Valley of the Giants
Walpole-Nornalup National Park
Directions - Located 20 minutes from the centre of Walpole in Walpole-Nornalup National Park, to reach the Valley of the Giants, take South Coast Highway east out of town. Follow this until you see the signs pointing you left and onto Valley of the Giants Road. Continue for six kilometres, following the signs to the main car park.
The Walk - One of the most popular tourist destinations on the South Coast of WA, the Valley of the Giants is home to the iconic Tree Top Walk, the Ancient Empires Walk, and a stop along the world famous Bibbulmun Track and Munda Biddi Trail. With the cooler climates of the South Coast offering a great holiday destination over the summer period, the Valley of the Giants area was being loved to death in the 1980s and 90s, and it was decided to overhaul the area to be able to cope with the extra numbers. With that came an ambitious plan to build a Tree Top Walk, allowing visitors to appreciate the ancient Tingle Forest from high above, while also protecting their fragile root systems.
Tree Top Walk - Opened in 1996, the impressive steel structure takes you up to 40 metres above the forest floor, with six bridges connecting up the seven large pylons. Attracting millions of people since it opened, I've been here several times over the years, and although I have a slight fear of heights, it's not enough to keep me away from getting up close to the unique Tingle Forest, along with staring out over the Walpole Wilderness from the highest point. Every time I am passing through the Walpole area, I make sure to visit this amazing place, whether that be on road trips, family holidays, hiking the Bibbulmun Track, or riding through on the Munda Biddi. My latest visit was at the start of a three week research trip for my latest book, and although I already had enough photos and information about the trails found here, I wouldn't be passing up an opportunity to come back. The car park was busy, thanks to it being both a Sunday, and school holidays, but I couldn't avoid that thanks to my schedule. Paying for my ticket at the window next to the door to the gift shop (only the Tree Top Walk requires payment to access), I had an unusually quiet run ahead of me given the amount of cars in the car park.
Taking advantage, I savoured the empty metal boardwalk that leads out to the first bridge section. There are some massive Tingles lining the boardwalk, with these girthy giants found only in the Walpole-Nornalup National Park that stretches east and west from Walpole. These Gondwanan relics are slowly in decline as they can only grow in the high rainfall areas near Walpole, and as the rainfall decreases over time, so does their chance of survival. Stepping onto the first bridge section, you climb up, reaching thee first pylon and turning right as you rise higher and higher. There's a little bit of wobble to the bridges and platforms, but that just adds to the fun. Reaching the highest point of the walk, you are 40m above the ground, and right among the lower canopy of the Tingles. You can almost touch some of the higher branches as you start to descend, and this is where the views start to open up. A little more exposed through the latter half, I love the view looking down at the second last section of bridge, as you get a real sense of scale to the forest, and views looking across to Mount Frankland in the far distance. Descending to what feels like safety, you enter the comfort of the tree cover again, savouring the last of the bridges as you're immersed back into the enormity of the Tingle Forest.
Ancient Empire Walk - Finishing the Tree Top Walk, you place your feet on Terra Firma once again, and follow a paved path back towards the main building. You can do the Tree Top Walk as many times as you want on the day you purchase your ticket, or you can opt to get a ground level view of the Tingle Forest via the Ancient Empire Walk. After entering the main building, continue walking along the corridor, and then through the whimsical archway that leads to the Ancient Empire Walk. Designed as a fully accessible trail, it is boardwalk or pavement all the way, with the reddish colour of the pavement chosen to mimic the Karri loam soils you get in this part of the world. It's a fantastic contrast after seeing the forest from high above, to now wander around and past the girthy trunks of the Tingles, admiring why they are one of the widest trees in the world. As I started the loop, it was nice to appreciate the details that you don't get to see up high, like the wildflowers nestled in the green undergrowth, and fungi thriving on the decaying matter.
Karri Dampiera and Holly Flame Pea can be found in the spring time, fighting for space with the Sword Grass, Karri Hazel, and all the other species competing for light on the forest floor. The walk takes you past and through several of the larger Tingle trees that can be found here, with a few of them having names, like the Grandma Tingle and Fallen Tingle. The range of different examples is great, with some having their bell bottomed trunks completely intact, while others have been hollowed out during fire events. The Fallen Tingle provides a different perspective of the size of these trees, with a little platform rising above the sideways giant, so you can appreciate the scale of it. This was my first time visiting since small upgrades were built to extend the loop a little bit, adding in a different route back to the gift shop. It's still a bit confusing making your way around, but I found the new part and enjoyed the last part of the walk before exiting through gift shop.
Final Thoughts - No visit to Walpole is complete without a trip to Valley of the Giants, and for me it hasn't lost the appeal after all this time. Fantastic forest, great interpretive signage, a bit of adventure, what more do you want?
It's not often you get the chance to walk among the canopy of a Gondwanan relic, and although I love hiking through the Tingle Forest, I appreciate the different approach to getting people to connect with the forest.
Along with the Ancient Empire Walk, and the little education centre, there is more to the Valley of the Giants than just the Tree Top Walk. I look forward to returning once again, now they've opened up a network of cross country mountain bike trails in the area, with more hiking trails to be completed in 2025 and beyond.
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.