Munda Biddi Trail (WA) - Yarri to Collie

Day 9 of the Munda Biddi Trail, this section takes cyclists from Yarri Campsite into the town of Collie. Following the rail trail from the previous day, the trail initially rises steeply before 8 kilometres of continually descent - including some of the best, giant Jarrah forest of the entire track. Following a mix of trail types, the Munda Biddi head into Collie via a spur. One of the best days of the trail in spite of some lesser moments

Distance: 41.67 km (one way)

Gradient: Some undulating areas with some moderately steep climbs, though with extended descents and sections of flat rail trail

Quality of Path: Mix of vehicle tracks, high quality rail trails and some road sections

Quality of Signage: Well signed at all trail junctions

Experience Required: Mountain Biking experience recommended

Time: 4-5 Hours

Steps: None, this is a bike trail

Best Time to Visit: All Year; but the South West of WA is always best from August-October
Date(s) Completed: 7th June, 2020
Entry Fee: No

Getting There: No direct access to Yarri. Car access points can be located at Lancaster Rd, 

Mornington Rd and Coalfields Hwy

As we've found with our luxurious car camping-style tent and mattress setup, Alissa and I had a really good sleep out at Yarri campsite. Being relatively warm, we'd left our windows open overnight and even though there had been a very light drizzle it was still nice and dry inside the tent. Waking up to birdsong in the morning and being keen to get going, Alissa and I grabbed most of the gear out of the tent and brought it to the balcony of the hut, while hiking the first load of items back to where Alissa had parked the car. While a relatively close 1.5 kilometre walk away, it was still a reasonable distance and about halfway back from the car it started to rain very heavily. All my rain gear was back at the hut and to make matters worse, the tent was still up with the windows open!

With nothing we could go about the rain, Alissa and I hung out inside the hut eating breakfast and packing away as much of the gear as we could. We were particularly grateful for the fact Yarri is one of the five huts that has a large balcony and a proper wooden floor - and for the added convenience of having the entire hut to ourselves. With the lovely forest all around, there are definitely worse places to be stuck out in the rain.

Eventually the rain stopped, allowing me to get going. Alissa had a lot more time to kill so agreed to deal with the rest of the pack down by herself which, while only another load, had the added complexity of now having to deal with a soaked through tent that had to be stuffed into her hiking pack. Not the most pleasant thing to be packing.

From Yarri, the Munda Biddi continues on the old rail form I had joined onto the previous day. From the hut it is mildly downhill and thus allows for a nice easing into the day's kilometres. With the area wet from the downpour, the forest was looking lush and beautiful and while the previous day had been very pleasant, it was already even better.

Crossing a road and then seemingly continuing on old rail form, three kilometres of climbing begins - including the day's only stretch of blue rated trail and made a bit more challenging by the run off from the the morning showers. Within the first kilometre of the climb, the Munda Biddi crosses under the Muja Southern Terminal. These power line roads can be a bit of an eyesore, but this particular crossing was actually fairly interesting. The morning mist and the dark clouds gave the scene a dramatic quality, and the fact the powerlines seemed to be within a valley gave the landscape a lot more topographical interest than the usually flatten and utilitarian look.

Crossing under the powerlines, the rail formation continues its climb without any interruptions. While I still don't find these climbs pleasant, I'd say that this was the point where I felt I earned my climbing legs as I pushed through the pain as much as I could. Chronologically, the next section of the track I undertook was Jarrahdale to Dandalup, and I was able to do the entire road climb from the Serpentine River without getting off my bike. I don't think I would have been able to do it without the test of this climb, especially coming after a previous day of riding.

I was nevertheless very relieved to reach the top of the hill as the rail trail turned onto Yukon Rd as I knew that the three kilometres of work would be rewarded by over eight kilometres of easy downhill riding. Given the wet conditions, I was happy that Yukon Rd was well graded as I didn't have to worry about traction and could enjoy flying through the forest at top speed.

While riding down Yukon Rd, the rain began to fall again, but was thankfully relatively gentle. There were a number of large puddles along the way, however the road was wide enough that it was easy to skirt around.

Either returning to rail trail or narrowing the a single lane, it became much harder to avoid the puddles, and I had no choice but ride right through them. Some of the puddles were incredibly long but were at least not very deep, however it definitely made me regret not putting the front mud guard on the bike. While protected at the back by the seat pack, it definitely took the brunt of the mud and was filthy by the end of the day.

The forest had been quite good along Yukon Rd, but crossing an intersecting vehicle track marked a transition to even better quality forest. While not old growth, the trees looked older and a lot more mature. Coupled with a lush understory, it made for really nice forest cycling.

Give or take a puddle or two, but again these were not that deep and were easy enough to traverse.

Reaching the edge of farmland, the trail thankfully turns right along Zephyr Rd rather than heading uphill. The rolling hills of the property and its surrounding mature forest made for a particularly idyllic scene, and I couldn't help but feel a bit of envy for the people who live so close to such nice Jarrah forest.

The forest quality actually got even better as I reached a driveway entrance to their property, with majestic, tall Jarrah on either side of Zephyr Rd as it crossed a creek.

