Munda Biddi Trail (WA) - Kwokralup Beela to Walpole

Day 22 of the Munda Biddi Trail, this section takes cyclists between Kwokralup Beela and the town of Walpole. Leaving Yirra Kartta through a mix of forest types, the Munda Biddi then heads along North Walpole Rd to the art display on the Swarbrick Art Loop, before following back roads towards Walpole. A somewhat average day of the trail, with some highlights thanks to Swarbrick and the lovely Karri forest

Distance: 30 km (one way)

Gradient: Mostly gentle with some moderate climbs and descents

Quality of Path: Mix of vehicle tracks, single track and roads

Quality of Signage: Mostly well signed at all trail junctions

Experience Required: Mountain Biking experience recommended

Time: 3-4 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 July, 2020
Entry Fee: No
Getting There: No direct access to Kwokralup Beela. Walpole trailhead is located outside of the Walpole Visitor Centre on the north side of South Western Highway

 

Alissa and I were glad to be tucked away into the corner of Kwokralup Beela's annex as it rained really heavily overnight. While it had lowered in intensity by the morning it was still drizzling sporadically as we ate our breakfast and packed up for departure, and would continue to rain off and on over the entire day. 

While none of the huts have direct car access, the distance from the nearest car access point to the hut varies from hut to hut. Kwokralup Beela is only about 100 metres along flat track from the hut to car access, making it one of the easiest to hike into of the entire trail. 

It is extremely disappointing to see then that DBCA had to install some bollards recently as people have been driving right up to the hut. Given this is so easy to walk into, the combination of laziness and destructiveness exhibited by some car campers is disgusting. The huts are really only there for Munda Biddi users, but if car campers really wanted to stay at the hut, how hard is it to walk in 100 metres? 

After loading the car, Alissa and I parted ways as she drove into Walpole while I took the Munda Biddi into town. Following the winding road from the hut, the trail went through a mix of recently burnt Karri forest and some areas that were at times inundated by the rains over the last few days. 

The first seven kilometres from the hut winds through a mix of different vegetation types, going from tall Karri to Jarrah to more open plains like that pictured above. This would be a pattern that would repeat for most of the way into Walpole. 

After some ups and downs through the moderately undulating landscape, the Munda Biddi turns onto North Walpole Rd for 5 kilometres along the sealed North Walpole Rd.

While the first 1.5 kilometres are downhill, the rest of the riding along North Walpole Rd is entirely uphill. With the amount of rain overnight, the gutter alongside the road was cascading like a flowing creek. 

Road cycling is not really my favourite and with some logging trucks flying past me on wet roads, it was a bit disconcerting.This uphill section was at least made easier by some lovely farmland scenery, even if the skies were extremely grey from the rains. 

Additionally, while far from the best section of the Munda Biddi, there were some nice moments along this stretch of the trail, with these very fancy looking cows making me chuckle as they watched me with great curiosity. 

The rain set in again as the road reached a sharp bend that ascended steeply towards Swarbrick.

Swarbrick is one of the main features of the Walpole Wilderness, and while the area is filled with old growth forest, it is now well known for being home to the 500 metre long Swarbrick Art Loop. An outdoor art gallery, the loop features a series of sculptural works that interpret the natural and cultural heritage of the area. 

The trail's centrepiece is the Wilderness Wall of Perceptions. 39 metres long, the reflective stainless steel wall features quotes related to the forest as well as the dates of political events relating to forest management and wilderness. With the rain on the day of my ride, the wall was a bit less reflective than it usually would be, however it was nevertheless and impressive work that was both aesthetically and conceptually satisfying. 

While the Wilderness Wall is the largest work of the Art Loop, my favourite piece was the sculpture above. The way the holes in the disc frames the view of the landscape mimics an Aboriginal dot painting, and seeing the view change as you walk along gives it a Vermeer-like shimmering quality - something that Aboriginal painting is often noted for. 

A couple of the works are suspended above the trail, including a piece called The Golden Torus which the artist intended to represent the interconnectedness of all things, but also calls to mind a UFO or a Christ-like halo that I'm sure gets a lot of Instagram love.

The other suspended work is a massive feather, which brought to mind the massive leaf sculptures in Bert Nichols Hut along the Overland Track. 

Being only 500 metres, the trail is quite easy to complete and is very much worthwhile. If anything I wished there was more art on display! Leaving the Swarbrick car park, the Munda Biddi follows a short section of linking single track out behind the Art Loop. 

