Wandoo Walk
Dryandra Woodland National Park
Directions - Dryandra Woodland National Park is located just over two hours south east of Perth. Taking Albany Highway, follow this all the way to North Bannister, turning left onto North Bannister - Wandering Road. Keep driving through Wandering, and after 40 more kilometres you'll see the sign for Dryandra, turning right onto Dryandra Road. The Wandoo Walk is located past the Lions Village, just off Tomingley Road, where you'll find a medium sized car park and a series of information shelters telling you about the area.
The Hike - With a full day planned in Dryandra Woodland National Park, I had thoroughly enjoyed my warm-up hike on the Woylie Walk that starts and finishes at the same location as the Wandoo Walk. Not long after stopping my watch for the Woylie Walk, I had hit start on the next hike, much to the amusement of nearby families enjoying themselves on the picnic benches. Walking down the same linking path that is shared with the two walks, I was soon at the intersection, ready to turn left and explore a new area of the park.
The sign at the start does say this is a 1km walk, but I believe that refers to the smaller night walk option that is a there and back. There are actually three options for this walk, with the out and back night walk, a short loop, and the longer 3.4km loop that I would be doing this morning. From the start, the sparse undergrowth didn't promise a nice walk but I was hoping that it would be limited to the area surrounding the Old Mill Dam. Meandering along, my eyes were fixed on the greenery on either side of the trail, excited to discover all the different wildflowers and orchids that might be lurking around. It didn't take long to spot Granny Bonnets, White Myrtle, Morning Iris and Pink Rainbow Drosera, all providing a splash of colour to the early part of the walk. Reaching the loop section of the walk after about 100 metres from the junction, it felt natural to turn right, mainly because the trail markers were also pointing you that way. This was the start of the Wandoo being closer to the edge of the trail, excellent news considering the name of the walk.
Wandering on a slight uphill, this was a much better walking experience, and the presence of a canopy was most welcome. With many mature trees through here, I was having fun photographing the character filled trunks extending into the distance, while still trying to keep an eye out for wildflowers and orchids. It didn't take long to spot my first new orchid of the day, with a dainty little Pink Candy Orchid located in a sandy patch right along the edge of the path. These stunning little orchids are the same genus (Caladenia) as some of the larger Spider Orchids but are much smaller, and can be harder to spot because of this. Not far up the path was my next orchid find, a Cowslip Orchid, and although it may be common, I never tire of seeing them in the wild, or photographing the different colour patterns they come in. The trail snakes along through the Wandoo Woodland, where I passed three men with some serious looking photography equipment, obviously out here searching for the diverse birdlife found within Dryandra.
I nodded hello as I passed, feeling very inadequate with my 18-300mm lens that didn't require two hands to handle. Coming up to a vehicle track crossing, I had some cool finds right here, with a bright Red Leschenaultia right next to the path, a thick boi Wandoo that had some impressive girth to it, and just as I had crossed the track, I looked behind and spotted a Rufous Treecreeper perched on an old tree. On the other side of the road you transition into a new kind of scenery, a mix of Wandoo and Mallee, that looked the business as I walked through. The combination of thin trunks, a winding path, and a small hillock in the distance made for a lovely scene, and it lasted for a few hundred metres until the next road crossing. Along the way I spotted many new wildflowers including a Tangled Petrophile, Twining Fringe Lily, Native Parsnip, a Painted Lady Butterfly, and a Yellow-plumed Honeyeater. Right before the road crossing I spotted my second Sugar Orchid of the day, and then I had a decision to make.
A wooden sign with Short Route and Long Route presented me with options, and naturally I took the Long Route. This meant walking straight ahead, and into new scenery where the Mallee was replaced with She-Oak. The old vehicle track narrowed in the distance, and provided a natural path for your gaze to wander. There was plenty to see on either side of the trail, with a bounty of Triggerplants and Cowslip Orchids, before joining some single track as it took you back into the jumble of Mallee. Starting to head up a small hill that leads to the only laterite breakaway of the loop, a little surprise was waiting for me just off trail. I almost missed it but hiding in the fallen bark of the Mallee was a Little Frog Greenhood, my first time seeing any of this type of Greenhood Orchid. Buoyed by the find, I moved along, as the trail winds up and over the small laterite hill. Reaching the top, I was presented with another change of scenery, with the flatter landscape covered in orange gravel and new kinds of wildflowers.
The bright blues of a Smokebush contrasted nicely with the gravel, along with a Boronia, and some kind of Hemigenia that I've not been able to correctly identify. From the top of the hill you start descending along a single trail, eventually meeting up with another old vehicle track that initially has some elevated views over the western side of the park. Outside of wildflower season, I can see this section being pretty uninteresting but given it was September, I had plenty to occupy my attention. As I skipped down the hill I found Hibbertia, Dampiera, Blue Leschenaultia, Triggerplants, a Prickly Dryandra, and a flower that looked like a Cottonhead but turned out to be a Chamaexeros serra. Soaking up the wildflower finds, it was a relaxing amble down the vehicle track, although looking to my left, the Wandoo through here would have been a nicer place to walk through. Crossing the vehicle track that you would take if the Short Route was walked, soon after there are trail markers pointing you into the woodlands to your right.
This is the last section of the loop, and what a way to deliver you back to the start. Not wanting the walk to end, I took this part really slowly, also not wanting to miss a potential Spider Orchid sighting. As I shuffled along the single trail, the quality of the Wandoo improved, not surprising given this is the same patch of woodland as the start of the loop that I found so enjoyable. A return to the grassy fields meant I was close to the Old Mill Dam, and although I didn't see any Spider Orchids, I had some late trail finds thanks to a stunning Blue China Orchid, Little Laughing Leek Orchid, and another Pink Candy Orchid. Along with the mature Wandoos stretching out into the distance, this was a fair trade-off for not seeing a Spider Orchid, or Numbat on this final part of the walk. Reaching the junction where the loop finishes, I just had a short walk to go along the linking trail, and I was back at the car park ready to decide what my next adventure in Dryandra would be.
Final Thoughts – This is not a trail that you will hear about unless you're specifically researching walks in Dryandra Woodland National Park, and even then it might not be up the top of your list.
That being said, I had a wonderful time out here, helped by the right timing in terms of wildflowers and orchids. There are a few different landscapes to enjoy throughout the walk, and there was never a moment when I wasn't enjoying myself.
Given all that, I can only recommend the Wandoo Walk if you have the time on your Dryandra visit, and being so close to the Lions Village is just an added bonus.
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