Electric Bikepacking the Southern Forests

A five day ride, this sectional adventure follows the Munda Biddi from Pemberton to Nannup. Riding through the beautiful Southern Forests, each day sees riders travelling town to town along easily achievable kilometres for an electric mountain bike to undertake while offering riders a warm bed at the end of every night. Finishing with a loop of the Old Timberline and Sidings Rail Trails, this is an excellent introduction to bikepacking for first time riders

Distance: 205 km (one way, with the Old Timberline and Sidings Rail Trail loop at the end)
                Day 1 - Pemberton to Quinninup: 39.67 km

                Day 2 - Quinninup to Manjimup: 44.57 km

                Day 3 - Manjimup to Donnelly River Village: 46.42 km

                Day 4 - Donnelly River Village to Nannup: 37.65 km

                Day 5 - Old Timberline and Sidings Rail Trail: 37 km                  

Gradient: Mostly gentle to moderate with some steep sections

Quality of Path: a mix of single track, rail trail and vehicle tracks

Quality of Signage: Well signed at all trail junctions, though signs are often behind bushes. Informative trailheads in all towns along the way

Experience Required: Mountain Biking or Bushwalking experience recommended

Time: 5 Days of easy riding on an electric mountain bike

Steps: None; this is a mountain bike trail
Best Time to Visit: Mid Autumn - Late Spring
Date(s) Completed: 11th-15th July, 2021

Entry Fee: No
Getting There: The five day ride starts in Pemberton and finishes in Nannup. Pemberton can be reached by heading west off South Western Hwy on Vasse Hwy, while Nannup is reach from South Western Hwy by either Brockman Hwy, Balingup-Nannup Rd or Graphite Rd/Vasse Hwy. TransWA buses run between Pemberton and Nannup though can be at inconvenient times, in which case a car shuffle or a private charter may be required

"It's a waste of money," Alissa said. Or at least, it was what I could infer from her skeptical tone of voice when I suggested now was the right time to buy an electric mountain bike. Ever since I started working from home and we got rid of our second car, I'd been wanting to buy an electric bike as a de facto second car, and after completing the Munda Biddi in 2020 my interest in an electric mountain bike only grew when I thought of the possibilities of completing a fast run End to End of the trail. 

After purchasing a Cube Reaction Hybrid Pro electric mountain bike in March 2021, Alissa's skepticism soon faded and turned into strong enthusiasm as we went out for weekend rides, with her on the electric while I rode along on my non-electric that I completed the Munda Biddi on. Where previously I would spend a lot of the time waiting for Alissa to catch up while she hated the experience, it was a pleasure to be able to ride together at even keel for the flats, while it would be her waiting for me as I struggled to keep up on the ascents. The electric bike was addictive, the only problem was we both wanted to ride it. 

In the week's leading up to the July school holidays and our years in the making plan to tackle the Thorsborne Trail, Alissa and I watched with some concern as the Delta outbreak in Sydney slowly grew. While we were initially optimistic, the situation rapidly spun out of control as Perth was plunged into lockdown just five days from our flight to Queensland, and we tearfully realised we would have to cancel our Thorsborne Trail trip for the third time.

Keen to still at least have a break of some kind, Alissa and I toyed with doing the Cape to Cape Track again after enjoying a weekend training hike in June, however the unusually high rainfall in July made it less inviting. At this point I suggested to Alissa an alternative - Donnybrook to Northcliffe on the Munda Biddi would be a good week of riding, and as an extra enticement could actually be ridden entirely town to town, meaning a nice warm bed even after a rainy day. Scaling it back to a shorter 5 day trip from Pemberton to Nannup on the Munda Biddi (with the addition of the Old Timberline and Sidings loop) due to commitments we had to be back in Perth, Alissa was sold. The only problem was we only had the one electric bike. 

With plenty of cancelled deposits for accomodation, flights and Great Barrier Reef tours refunded, we decided to quickly buy Alissa her own electric mountain bike, and serendipitously a Cube Reaction Hybrid Pro happened to be in stock at 99 Bikes and ready in time for our trip, which would be Alissa's first experience bikepacking.

