1) Walk map - Shows route and waypoint locations

2) Photo from walk  (also see Photo Galleries)

3) 3D map view

4) Satellite imagery

5) Route profile

6) Walk description

7) Waypoint listing and grid references

[Click on map for full page version]

Wandoo woodland, Lions Lookout walk,

Jan. 2004.

[Click on photo for larger version]

More photos.

Click here

for Google Maps image

of the walk area. -Use zoom bar

for road details.

Step 1: Left Click here

For fly-in to waypoints and route on image of the walk area.

Or Right Click to

 "Save Target/Link As..."  kml file.

Step 2: Left Click here

For fly-in to 3D view

 of the walk area.

Or Right Click to

 "Save Target/Link As..."  kml file.

Hint: For enhanced 3D effect, set 'Elevation Exaggeration'

in Google Earth to "3" (via 'Tools' menu, 'Options' & 'View' tab).

 Route profile

20 kms ESE of Perth. 

7.5 field kms (all on-track).

or 18 km alternative (if walk extended to include Victoria Reservoir-Bickley Brook Walk, Walk #3b).

EASY- MEDIUM   (What does this mean?)

The walk is short but includes  some steep hills (also MEDIUM,  if combined with Victoria Reservoir-Bickley Brook Walk, but then quite long).

NO. GPS is certainly not required for navigation here but waypoints are provided in case you are new to GPS and would like to test your GPS navigation skills, or if you just want to remove any uncertainty at track junctions. 

See Google Map for start point on road map.

(Use zoom ladder for detail. Select 'Hybrid' to add satellite imagery.)

Orrong Road or Albany Hwy to Welshpool Road, then right onto Tonkin Hwy, left into Kelvin Road (about 4 kms down Tonkin Hwy), right into White Street, and left into Hardinge Road.  Follow Hardinge Road to the Start point at the car turning area at the road end (past Hardinge Park and Bickley Reservoir on the left).

Alternative access is from the north at a carpark at 'Lions Lookout' on the south side of Welshpool Road, Lesmurdie, less than 100m after the Crystal Brook Road turnoff and on same side (see waypoint 'WSHPL' on map). Follow the track which branches left off an initial track only about 60m from the carpark entry and then heads initially SW. (Ignore an earlier track on the left which heads about SE.)

North to Welshpool Road, or east to Gilchrist Road, or south back to Hardinge Road (and its extension along Bickley Brook).

/Highlights:

This short walk lies within part of the Pickering Brook National Park and Darling Range Regional Park systems.  It is entirely on existing tracks (most of which are old vehicle tracks for fire access or forestry purposes). It is a combination of two established walk trails, the Lions Lookout Walk and the Bickley Reservoir Walk.  These both explore an area of the Darling Scarp (the western edge of the Darling Range) between Bickley Brook Reservoir in the south and Welshpool Road in the north. The walk includes some large areas of open heathland on the hillsides along the Scarp, with extensive views across the Swan Coastal Plain.  The walk also passes through some pleasant wandoo woodland around the margins of the old, dissected laterite plateau and its jarrah forest.

The route given here doesn't include the actual Lions Lookout adjacent to Welshpool Road in the north, but you can easily also include that (see map and Route Notes).    

Extended walk option : If you'd prefer a longer and more demanding on-track walk (18 kms), then do the Victoria Reservoir-Bickley Brook walk first and if time and energy allows near the end of that walk, it can simply be extended by turning right down a fire control track at waypt '30' (less than 100m east of the Start point) to cross Bickley Brook and link into the Lions Lookout-Bickley Reservoir Walk.

For another walk along the Darling Scarp also see Darling Scarp Walk (Walk # 3d on this site). 

Controlled burns:  A burn was scheduled for Spring 2007 across this walk area.  See DEC's 6-season indicative burn programme.      

