Walpole-Nornalup

Walpole-Nornalup National Park is a 18,119-hectare protected area on the south coast of Western Australia near Walpole, protecting a remarkable concentration of ancient trees — karri, tingle, and peppermint — in the world's most biodiverse temperate forest. The park is most famous for the Valley of the Giants, where ancient red tingles (Eucalyptus jacksonii) and yellow tingles — the world's widest girth eucalypts — reach ages of 400+ years and girths exceeding 20 metres. The Tree Top Walk, a steel suspension walkway through the tingle forest canopy at 38 metres, is one of WA's iconic experiences. The park is managed by DBCA.

Walpole-Nornalup is a stronghold for the critically endangered western ringtail possum, with tingle, peppermint, and marri providing critical food trees. Forest red-tailed black-cockatoos are resident, with tingle trees providing nesting hollows. Powerful owls hunt through the tall forest at night. Short-beaked echidnas and western grey kangaroos are common. Tiger snakes inhabit damp creek and gully environments. The park's streams and inlets support marron, black bream, and freshwater turtles. The Giant tingle trees support exceptional epiphyte and invertebrate communities in their hollowed trunks.

Walpole-Nornalup contains the world's largest red tingle (E. jacksonii) trees — up to 75 metres tall and 24 metres girth (circumference) — and yellow tingle (E. guilfoylei). These tingle species are geographically restricted to a tiny area of the south coast. Karri (E. diversicolor) achieves heights of 70+ metres. Peppermint (Agonis flexuosa) woodland borders the coastal inlets. The understorey is diverse — karri oak, native wisteria, ferns, orchids, and sundews. The south coast wetlands support rare sedge and sundew communities.

The park overlies the Leeuwin Block and southern Darling Plateau — Archaean and Proterozoic granites and gneisses. Deeply weathered laterite profiles support the tall forest on moist valley floors. The tingle trees' enormous girth is partly explained by repeated burning over thousands of years, which hollows the base without killing the tree. This hollowing-then-resprouting over centuries creates the cathedral-like trunks.

Cool temperate Mediterranean climate with the highest rainfall in WA (900–1,400 mm annually). Winters are cool and frequently foggy; summers mild. The high-rainfall southern coast and sheltered valley positions sustain the world's tallest eucalyptus forests outside Victoria.

Walpole-Nornalup lies within Bibbulmun Noongar country. Bibbulmun people maintained traditional connections to the tingle and karri forest. The park area was logged for karri and tingle timber from the late nineteenth century. The extraordinary tingle trees survived because their fire-hollowed bases made milling impractical.

Walpole-Nornalup National Park was proclaimed in 1969 and has been progressively expanded. The Tree Top Walk opened in 1996 and has attracted millions of visitors. The Valley of the Giants ancient empire boardwalk at ground level provides access to the tingle giants.

Tree Top Walk — a 600-metre suspended walkway through the karri canopy at up to 38 metres height. Ancient Empire Walk — a 450-metre boardwalk through the Valley of the Giants at ground level, circling ancient tingle trees. Bibbulmun Track passes through the park. Peaceful Bay and Mandalay Beach on the Southern Ocean coast. Coalmine Beach on Nornalup Inlet for swimming and kayaking.

Located 120 km from Albany, 470 km from Perth. Walpole township provides accommodation, cafes, and services. Tree Top Walk entry fees apply. The Valley of the Giants is 15 km east of Walpole via the Valley of the Giants Road.

The western ringtail possum's critical status makes Walpole-Nornalup one of WA's most important conservation parks. Fox control programs are ongoing. Climate change-driven reduction in winter rainfall is causing drought stress in karri and tingle trees — early signs of canopy dieback are being monitored. Phytophthora cinnamomi dieback threatens proteaceous understorey. The tingle tree population is naturally small — any significant disturbance (wildfire, disease) could be catastrophic.