Starting in the old timber town of Pemberton, Alissa and I first had to deal with the logistics of getting the car to Nannup and then getting back to Pemberton to start the ride. Alissa volunteered to do the drive to Nannup, at which point she would catch the TransWA bus to return to Pemberton. Due to misreading the timetable, Alissa hadn't realised the time listed for departure to Pemberton was actually a PM time, which would have been way too late for us to be starting the ride. Thinking quickly, Alissa called a number of private charter operators and was lucky enough to get a quick response from Nannup transfer service Time Travel Tours and Transport, who immediately jumped into action and got Alissa back to Pemberton only an hour later than we had planned. We would definitely recommend their services to others. 

After riding down to the main strip for a delicious breakfast at the standout cafe Wild at Heart, Alissa and I headed out for our first day of riding. The weather was absolutely perfect; cool but with perfectly clear, sunny skies. Going into the week, we knew that this was our only sunny day of the trip, with heavy rain and a 'twice a year' storm forecast. We were lucky to have this first sunny day however as it meant Alissa could ease into the experience. 

Leaving town via the idyllic Pemberton Pool and heading through the town's mountain bike park, it is a great start to the ride given the beauty of the towering Karri forest. After riding some back roads through farmland, a fun fast descent and a comical fall into a knee deep puddle (my fall instead of Alissa this time), Alissa and were enjoying the scenic ride along East Brook's beautiful forest-lined track. 

A common misconception of electric bikes is that they require no effort, however anyone who has ridden one will attest that they can still be a work out to ride. The real strength of an electric bike is that it allows for better acceleration, that it takes the edge off even the steepest of climbs, and dialling in different settings means riders of mixed ability can ride together. They really has an incredible ability to convert gruelling Type 2 Fun into the Type 1 variety, and unless you change gears too late, these bikes can tackle climbs you would need superhuman strength to achieve on an acoustic bike. 

The trade-off you make for the pedal assist however is an extremely heavy bike, and riding the Karri forest after winter storms almost guarantees you'll need to lift a bike over a fallen forest giant. This is hard enough on a regular bike, but when an electric weighs a good 10 kilos more it can be an arduous challenge.

Leaving East Brook and heading along a rollercoaster of ups and downs, Alissa and I were stopped in our tracks as the path ahead was blocked by a three tree pile up. While hiking and cycling has given me legs of steel, my weak Tyrannosaurus arms are not optimised for these sorts of situations. Luckily Alissa has She-Hulk upper body strength and was able to do the literal heavy lifting. 

There would be more fallen trees, though the rest would be straightforward by comparison. Overall the perfectly sunny weather and beautiful Karri forest made for excellent riding, and I was glad to see Alissa enjoying it as much as I was. With the electric bike allowing us to chew through the trail's many climbs, the day's kilometres were completed in a pretty comfortable three hours, which would be about par for the course. Alissa and I agreed we probably could have ridden twice the kilometres, but with this being Alissa's first bikepacking trip it was a perfectly cruisy way to ease her into the experience and to test out our battery range - which was ample for a roughly 50 kilometre day. 

Quinninup is a tiny settlement surrounded by idyllic Karri forest, and while you could ride through it in less than 5 minutes it's tavern and a couple of short but enjoyable walk trails make it worth a visit. Accomodation options are fairly limited, however the Quinninup Eco Tourist Park's cabins fit the bill; while basic, they provide a bed, power to charge the batteries and a hot shower. Its close proximity to the Quinninup Tavern also mean it is ideally located for an evening walk to dinner and a beer.

After our nice sunny start, the weather took its expected turn for the worse overnight and it was definitely riding in rain jacket weather compared to the first day's t-shirt appropriate conditions. That being said, the somewhat grim forecast and 100% chance of rain did not mean continuously wet conditions; while cyclists should always take severe weather warnings seriously, the old adage is true that if you wait for perfect weather conditions you'll never go outside. The rain would come in fits and starts of sudden heavy downpours, but for the most part Alissa and I missed the worst of the rain. 