Kelmscott 1:50,000 Sheet 2133-4, (CALM/DOLA, 2002)

or Kelmscott 1:50,000 Sheet (WA Forests Dept., 1984)

or Kelmscott 1:25,000 2134-IV, NW sheet (Dept. of Lands & Survey, 1981; Series R811) -available on DVD.

"Swan Valley and Perth Hills Trails Discovery Guide", Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council ('EMRC'). 2005. -This is an excellent compilation of 41 mainly short on-track walks in Shires of Kalamunda and Mundaring and City of Swan. For booklet ph. EMRC on 94242226. 

Also see complimentary "perthtrails" website (launched October 2005) with downloadable maps and notes, including both the Lions Lookout Walk (pp.34-35) and the  Bickley Reservoir Walk (p.34 & 36) which are combined into the walk here with small changes.  Be aware that parts of the 'established' trails in the area are not well marked (despite occasional "Shire of Kalamunda" signs) so it is wise to have  a good walk description with you.

Tracks are shown in green on the map. Locate the large Kattamordo Trail sign less than 100m east of the carpark at the end of Hardinge Road (waypt '31'). The sign is on the left (north) side of the gravelled road and at the corner of the Bickley Camp fence. Follow the foot-track downhill along the fence. The track then veers right to cross Bickley Brook via a wooden bridge (at '33'). Follow the narrow track along slope through heathland (via '34'). There are alternative foot-tracks in a couple of places, but if you head more-or-less east you will very soon meet a wide track (at approx. '35').  Turn left to climb a fairly steep hill (via '36' and '37'). Over the next 500m to the top of the hill  you'll climb 120m.  (By doing the walk in this direction you'll avoid having to walk down a very steep gravelly, slippery section. - It might be steep to climb but you'll hopefully be more stable on your feet going uphill!) From the track junction at the top (at '38') you get views of Perth and to the top of Victoria Dam. Take the track directly ahead, ignoring the other two tracks which veer to the left and to the right. The track descends fairly steeply to cross a stream and on the other side it soon veers sharply to the left (initially west) at '39'. After continuing uphill for about 300m the track veers north.  Follow  a side-track which branches to the left (at 'TN') and heads NW through jarrah forest on the flatter plateau surface.  At '41' the track veers SW and descend to a fairly flat, heath-covered ridge which gives views SE back across Bickley Valley and the Reservoir. The track swings north (at '42') along the Scarp  and provides good views across the Swan Coastal Plain. It then descends steeply to a stream gully and veers NE, starting the climb back up the Scarp. At '44' a side-track heads uphill to the SE. At this point you have an option to initially ignore the side-track and follow the 'main' track north along the Scarp (via 'ALT') to visit Lions Lookout at the Welshpool Road end of the track (at 'WSHPL'), then return to '44' (the return trip adds 1.3 kms to the walk distance). From '44', follow the track fairly steeply uphill, passing through some wandoo woodland before again reaching the almost flat, laterite plateau surface.  After '45', continue approx. eastward on the track and pass Paxwold Girl Guides Camp on the right just before reaching the end of Gilchrist Road (at 'CAMP').  Continue east on Gilchrist Road for about 300m and find an unmarked  footrack which leaves the right hand side of the road (at '47'). -This is not on the 'official' Lions Lookout Trail but is a worthwhile diversion. Follow the track approx. SW to get back to the vehicle track already walked (at waypt '39').  Turn left to follow the track back across the stream gully and back up the hill to the track junction at '38'. Take the track branching sharply off to the right and follow it back down the hill to the stream gully at '50'  (Alternatively you could take an off-track short-cut from near '39' to follow the stream directly to '50' which avoids the 40m climb to '38', but the short-cut passes through some fairly scratchy  heathland.) Follow the track SW down the gully to '51' where there are again views toward the coast.  The track then veers approx. eastward and meets (at '36') the lower section of the steep track that was climbed early in the walk. Turn right to follow the track downhill to cross Bickley Brook and then climb to meet a gravelled extension of Hardinge Road (at '54'). Turn right to follow the road about 150m back to the Start point.