The creek crossing is a low culvert, and at the time of my visit it was completely covered with a large puddle. Up to this point, all the puddles had been fairly shallow but this one was so deep in the middle that my bike stopped suddenly in the mud, and I had to lean carefully to land my feet on the edge of the puddle and avoid going shin deep (or worse).

On the other side of the puddle, I initially thought that the forest quality would take a major step down as I could see the very obvious signs of a recent prescribed burn having been undertaken.

Thankfully, what had been undertaken looked to be a fairly tasteful cool burn, without the over the top scorched earth appearance that has sadly become more and more common over the prescribed burning season. The understory hadn't been completely obliterated and was already coming back strong without having to go through the dense, ugly soapbush stage when an area is completely defoliated. It probably helped as well that the forest was filled with massive mature trees creating the kind of dense canopy that is impossible to find in the young scrappy regrowth forests close to Perth, and more commonly seen in the Karri forest further south.

I was already loving how spectacular the mature forest was looking, however when I reached a bend in the road filled me with many tall trees I was absolutely blown away by the sight of one of the most massive Jarrah I've ever seen, so large that I had to put my bike next to it just so I could show it's scale. Even then I didn't think the photograph really did the tree's size any justice, which led me to filming this:

This was a forest giant, a King Jarrah as they are often called - and it should be said, a better example than the one on the King Jarrah Track in Dwellingup. When I criticise much of the young regrowth Jarrah as being a ghastly, scrappy and often hideous parody of a tree, this is the great tragedy of what it replaced; centuries old giants that were clear-felled en masse, often for the shortsighted profit of lining London streets during the horse and cart era. It makes my blood boil when I read the oft-repeated statement about the 'regenerative properties of the Jarrah forest' whenever centuries old trees are logged or when an area is cleared for mining. Yes, the forest can regrow, but it is a complete con to suggest 50 year old regrowth forest, which is more fire prone, is just as good as 300-500 year old stands that survived from before European colonisation. This is what we've lost and continue to lose; generations never knowing the potential of what a Jarrah could be and made to blindly accept the scrappy regrowth as Jarrah's natural state. I note with sadness that this area is merely listed online as Harris River State Forest, and that areas like this could very well be earmarked for logging in the future. 

Other than the interruption of crossing the Muja-Cannington Terminal power line, the quality forest of giants continued unabated as the trail continued its descent along Zephyr Rd.

With privately owned land providing no opportunities for the trail to continue along unsealed roads, rail trails or single track (and the other option being to not see the nice forest along Zephyr Rd), the Munda Biddi turns onto Mornington Rd for some road cycling. For a trail touted as a 'world class off-road cycling experience', these road sections seem like a bit of false advertising, but to be honest I don't mind these easy, fast stretches of road as long as they are relatively quiet.

Besides, the quality of forest on Zephyr Rd largely continued along Mornington Rd, making the road cycling rather scenic. While initially dipping down to cross a bridge over a creek, the road becomes a slow, continuous ascent for most of the stretch's three kilometres. Along the ascent, I passed a group of cyclists who were pulled over on the other side of the road for a coffee break. They kindly offered me a cuppa, but I was keen to keep going so politely declined.

After 10 minutes on the road, I turned off Mornington Rd and again followed old, unsealed vehicle tracks through the forest. While the area featured the bogan flourish of a car wreck along the trail, the forest quality was a continuation of what I had been enjoying along Zephyr Rd.

As the trail climbed uphill and turned onto a section of single track, the forest quality dropped noticeably, with fewer tall trees and a much greater prevalence of regrowth scrappiness. If ever there was a clear illustration of the chalk and cheese nature of young regrowth and old forest giants, this was it, however the higher rainfall of the Collie area meant that the forest did at least have an attractive, lush appearance.

The single track ended as the Munda Biddi turned onto a section of powerline road, initially following a linking connector line and then joining onto the Muja Southern Terminal.

This stretch along the powerline goes for a good kilometre before reaching Mornington Rd for a second time. After crossing over to the other side, riders are rewarded with a further 350 metres of pylon goodness.

Crossing Gastaldo Rd and a railway line, the Munda Biddi leaves the Muja Southern Terminal and runs alongside the railway tracks for a short distance before turning into the forest.

The forest quality was again a bit of a step down from the forest giants I'd encountered earlier in the day, and looked more like what I expect of the forest around Collie - thin, scrappy and burnt.

By this stage I was over 20 kilometres into the day, and having cycled the previous day as well my energy reserves were feeling a bit depleted. Finding a good place to park up my bike, I stopped for short snack. While I'm something of a chilli fiend, the jerky I had was almost a bit too hot considering it made me drink more water, and I resorted to eating an emergency muesli bar I found in my backpack that turned out to be a a couple of years past its best before date and a bit rock hard!

Heading closer to Collie and following another old rail form along a watercourse, the forest quality returned to a much more mature and lush appearance, and with my energy returning I was in very good spirits again.

While not quite as massive as the trees on Zephyr Rd, the forest hear was old enough to feature trees with extensive, branching crowns rather then the weak twigs more common in the young regrowth.