Leaving Quinninup, Alissa and I were pleased by the recent realignment heading north. The Munda Biddi Foundation and their Rover Task Force has been working hard to improve the riding experience, and in this instance removed a cruel and unnecessary descent and climb. This is why the Munda Biddi Foundation are great custodians of the trail; while the Munda Biddi is already a fantastic trail, there is also a clear understanding that a trail aspiring to greatness is a work of constant improvement. I'm glad that the bulk of the effort is going into the trail experience and not the campsites (which are already world class anyway). 

After the new realignment there are still some cursedly tough hills through the pine plantation and some unsightly logging scenery closer to Manjimup, however the section along the Warren River and a fun section of cross country single track parallel to Muir Hwy made for memorable highlights. 

Growing up, I always used to consider Manjimup as a town you drove through to get to Pemberton and Karri Valley, however in recent years the towns fortunes have been completely transformed thanks to the culinary black gold of the Perigord Truffle and a concerted effort to transform the town into a vibrant and interesting place to live and visit. Located on the main street of town, Tall Timbers showcases the remarkable produce of the Southern Forest region - which in winter means the kitchen gets to play with locally produced black truffles.

This is one of the great pleasures of holidaying in the Southern Forests over Winter, and Alissa and I enjoyed our meals of a Beef Burger and Marron topped with Truffle accompanied by excellent local Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the region's Picardy Wines. 

Manjimup has a couple of motels and a caravan park as accomodation options, and Alissa and I chose to stay at the Kingsley Motel at the southern end of town thanks to its excellent amenities. While slightly further from the main strip than some other options, Manjimup's Linear Path - a rail trail that runs up and down the town's central spine - provides easy cycle path access for Munda Biddi riders. With the worst of the weather hitting later in the day, the fact the Kingsley Motel has its own in house restaurant was also a godsend as it meant Alissa and I only had a short walk to dinner.

The next day sees the trail leaving Manjimup along the Manjimup to Deanmill Heritage Trail, which follows another rail trail to the small timber town of Deanmill and its quaint cottages before heading along a rollercoaster of ups and downs through Karri forest and farmland to Karta Burnu. The only Munda Biddi campsite along this stretch of the trail, the campsite's prime location perched on a grassy hill in Forester's Wood makes it one of the most striking and idyllic campsite locations along the Munda Biddi, however being only 23 kilometres from Manjimup makes it an easy hut to double through to Donnelly River Village. Given we were keeping to a town to town itinerary, our time at Karta Burnu was limited to a short snack break and water top up before heading out for the next 23 kilometres towards Donnelly River Village.

Previously, I've only visited Karta Burnu heading southbound which meant going up the notorious switchbacks from the Donnelly River. Heading northbound meant it gave Alissa and I a chance to tackle the switchbacks in the opposite direction, and I have to say that on an electric bike going uphill is a superior riding experience to going downhill. Unlike some other switchbacks on the track, these are a bit too tight to travel at full speed and required some careful braking on slippery, muddy corners. The slower pace is well worth it however as the Karri forest views makes up for the tight turns. 

An intriguing feature of the descent is a brief break in the Karri forest as the trail runs through a stand of Spotted Gums. Native to New South Wales, the trees have been naturalised along the stretch and provide a striking contrast to the eucalypts that can be found elsewhere along the trail. 

After crossing the Donnelly River at One Tree Bridge, the Munda Biddi enters what is easily one of my favourite sections of the entire trail, and I was particularly keen to share it with Alissa as I knew the mix of twisting single track along the Karri-lined river would be right up her alley. 

I was correct that this would be one of Alissa's favourite parts of our entire ride, and with fallen trees to navigate we took our time savouring all the beauty that the forest had to offer - including a plethora of fungi, majestic trees and some of the best single track of the Munda Biddi. 

Leaving the Donnelly River, the rail features a number of significant ups and downs, and just before one of these big climbs was the first and only time Alissa would run out of battery. The key to getting range out of an electric bike is good battery management, and for me that means using Eco mode as much as possible while using Tour for the tougher climbs and avoiding the high power settings of eMTB and Turbo. The result is a conservative estimate of 60-75 kilometres of range on dirt tracks depending on whether I use a 400w or 500w battery - more than enough for a day on the trail. Being a less experienced cyclist, Alissa used Tour as her base mode while using eMTB for the more challenging hills. Alissa using a bigger 500w battery compared to my 400w helped balance it out a bit, however we found her range limit four kilometres from Donnelly River Village. Four kilometres of riding without a battery is a short enough distance to limp an electric bike across the finish line, however carrying a spare meant we were able to swap it out for the home stretch. 

