
Yonga Trail
Lesueur National Park
Directions - The Yonga Trail is located within Lesueur National Park, a three hour drive from Perth. Make your way onto Mitchell Freeway and head north until it ends at Romeo Road. Turn right and follow this to Wanneroo Road, taking a left here and continuing along for a couple of hours. Just after Jurien Bay, take the right turn at Jurien Road and follow this until you see the signs for Lesueur National Park. Enter the park, turning right onto Gairdner Road, parking at the main car park for the Mount Lesueur Walk.
The Hike - In 2021, there was a pleasant announcement from DBCA that we would be getting a new overnight trail in Lesueur National Park called the Yonga Trail (Yonga being the Noongar word for Kangaroo). A 26km circuit leading through the park, there is a new campsite that features a small shelter and several tent platforms that you can book out for a small fee. The WA hiking community rejoiced and the winter and spring of 2021 was difficult to get a booking, as everyone was keen to see what the new trail was like.




















After finishing a Munda Biddi end to end ride in September, my partner suggested we walk the Yonga Trail together in early October and booked us a tent platform. I was super keen to visit, as I'd never been to Lesueur National Park but in a series of unfortunate events, I forgot my spare camera batteries and then the clutch in my X-Trail gave out as we were driving through Wanneroo on the way home. I really enjoyed the hike but couldn't share the experience on here as I only had photos from the first 12 kilometres (I took 900 photos as there was plenty to see and I had lots of time). Vowing to return, the winter and spring of 2022 was spent researching and writing my first book (available for purchase here) and it wasn't looking likely in 2023 until I half-heartedly mentioned I was thinking about hiking it to Perth Trails Series extraordinaire, Melina. Caris and I were staying with Melina in Collie for a relaxing weekend of mountain biking, board games and doggo walks when the serious planning started.
Melina had mentioned to me before that she wanted to get up to Lesueur to visit the new trail, so with a free schedule the following weekend, we made plans to do it in one day. While I love that the trail is the perfect length for us Perthians to drive the three hours up to Jurien Bay, hike the trail in two days without feeling rushed and then drive home, I didn't really want to dedicate the whole weekend to it. Adding in that Melina is a distance runner and convincing her that hiking it slowly with hundreds of stops to photograph wildflowers was how it was going to be, we compromised on doing it all in one day. Allowing for a 4kmph average (super speedy for me these days, especially in wildflower season), I figured it would take seven hours to complete, plus six hours of driving. Melina arrived at my place at 5am, deposited her dog Jarck into bed with Caris for cuddles, and we departed north. Driving through some of the thickest fog I'd ever seen in WA, the skies eventually cleared as we got past Cervantes, and we were soon at the car park raring to go.




















Heading in an anti-clockwise direction, Melina charged on ahead while I hung back and scanned the edge of the trail for the numerous wildflowers that are found in this botanically rich part of Western Australia. A favourite location for fellow wildflower enthusiasts like myself, Lesueur National Park is home to over 900 species of plants, many of them only found here. Being August, it wasn't the peak of the peak time in Djilba but I was confident of seeing more than enough species to tickle my fancy. This first part leading to Mount Lesueur is full of different wildflowers, and in the shadow of the hills to the east, photographing the dew covered flowers took some extra time. Conscience of being with Melina and not wanting to slow up too much, we had some fun joking about this being the pace for the whole day but she eventually joined in the wildflower hunt, pointing out new colours and shapes. Early find along the sandy trail included Pink-flowered Hakea, Pepper and Salt, Handsome Wedge Peas and lots of Milkmaids.
When we weren't looking in the Kwongan heath for wildflowers, the views to the west and south of Mount Michaud and Mount Lesueur were really impressive. These flat-topped mesas remind me of a greener version of something you'd see in the American West, although much smaller. The Yonga Trail heads towards Mount Lesueur, as it shares the path with the Gairdner Loop and Mount Lesueur Walk, and the climb up to the summit is an optional side quest. Reaching the trail junction, Melina and I dropped our packs and headed along the path to reach the top of Mount Lesueur. A series of switchbacks takes you up the exposed north-eastern flank of the hill, with plenty of new wildflower finds keeping me a happy boi. The views from near the top are stunning, as you overlook the rest of the national park, along with admiring the weathered rock of this ancient laterite ridge. Reaching the flat-top section, you immediately head into a mass of Parrot Bush that blankets the summit, an amazing spectacle when in full bloom.