up. Although I don't like using AllTrails, given the amount of user generated rubbish on there, it was the only option to get a rough route for this walk. Armed with this information, I arrived at the end of Glen Road to start the short loop trail leading you through the hills surrounding Nyaania Creek, and along the watercourse.
As with any loop trail, you can choose to do it any in either direction, and for me today that would be the anti-clockwise path. This meant from the gates leading into the reserve, I would be taking an immediate right and heading down the vehicle track. Enjoying the familiar orange clay of the Darling Scarp as I walked down the wide track, the wildflower display started as soon I looked to the side of the trail. Early finds included a Morning Iris, One-sided Bottlebrush, Golden Wreath Wattle and a favourite of mine, the Woolly-flowered Grevillea. Enjoying the wildflowers for now, the scenery is the distance wasn't exactly stunning, with lots of visible powerlines and weedy paddocks in the distance. Rounding a corner, you get limited views looking off into the distance of the Swan Coastal Plain and a lovely stand of Wandoo, complete with rounded boulders livens up the scenery.
Keeping an eye on the GPS, I knew there was a right turn coming up soon but I was walking so slow that I'm sure I wouldn't miss it. There was so much in the undergrowth to see, with new wildflowers popping up every 20 metres. Exploring an exposed series of granite boulders, they were filled with colour thanks to a mass of Diplopeltis hueglii covering the ground. This is about where you turn to head down the hill but given this is an unmarked trail, the quality of the path differs a lot as you descend. With multiple trails heading off in different directions, caused by both humans and animals, I used my trail instincts to pick the one I thought was the correct path. Walking through some enjoyable Wandoo, I spotted a few kangaroos hiding in the vegetation but they didn't want to be my friend. It was a little overgrown through here but Nyaania Creek soon came into view and I knew that was the general direction I needed to go in.
Emerging from the undergrowth, the landscape opens up as you reach an exposed section of rock that is covered in a thin layer of soil in places. This meant an opportunity to spot different flora, with Sundews and Triggerplants really enjoying this type of terrain along with Winged Stackhousia and the depressingly named Roadside Teatree. With the creek in view, the trail doesn't immediately take you there, instead running parallel a bit up the hill. There are multiple paths leading down to the edge of the water but there are plenty of opportunities later on, so there is no need to be hasty. Given this area is located on the edge of a populated, and has been since the early days of settlement, there are a lot of weeds and invasive plants. This wasn't my favourite aspect of this trail, and through the creek section, it's really noticeable. I'm not sure if there is a "Friends of Nyaania" community group but it would take a lot of effort through here to eliminate a fraction of the weeds.