Donnelly River Village is arguably one of the most magical places along the Munda Biddi and Bibbulmun Track. An old logging settlement, the town has been preserved and converted into a holiday village, with each of the old cottages providing family-friendly accomodation. Alissa and I have stayed at or visited Donnelly River Village many times now, and it never seems to lose its special charm. 

Other than its throwback charm, part of Donnelly River Village's magic comes from the fact tame emus and kangaroos calmly walk through the town's streets. It is mythological Australiana brought to life and has to be seen to be believed. 

The Donnelly River General Store is well worth a visit for lunch. Given it is the only cafe in town your options are fairly limited, though thankfully the food on offer is top notch with excellent pies and sausage rolls meaning I was able to have a 10 on a Plate (a Sausage Roll and Pie arranged as the number 10) as a celebratory meal.

When I last came through here on the Munda Biddi, Alissa and I booked a cottage for two nights, and when we did the Bibbulmun Track several years back, we stayed in the old school's budget backpacker accomodation. A third option has been added to Donnelly River Village - the Loco Shed's Bedsits. These individual rooms offer a more motel-style option for couples heading through and were a perfect middle ground between sleeping in backpacker style bunk rooms and booking a six person cottage for a minimum two night stay for just the two of us. 

The Bedsit is well appointed, with comfortable chairs for lounging, a dining table, hot shower and a comfortable bed. With no TV in the room and extremely limited internet service, Alissa and I kept ourselves entertained listening to podcasts we'd downloaded, so it is well worth planning ahead if you're looking for night time entertainment while staying in Donnelly River Village. 

After breakfast at the General Store, Alissa and I were back on the trail. While it was our second last day of riding, Nannup was our final destination given our final day would be a circuit ride out and back to town. From Donnelly River Village, the beautiful Karri forest riding continues. For those with the time, there is a short side trip from the main trail to the King Karri - one of five king trees one can see along or near the Munda Biddi.

So much of the riding through here is on fun, twisting single track with a lot of ups and downs. This is the kind of trail an electric mountain bike excels at, as it allows you to speed up the hill with full control, and then enjoy the fast descents with abandon. 

The single track ends at Willow Springs, a campground that Alissa and I had passed previously on the Bibbulmun Track many years ago and I had passed through when I did my Munda Biddi sectional End to End. Since then, the campground has been converted from a car camping area to a campsite for the Warren-Blackwood Stock Route - a 320 kilometre bridle trail. Since I was here last, the shelter had been upgraded with bunk platforms for campers to sleep overnight, in addition to the well appointed horse stabling area. The results look promising, and suggest this will be an excellent and unique Top Trail addition to WA's trail supply. 

With a water tank, toilet and picnic tables, Willow Springs makes a good rest stop for cyclists before continuing along the trail. From here there's a slow but continuous incline for seven kilometres along the rather corrugated Gold Gully Rd before a short reprieve and moderately steep climb onto East Nannup Rd.

I've ridden southbound from Nannup twice, and on both occasions I cursed how horrendous the continuous ascent had been along East Nannup Rd. In the other direction, it was a completely different story; once we finished the first climb on East Nannup Rd, it was basically an effortless, fast roll along the road and was an absolute pleasure of idyllic farmland scenery and Karri forest. Clearing the first few hills and travelling at over 40km/h, the wind chill was starting to get out of hand and I had to put on my rain and windproof shell. Just as well I had; literally seconds after I took the above photo and we started riding again it started bucketing down harder than it had the entire trip, and we were pretty much drenched by the time we got into Nannup. 

