Little Mt Lindesay (Mt Lindesay National Park)

A short but spectacularly rugged walk, this two kilometre return journey takes walkers to the summit of Little Mt Lindesay - the granite-dominated lower peak of Mt Lindesay. Initially on an old vehicle track, the trail ends at the summit which then provides a host of rock climbing, bouldering and scrambling options. With spectacular views from the summit across the national park, this is a hidden gem of the Denmark area

Distance: 2 km (return)

Gradient: A mix of gentle, level walking and unmarked granite scrambling

Quality of Path: Generally clear and well maintained to the summit, then natural granite surfaces

Quality of Signage: This is an unmarked trail; signage is minimal

Experience Required: Bushwalking Experience Required, particularly scrambling experience

Time: Allow 2 Hours for exploration

Steps: Many; this is not wheelchair accessible
Best Time to Visit: All Year

Date Completed: 24th January, 2021

Entry Fee: No
Getting There: From Denmark-Mount Barker Rd, head west onto Nutcracker Rd for 4 kilometres, then turn right onto Stan Rd and continue for 3kilometres. Car park is located on the east side of the road with the trail starting on the other side of the road. Satellite imagery suggests this area can be inundated during Winter/early Spring so may only be driveable by high clearance 4WD

Back in 2016, Alissa and I completed the underrated walk to the summit of Mt Lindesay. While an enjoyable walk that should be far more well known than it is, it did leave me slightly disappointed. I had seen a video on Youtube titled 'Sunrise Aerial Footage at Mount Lindesay Denmark Western Australia' that depicted a far rockier and more rugged summit to the mountain. Reviewing the video more carefully, I realised in its description that it referred to a 'Little Mount Lindesay', which we would later realise is a second, lesser known peak. 

For years, the trail was something that was in the back of my mind as something to go explore with my brother-in-law Ben, especially once we discovered it is more well visited as a rock climbing location. With Ben moving to the US for postgraduate studies, our window of opportunity to go out and tackle the trail was beginning to seriously narrow. Given that the two of us were down in Denmark for the weekend before Australia Day and with comfortable weather conditions forecast, it was the perfect time to finally go and tackle Little Mt Lindesay.

Getting to the 'trailhead' is a bit of a mission. Little Mt Lindesay is not a publicised trail and is accessed off Denbarker Rd. Identifying the start point, Ben and I headed along the unsealed roads to the start point which features a small car park. Heading along the unmarked path, the walk reminded me of the Dry Canyon in Wollemi National Park which features a similarly short, unmarked trail leading to a rugged area for rock climbing and scrambling. 

The walk to Little Mt Lindesay is only about a kilometre, and while almost entirely uphill, the gentle gradient makes the approach to the granite summit very easy. 

As with the journey to the summit of big Mt Lindesay, the trail passes over some smaller granite features along the way, and in fact Google Maps reveals the entire Mt Lindesay area to be a wonderland of granite formations. 

750 metres into the walk, Ben and I reached a trail junction. The trail to the left continues to Little Mt Lindesay while the trail to the right is marked with a Walking Risk Area sign. This sign indicates that the trail beyond is the unmarked Ridge Trail that links Little Mt Lindesay to Mt Lindesay across the ridge, and given it is unmarked it is described as being on suitable for experienced hikers only. The trail looks to basically be entirely on an old vehicle track which makes me question how exciting a walk it will be, but it definitely warrants further investigation in the future. 

A further 50 metres down the trail, Ben and I emerged out of the Jarrah forest and had our first glimpse of the granite dominated scenery of Little Mt Lindesay's Summit. 

Anyone who has visited Mt Lindesay will know that the area is basically a bit of a botanical island, and when Mark Pybus of Life of Py visited in 2020 he was so taken by the wildflowers he was late to meet me in Albany for my ride in to complete the Munda Biddi Trail. Little Mt Lindesay is also an of significant botanical importance, and it is essential that all visitors use the boot cleaning station given the Dieback free status of the summit. 

After the boot cleaning station, the trail is almost entirely on granite. While unmarked, it is often fairly obvious where walkers have to go as there is a clear line of bare granite for most of the way. That is, until there isn't, with the trail appearing to disappear at one point. 

While it is tempting to just bush bash, Ben and I looked around for a second and were able to identify an obvious pad to our right that made its way through a section of vegetation. 

This was definitely the right way to go, as we were able to continue to follow a clear pad to the summit area.

Clearing the vegetation and standing on a large expanse of granite, Ben and I took in the views of the surrounding landscape. From here, the Jarrah forests of Mt Lindesay National Park seem to extend out forever, and it was interesting to see a handful of smaller granite formations rising out of the forest and suggesting a lot more interesting exploration deep within the untracked sections of the Walpole Wilderness. 

Leaving the lookout point behind, Ben and I were excited as the distinctively rocky summit of Little Mt Lindesay came into view.