Passing a turn off that blatantly revealed the original purpose of some of these back roads, the Munda Biddi heads downhill through some lovely Karri forest before transitioning to a mix of Karri, Marri and Jarrah. 

Leaving the forest through what looked like some regrowth Karri, the trail skirts the edge of a some farmland. As much as I do actually enjoy the dark brooding greyness of rainy days, it was nice to see the grey skies clear as the Sun finally came out.

The Munda Biddi basically follows back roads all the way from here into Walpole, initially running parallel to the Walpole River. The landscape is through a lot of sandy soils, with less Karri and more of a mix of Jarrah, banksias and grass trees.

It would appear the area to the south of the trail is used for logging as there was a massive cleared area on the side of the trail that looked to have once been home to a timber plantation. With the area cleared, you could see right across to the other side of the valley and the property perched high on the hill - which also appears to be located next to an area that was recently harvested. 

Continuing along the sandy trail, the assortment of stunted trees along the way were actually some of the nicer stunted trees I've seen as they appeared to be mature and with a nice density to them in spite of their more diminutive size. 

The stunted trees dramatically transition to some open plains as Quinn Rd approaches Angove Rd. My only wish through this section was that the trail was sited a bit higher through the area or on single track as the sword grass growing along the road blocked some of the views of the open plains. Mind you, with so much open plains riding in the next few sections, it is unlikely anyone is going to miss the views through here, however the 10 kilometres along Quinn and Angove Rds are hardly the most thrilling sections of the Munda Biddi and thus stand a bit of a developmental opportunity. 

Given the open plains and stunted Jarrah of the area, it was nice that the trail did pop back into a small pocket of Karri as it continued on its way to Walpole. 

More open plains cycling ensued for a bit on an extended run before reentering one more pocket of fairly mature looking stunted Jarrah. 

While pleasant enough, there were not a lot of unique moments to hold onto along Angove Rd and thus the appearance of a small expanse of moss-covered granite served as a bit of a highlight in a section that otherwise felt like it was getting me from point A to point B without necessarily being exceptional in its own right. 

Finally off Angove Rd, the Munda Biddi turns along the sodden powerline road to cut the corner towards Walpole. 

Emerging out of the forest and hitting the bitumen, the Munda Biddi joins onto South Coast Hwy just before the bridge over the Walpole River. 

Being a busy highway, I was quite cautious about making my way across the bridge however with a fairly clear view up and down the road I was able to ascertain I had enough of a lull in traffic to take a photo of the Walpole River, which I found to be rather lovely and idyllic. 

The Munda Biddi enters town via the newer Boronia Ridge estate which is separated from the main town of Walpole by a small bay. 

Reaching the end of Sheoak St, the Munda Biddi turns onto so access trail that then joins onto the Bibbulmun Track as the two trail cross a series of bridges through a swampy section of paperbark-lined creeks. 

The last time I was here was when Alissa and I did the walk in along the Bibbulmun Track from Long Point via Mt Clare in April 2017. Water levels were much lower at the time and the area looked so much more impressive after some Winter rains. 

Emerging out of the swamp and crossing the highway again, it is a short cycle through Pioneer Park to Walpole's Visitor Centre, which still actually features a sign that refers to it as a Tourist Bureau. As someone who spent a lot of holidays Down South in the 1990s, the term 'tourist bureau' brings back a lot of fond memories. It makes me wonder why the name was changed as it has a certain quaint charm about it. Just around the corner was the Munda Biddi's trailhead, with Alissa waiting for me nearby. 

With Yirra Kartta to Kwokralup Beela being excellent after a relatively uneventful day from Northcliffe to Yirra Kartta (which in turn was after an excellent day from Pemberton to Northcliffe), the pattern continued with Kwokralup Beela to Walpole. While it definitely had highlights (including the excellent Swarbrick Art Loop and some nice Karri forest), there were also some fairly tedious and repetitive sections that were pleasant enough but not exactly mind-blowing. Nevertheless, riding into Wapole felt like a lot more of an achievement knowing I'd cycled the entire map section continuously day after day - the only such section I'd complete in this fashion. At the time, the stretch from Pemberton through to Walpole was a disconnected from my riding closer to Perth, and with two more days of cycling ahead of me I was looking forward to finally continuing to tick off more days through to Denmark.