Harewood Forest Walk Trail (Harewood Forest Conservation Area)

 

A short 2.8 kilometre loop in Harewood Forest Conservation Area, the upgraded Harewood Forest Walk explores a stretch of forest along the Scotsdale Brook. Starting on Scotsdale Rd, the trail crosses a bridge and follows a well formed track along the brook, before rising up the hill to explore the higher reaches of the Karri forest. A brief but faultlessly constructed loop, this is a fantastic family and dog friendly forest walk

Distance: 2.8 km (return)
Gradient: Relatively gentle along the brook, with some gentle to moderate ascents/descents as the trail rises up along the hillside
Quality of Path: A mix of purpose built walk trail and some boardwalk
Quality of Signage: Generally well signed, with clear trailhead and information panels along the first few hundred metres
Experience Required: No Bushwalking Experience Required
Time: <1 Hour
Steps: Several steps rising up along the higher sections of the walk
Best Time to Visit: All year
Date(s) Completed: 18th December, 2021
Entry Fee: No
Getting There: The trail starts along Scotsdale Rd. From Denmark, head along Horsley Rd to the roundabout and turn right to head east on Scotsdale Rd. Continue on Scotsdale for 9.2 kilometres. Car park and trailhead are on the right

Back in July 2019, Alissa and I had made use of a free Saturday while down south in Denmark to tackle the 1.2 kilometre Harewood Forest Walk Trail. At the time, my appraisal of the trail was that 'in spite of its extremely meagre length, the Harewood Forest Walk was at least a very enjoyable easy stroll, filled with some nice Karri forest on offer' and that 'while it will hardly be remembered [...] as one of Western Australia's most epic or spectacular hikes, the trail serves its purpose of providing tourists with a short and easy walk with which to engage with the Karri forest'. Not a bad walk, but not the most exciting one either. 

Alissa and I were thus pleasantly surprised and greatly interested when DBCA announced the completion of an extension to the trail that turned the 1.2 kilometre there and back walk into a 2.8 kilometre loop. Given the previously existing trail was only 600 metres of single track that accounts for less than 25% of the new loop, this was virtually a new trail experience. With Alissa and I down in Denmark for a training hike on the Sheila Hill Memorial Trail in preparation for a Christmas Tassie trip (that would later be cancelled due to the Omicron outbreak), some free time on the Saturday gave us the perfect opportunity to check out the new trail. 

From the car park, the trail experience starts out exactly as it did before the extension, with the trail crossing Scotsdale Brook over a metal bridge. This is the 'tadpole' tail of the loop; on the other side of the bridge Alissa and I could see that the trail had been extended to the right, with the older section running to the left. 

Alissa and I were keen to experience the trail in the same direction we had walked it previously, and as such we turned left to tackle the loop in a clockwise direction. This initial part of the walk was basically exactly as it was back in 2019, with lovely, lush Karri forest with its typically dense understory. 

A feature of the old, shorter walk is a series of informative panels talking about the forestry heritage of the area. Alissa and I discovered an old Bicentennial plaque hidden to the side in the car park that suggested the trail was once known as the Denmark Timber Heritage Trail, so these information panels would be very much in keeping with the trail's original purpose. 

Something I had noted with the old walk was that there was series of ad hoc side trails leading to the brook, however we did not notice any this time. It would appear that DBCA have tried to really formalise the trail experience and have done quite a good job at hiding these inviting side trails. These were nice in that they allowed better engagement with the watercourse, but really unless you did it before you would not miss it now that they are no longer there. 

The obvious sign of a trail improvement appeared as we neared the end of the old there and back walk. Previously there was a thin and flimsy looking bit of boardwalk through a short, swampy section that provided a dry boot experience. This has been updated to a much more substantial quality boardwalk that one suspects also allows for better drainage.

The old trail ended at a secluded picnic bench, and at the time there was a sign indicating that walkers should not continue to the brook, and definitely should not consider crossing it and then walking back along Scotsdale Rd given it is a busy tourist route. The ad hoc goat trail has been completely covered up by DBCA, who have again done a commendable job of hiding what was a very tempting extension to the old walk. 

From the bench, the newly built trail commences. Instead of heading towards Scotsdale Brook, the trail heads north to explore more of the Harewood Forest Conservation Area.

While the previous walk was very short, its quality could not be faulted. In this regard the extension fits in seamlessly, given it is the same quality single track surrounded by lovely Karri forest views. 

In fact, while the trail is newly opened, the leaf litter that has fallen gives the impression that this section of trail is as old as the long established original 600 metres. 

While the previous walk had been so easy going it was almost wheelchair accessible, the extension features a lot more elevation gain as it rises up the hillside.

Some sections would have been moderately steep had they gone straight up, and as such DBCA have constructed switchbacks in order to make the ascent more manageably gradual. 

Along the higher sections, the trail construction is really top notch. Alissa commented that it reminded her of some of the high sections through the forest along the Abel Tasman Coast Track in New Zealand, which is high praise given that Abel Tasman is one of the New Zealand's Great Walks. 

The views from these higher sections are breathtakingly beautiful. With the Boranup Forest scarred by fire in late 2021, Alissa and I both felt that this would be a worthy consolation prize view until the forest fully recovers.

Alissa and I had thought the climbing might be over and done with after the excellent forest view, however we were surprised to find the trail continuing to climb through the lush Karri forest.

While the gradients probably already make it unsafe for wheelchairs, the lack of steps early on give the impression that the trail is potentially wheelchair accessible. There is however a significant stepped section just before reaching the trail's high point that render the loop impassable by wheels.

Reaching the top of the loop, the trail continues to provide exceptionally beautiful views of the Karri that dominates the Harewood Forest Conservation Area. 

From the high point of the loop, it is basically a more gradual descent back to the start, with more of the Abel Tasman-like quality trail meandering through the Karri forest. 

The old trail featured a small picnic area just off from the other side of the bridge, and this picnic area is where the new section of trail ends, closing off the loop section of the trail. 

From the picnic area, it is a simple matter of retracing your steps over the metal footbridge to complete the entirety of the new Harewood Forest Walk Trail. 

While Alissa and I had definitely expected the new trail to be an improvement of the old 1.2 kilometre version, I had to admit that I was not prepared for the excellence that we encountered on the impromptu return visit. 2.8 kilometres is still not a particularly lengthy trail, however it is a represents a significant improvement on the meagre 600 metres of trail that existed previously, and is truly of faultlessly good quality throughout even though it removes the previous trail's ad hoc engagement with Scotsdale Brook. 

I hope that this trail serves as a bit of a proof of concept for how to make a great, high quality Karri forest loop and that similarly high standards of construction will be used to make more satisfyingly long walks through the forest in the future. For now, this is at least a major step forward for the Harewood Forest Walk Trail, and one that I would recommend much more thoroughly than its previous incarnation.