What information I could find online about Little Mt Lindesay came from the Climbers Association of Western Australia, with this area being known as the Windchannel Wall - an apt name given there is an obvious wind blowing through the area. It should be noted that Little Mt Lindesay is primarily a rock climbing area, and while there are some easy scrambling options for experienced bushwalkers, the more challenging climbs should really only be undertaken by experienced rock climbers and boulderers, and definitely should not be attempted in wet weather. 

Ben is an experienced rock climber which was the main reason he was keen to come out this way, and he attempted to climb up the rock face in front of us. With a lack of hand holds and no rope or a bouldering mat, he wasn't so confident climbing up the way pictured above, and there was a much easier option near where I was standing that we ended up using. 

Crossing a gully up a precariously placed wooden beam, Ben and I made our way up the steep granite slope. Given it was not wet, it was one of those straightforward scrambling problems that is easy enough to climb up, though with a steepness that is a bit more unnerving climbing down from. 

While the rock was nice and dry, there were a couple of ephemeral gnammas still filled with water from recent rains. 

Once at the top of the rock, Ben and I were finally able to take in the view of the surrounding landscape, including some of the lower granite formations along the way to Mt Lindesay and the farmland that lies beyond Mt Lindesay National Park. 

Most impressive however were the jumble of boulders that make up the bouldering area of Little Mt Lindesay. This is what I had been expecting at the summit of big Mt Lindesay that led to me feeling a bit disappointed by the otherwise excellent summit views. Given how spectacular the granite formations of Little Mt Lindesay's summit are area, Ben and I were very impressed - particularly given the meagre kilometres it took for us to walk to base of the summit. 

After working our way back down the somewhat awkward descent, Ben decided he wanted to see if he could get to the bouldering section by climbing up Windchannel Wall, which while along a very narrow shelf did look at least possible. 

Nearing the top, Ben had to crawl along the shelf as there was not enough space for him to stand or enough hand holds to make it safe to hold on without a rope. Squeezing his way along, he managed to get into the narrow gully between the rock and onto the next section. Since I was not going this same way, I made my way around the eastern side of the summit towards the bouldering section. Ben would later realise this was a bit of a dead end/more challenging than it is worth to get to the bouldering section, so he ended up having to climb back down the shelf. This he said was way more difficult and unnerving than going up, and thus is not something we would recommend unless you're a skilled and experienced rock climber.

The way around the eastern side of the summit is very easy by comparison, and it is just a matter of picking your way across the granite formations without putting your foot blindly in potentially snake-inhabited grassy sections - and of course avoiding standing on the moss as much as possible. The bouldering area is hard to miss thanks to a seemingly precariously balanced granite boulder that looks a lot like one in the White Horse Hills on the Bibbulmun Track and on the Nancy Peak Circuit in Porongurup National Park. The area to the left is the bouldering area. 

Heading along the gully between the bouldering area and the precariously placed granite boulder, I was calling out for Ben and had no reply. This got me pretty nervous as I expected him to be just around the corner so I was relieved when he showed up behind me, having gone around the way I came when he realised the other way was not possible. Back together again, we took in the spectacular views of the surrounding granite-dominate landscape from the gully, before rising up to the granite slab supporting the balancing boulder. 

As you'd expect, the view from here was even better if very windy. From here we could see the other side of Windchannel Wall's formations. In the distance, Mt Lindesay's prominent summit dominated the view, making me realise that Alissa and I had probably seen Little Mt Lindesay from Mt Lindesay but hadn't realised what we were looking at. 

Assessing the bouldering options, Ben and I realised that we really needed bouldering mats to do them safely so decided to give them a miss. Instead, we decided to take the relatively straightforward scramble to the top of the rock following a natural sloping ramp. With heaps of hand holds and grippy granite on offer, it was not too complicated for us to make our way up to the top of the rock. 

The view from the top was entirely worth it, and was easily the most impressive view of our time at the summit area. From here we could see all of the area's major features - the balancing boulder, the other side of the rocks that make up Windchannel Wall, and of course Mt Lindesay's summit in the distance. 

After enjoying the views, Ben and I made our way back down from the granite lookout point and then back towards the car. On the way back, we took a goat track that went in the wrong direction but were able to find the trail after a quick backtrack, and given the unmarked nature of the trail walkers will need to be paying attention as they retrace their steps across the granite formation until they return to the formed track to the car park. 

Considering Little Mt Lindesay has been on my to-do list for five years, I'm glad to say it didn't disappoint. As a result of its short distance from the car park to the summit, Little Mt Lindesay is a walk of high reward for very few kilometres given the impressive choose your own adventure of scrambling and rock climbing that can be had in the summit area, and is a more spectacular granite formation than the true summit of Mt Lindesay itself. While a lot of the summit area is proper rock climbing and bouldering that requires ropes and mats respectively, there are some easy scrambling options for bushwalkers that make the area worthwhile. As noted, while I question how exciting the Ridge Trail will be given it is just an old 4WD track converted to a walk, the experience of Little Mt Lindesay does make me want to come back and explore the area between the two peaks - though hopefully much sooner than the five year gap between doing Mt Lindesay and Little Mt Lindesay.