Tree Top Walk and Ancient Empire (Walpole-Nornalup National Park)

Two short but spectacular loop walks in the the Valley of the Giants, the Tree Top Walk and Ancient Empire Walks are the centrepiece experience of the Walpole Wilderness. Heading along the metal walkway, the Tree Top Walk takes walkers 40 metres above ground level into the forest canopy while the Ancient Empire immerses walkers in the forest understory. An easy and essential experience in the Southern Forests

Distance: 0.95 km (twin loops)

Gradient: A mix of gentle, level walking and moderately steep descents and ascents via switchbacks

Quality of Path: Generally clear and well maintained; the Tree Top Walk is entirely on metal walkways with the Ancient Empire being a sealed path with wooden walkways

Quality of Signage: Clear and easy to follow trailhead with an numerous information panels throughout

Experience Required: No Bushwalking Experience required

Time: <1 Hour

Steps: Tree Top Walk is wheelchair accessible. Ancient Empire Walk features some small steps in a number of locations
Best Time to Visit: All Year

Date Completed: 8th July, 2020

Entry Fee: No
Getting There: The trail starts at the Valley of the Giants car park. From South Coast Hwy, take Valley of the Giants Rd (4.5 km east of the Frankland River bridge). 5 km along Valley of the Giants Rd, continue straight onto Rate Rd then turn left onto the Valley of the Giants access road. Car park is located at the end of the road

In spite of writing up walks and trails since 2015, the Tree Top Walk in Walpole was a walk I'd never gotten around to writing up for the blog. Partly due to being too short to really be called a hike and the fact there is an entry fee, it had been many years since Alissa and I had visited the Tree Top Walk together; definitely in pre-blog days and probably before we were even married! Given I would be passing nearby on the Munda Biddi as part of my sectional End to End, I decided to take the 600 metre side trip up to the Valley of the Giants car park to meet up with Alissa and her brother Ben to go check out the Tree Top and Ancient Empire Walks for the first time in many years. 

With Alissa and Ben at the car park to meet me, I was able to load my bike onto the back of the car and lock it securely, however for those on the Munda Biddi just passing through, there are some dedicated railings for cyclists to secure their bikes to while undertaking the walk. 

After paying our entrance fees, the three of us began the ascent along the walkway's 600 metre loop up into the forest canopy. The overall shape of the walkway is asymmetrical and oddly angular when seen from above, however it obvious that the walkway was designed to pass gracefully through the natural gaps in the forest rather than following a predetermined path that would have required a lot of forest clearing. 

Even at the early stages of the gentle ascent, the forest views are spectacular. The last time I was here would have been before Alissa and I had walked over in the eastern states, Tasmania and New Zealand and while not a 'hike', the scenery along the Tree Top Walk definitely still holds up compared to some of the best scenery we've seen in our adventures. The immense size of the Tingles are simply awe-inspiring, and it only gets more impressive the further into the canopy the walkway gets. 

Something that is not so obvious about Tingles from the ground is how relatively thin their branches are. For a tree that is amongst the widest trees in Australia, it almost feels incongruously narrow, even if they form into a dense and compact crown. 

Approaching the higher lookout points of the Tree Top Walk, you really get a sense of the size of these massive trees, with their limbs branching out from a relatively straight central trunk. 

Even amongst the Tingles, there are some that are truly giants even amongst their own kind. These trees act as visual anchors along the walk, and it is easy to feel humbled by the towering giants.

While the Tingles are the star of the Valley of the Giants area given their relatively narrow and sadly declining endemic distribution, the Tingles share space with the more common Karri of the South West, with a small handful of Karris showing off their impressive height as they tower over even the tallest Tingles. While Tingles are impressive for their girth, the Karri is one of the tallest tree species in the world and can grow up to 30 metres taller than the 60 metre height of a mature Tingle. 

Reaching platform 4 of the Tree Top Walk also means reaching the highest point of the walk. At 40 metres above ground level, the walkway is still a good 20-30 metres below the tallest trees of the forest. 

While the view from the lower platforms is impressive, it is even more spectacular from these higher viewpoints. In a lot of ways, it is an excellent companion piece to the Gloucester Tree in Pemberton while offering quite a different experience of the forest canopy. While the Karris of Gloucester National Park are impressive in their own way, there is something charmingly ancient looking about the often burled, buttressed and multi-limbed Tingles that make them a special part of the Southern Forests.

From the heights of the outermost platforms, the Tree Top Walk gradually makes it way back down to terra firma. Along the mellow descent, the walk passes through a stand of smaller but increasingly dense pockets of Tingle forest that is just as impressive a view as the more open vista higher up in the canopy. 

Reaching its end, the Tree Top Walk drops walkers down to ground level, allowing them to appreciate the buttressed roots of these magnificent giants.

Once done with the Tree Top Walk and exiting through the gift shop, Alissa, Ben and I went out the other door and onto the Ancient Empire Walk. Another short walk at 450 metres, the Ancient Empire Walk provides a contrasting experience that focuses on the Tingle forest's understory. While short, this walk is absolutely essential, and unlike the Tree Top Walk is absolutely free!

Through the Ancient Empire, the trail passes a number of named trees. Tingles have an impressive ability to grow with face-like features, something Alissa and I noticed even as far back as 2015 when walking from Giants to Frankland River on the Bibbulmun Track. The first named tree seen is the Grandma Tingle, so name due to the tree's gnarled and wrinkled appearance. This tree was formerly known as the Gatekeeper before her current name, and is estimated to be 400 years old. 

Given this is a feature tourist trail, the trail construction is as extremely detailed as you'd expect, with plenty of walkways and lookout points throughout. This does unfortunately mean the walk is not wheelchair friendly unlike the Tree Top Walk. 

Of course the most famous feature of the Tingle forest is it's buttressed burnt out bases that are so large that people used to literally park a car under one back in the day before it collapsed. While there aren't any quite as big as that in the Ancient Empire, there are nevertheless impressive examples along the walk including the one that served as a rare Donovan photo appearance along a walk. 

While I never I always feel sad seeing fallen tree in a forest, one of the most incredible sights Alissa and I saw while doing the Bibbulmun Track was a Tingle fallen right across the track and then having to climb over it. While a relatively small Tingle, the Ancient Empire also makes a feature of a fallen tree and even has a lookout right next to it to fully appreciate the tree's fallen grandeur. 

The most impressive tree of the Ancient Empire is the King Tingle, so named due to it majestic appearance and its straight, tall regal stance. Unlike many of the other trees in the forest, the King Tingle does not feature a burnt out base even though some mild char marks indicate that it has survived fires in its long history. 

On the way out, a particularly impressive burnt out tree base provides one of the walk's best photo opportunities given the way its hollow almost seems to be like outstretched arms hugging those within. The best part is that you can literally walk through to the other side as well!

One of the last features we noticed as we were heading out was that a few of the trees are actually wired in place with several metal cables providing tension support. A bizarre feature of Tingles is that while they have such wide bases, their roots are fairly shallow and as such they are quite prone to falling over. Obviously some work has been done to give these trees as much of a chance as possible to survive the occasionally harsh winter weather of the South West's High Rainfall Zone. 

While very short at a combined length of 0.95 kilometres, the Tree Top and Ancient Empire Walks cannot be faulted for the quality of their scenery, with the Tree Top Walk taking walkers 40 metres above ground level into the forest canopy, while the Ancient Empire explores the world below. Given its short length and the fact that the Tree Top Walk section is wheelchair accessible, this is a trail that is open to almost everyone, and is the kind of fascinating big ticket tourist experience that will capture the imagination of adults and children alike.