Like the Bibbulmun Track the trail into Collie is a spur off the main Munda Biddi, and as such features a three way junction. Where the Bibbulmun's junction is located within the stunted, burnt regrowth Jarrah of Westralia Conservation Park, the Munda Biddi junction is a much grander location at the crossroads of two rail forms and surrounded by some tall beautiful forest.

From the junction, the trail follows Wallis Form eastwards. At the time of my ride, there were a number of trees down over the track. Most were easy enough to cycle around but there were a few that required a bit of a lift and carry.

The Munda Biddi crosses Mornington Rd again, here known as Mornington Rd North in spite of being south of the earlier section of road. On the other side of the road, the Munda Biddi seems to continue to follow the old form.

While mostly through fairly standard Jarrah forest, the trail does pass by some flats and creek areas lined with Bullich to offer some variety in the scenery along the way to a somewhat confusing trail junction.

The issue at the trail junction was that there was a very new, well constructed stretch of single track that was closed off without explanation, with the Munda Biddi following a vehicle track instead. Knowing that the Munda Biddi was recently rerouted into town and that DBCA had left a diversion up for six months for a prescribed burn in Wellington National Park without ever doing the burn, I was wondering if it was a case of the person tasked with taking down the closed off netting dropping the ball. I ended up spending 15 minutes pointing my phone into the air trying to get enough signal to download the pdf of the new diversion, but with low signal the download was taking way too long and I decided to just follow the signs as they were and ignore this new stretch of trail.

I had chosen wisely to have followed the signage as I would learn the blocked off trail was part of the new Arklow Mountain Bike Network. While following a vehicle track looked less exciting, the trail was a mostly fun and fast downhill ride before flattening out as it joined onto the main section of the Arklow Network.

Turning onto some single track, I entered familiar territory as the Munda Biddi runs concurrently with the Bibbulmun Track and the Dead Cats Trail. This was a stretch of track Alissa and I walked back in 2016 as part of our sectional Bibbulmun End to End, with all three trails combining to make use of a bridge across Arklow Creek.

After the creek crossing, the trails part ways again, with the Bibb heading more east while the Munda Biddi follows a vehicle track past another delightful car wreck courtesy of the local practitioners of unsolicited public art.

The Munda Biddi passes under the power lines and the newly built trails that form the Arklow Mountain Bike Network. The network wasn't completely open at the time of my ride, but someone already had an objection about one of the trail given they'd spray-painted it over. Compared to the forested Murray Valley Trails Network and the nearby trails at Wellington National Park, Arklow's scenery is a bit less impressive given it is right under the power lines, but it does at least make use of available land. I feel these trails are more geared towards being for the locals than being a state-level attraction, which I think is more the role of the the Murray Valley and Wellington National Park Networks.

After passing the Arklow trailhead, the Munda Biddi crosses over Mornington Rd one last time as part of the recent realignment of the trail. In spite of crossing at a different spot, the Munda Biddi rejoins the Bibbulmun as it heads into Collie State Forest, an area I dislike due to its similarity to the nearby boring Westralia Conservation Park due to the stunted nature of the Jarrah growing in the sandy soils.

Just as quickly as the Munda Biddi joined the Bibbulmun, the two tracks parted ways with the Bibb heading along some single track while the Munda Biddi continued on an old vehicle track.

The riding through Collie State Forest was predictably unexciting, but it at least better than the worst of Westralia Conservation Park. Additionally, it went by far quicker than it does on the Bibbulmun Track, and the overall flatness of the terrain meant it was fairly straightforward and easy going.

The Munda Biddi crosses over the railway line that runs along Colliefields Hwy. The crossing spot is a bit ugly, and one wishes some effort would have gone to tidying up the area given this is very new realignment.

The home stretch into town heads along the pavement just as the Bibbulmun does. The Munda Biddi's stretch along the pavement is however twice as long as the Bibbulmun's, but at the speed of bike passes by very quickly as it brings cyclists to the Collie Visitor Centre.

Until very recently, the Munda Biddi's Collie Spur used to end at the Soldier Park along the banks of the Collie River. While this looks like it may have been more scenic, the new terminus at the Collie Visitor Centre makes a lot more sense given many cyclists heading into town will need to get some info about hotel accomodation from the Visitor Centre, and most hikers/cyclists coming into town tend to stay at the Colliefields which is only a short distance down the road. After initially sending her to Soldier Park and then correcting the error, Alissa was waiting for me and my muddy gear in the car park.

Given that I didn't really rate Harris Dam to Collie as the into to town day of the Bibbulmun Track, I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of scenery on offer heading from Yarri to Collie. The stretch along Zephyr Rd in particular was by far some of the nicest Jarrah forest I've seen along both the Bibbulmun Track and the Munda Biddi, and I was happy that a second pocket of very good quality forest was also located near the Collie Spur junction. Yes, there were some less than stellar moments over the day - particularly closer to town - but the highs of this day greatly outweighed the lows, and I'd go as far as to say it is my favourite day of the track from Mundaring through to Collie.