Located on the banks of the Blackwood River, Nannup is one of the nicest towns in the South West and is soon to be one of the one of WA's great mountain bike trail towns. Whenever we visit Nannup, Alissa and I stay at the Black Cockatoo Lodge. A small and bespoke accomodation provider, the Black Cockatoo offer a couple of cottages/bungalows as well as some surprisingly comfortable glamping accomodation.

This was our first time staying in the glamping tents and Alissa and I enjoyed what felt like a very fun and novel experience. We'll definitely be staying again. 

Another must do while in Nannup is to visit the Tiny Tea Shop. Patsy sells an incredible range of quality tea, and you have to try a cup of her outstanding chai while you're perusing.

Lunchtime in town offers an excellent selection of cafes like Melo Velo and the excellent pies and sausage rolls of the art deco bakery, however dinner options can be a bit more limited. Thankfully, our arrival in town was well timed as it was pizza night at the Blackwood Cafe which combined with some local wine from the bottle shop made for a nice dinner in bed watching Netflix from a laptop. 

With no need to get packed up to move to the next town, Alissa and I had a nice and lazy start to our day in Nannup, which allowed us to sleep in and check out some of the shops in town. Having had lunch at Melo Velo the previous day, we decided to go for a pie at the bakery before heading out for our final day of riding. Leaving town via the old timber rail bridge, Alissa and I headed out for a circuit ride on the Old Timberline and Sidings Rail Trails. 

The Old Timberline Trail is an interesting rail trail as quite a lot of it is not rail trail at all, and instead is a hybrid between easy rail trail riding an a cross country mountain bike ride. Being able to leave our bikepacking setup behind meant we could be a lot more nimble, which was perfect for the single track ahead of us. 

While consisting primarily of Jarrah forest instead of the taller Karri forest we had been riding through for the last few days, the lushness of the moss-covered trees along St Johns Brook made for scenery that was just as spectacular - particularly given that this was right in the middle of one of the wettest Julys on record. 

A major feature of the Old Timberline Trail is Barrabup Pool - a permanent waterhole along St Johns Brook. With all the rain, Barrabup Pool was almost overflowing, to the point that the main observation deck and access stairs were submerged beneath the water! This was in complete stark contrast to the pool as it looked just two months earlier when I rode this trail for the first time. 

Beyond Barrabup Pool, the trail continues on the other side of the brook and more faithfully stays on a rail form (with a few small diversions). There are a couple of small waterways that cross the track as they feed into St Johns Brook, providing a fun splashdown for riders to speed through in Winter.

The final main feature of the Old Timberline Trail is Sleeper Hewers Hut - a rare example of a genuine four-walls-and-a-door hut in Western Australia. The hut is located in a lovely bend along the brook, and with a water tank and toilet makes for a nice overnight stop for walkers, though the short distance from Nannup means it was far more inviting for Alissa and I to continue along the Old Timberline Trail to then take the Sidings Rail Trail back into Nannup for a perfectly cruisy end to our final day of riding. 

While I knew that Alissa had taken well to electric bike riding, I wasn't sure how she'd find days of riding back to back. While she was definitely tired by the end of our five days, she admitted that she almost enjoyed the experience more than hiking and would definitely like to do more in the future. She even suggested that she 'might as well' complete a sectional End to End of the Munda Biddi, which is a profound change of heart given she had said there was no way she would ever want to do the Munda Biddi when I decided to do it in 2020!

For people new to bikepacking, Pemberton to Nannup (with a victory lap of the Old Timberline and Sidings Rail Trails) is arguably one of the best sections of the Munda Biddi to tackle; the forest scenery is superb, the town to town nature of this section makes it inviting and in general lacks the pea gravel that makes the northern sections of the trail quite dispiriting for newcomers. The state of electric mountain bike technology has also really come into its own right now, allowing the fun of riding an electric bike the distance of an entire day of the Munda Biddi feasible on a single charge. By taking the sting out of the climbs, it is almost guaranteed to bring more people into bikepacking, including people like Alissa who would never have become a bikepacker without one.

While this was a last minute backup plan due to COVID, our Southern Forests bikepacking trip was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and one that has certainly opened the door to a range of possibilities for future trips that Alissa and I will be undertaking in the years to come. Thoroughly recommended.