Perth’s Best Walking Trails and Hikes

Perth’s Best Walking Trails and Hikes

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Get a leg up with Shauna Upton, who tracks Perth’s ultimate guide to walking trails.

You can put me in the most advanced technology, the most elaborate studio or give me the hunkiest trainer, and I’d still pick a good long walk over the boutique fitness class almost any day of the week.

On weekends I often set aside hours for going on big, long ‘zen-time’ walks. Fortunately, in Perth, we have great walking weather the vast majority of the time and a whole heap of awesome scenery to go along with it.

Below is my ultimate trail list for Perth, which have become some of my favourite spots around the city. Hopefully one or some of them will become your new favourite spots as well!

Lesmurdie Falls

Lesmurdie Falls is the ultimate place to get away from the city. Just 25 minutes from the Perth CBD, it’s far enough away from the hustle and bustle that once you’re 50 metres down the hiking track you feel as though you are completely surrounded by bush land.

The Falls hike is quite popular so it is really well maintained and as such, a relatively easy hike. The 45-minute return walk starts at the top of the waterfalls and goes along down the side of the hill, eventually taking you down to the base of the falls. In winter they can be flowing pretty nicely, but if you go in summer be prepare for only the smallest trickle, if any water at all.

Scarborough-Trigg heritage trail

My personal favourite and one of the main reasons I moved to Scarborough,

this perfect walking path takes you along the coast and Trigg bushland all the way from Scarborough Beach up to Hillarys Boat Harbour. The round trip is about 16km and will take you about two-and-a-half hours, but the Scarbs to North Beach jetty 10km round trip is another good option if you’re short on time.

The trail has all the facilities you could ask for; regular bathrooms, bins, water fountains and café stops (give Yelo a try!), but they’re not the only perks. The views along this route are absolutely spectacular – starting off with the surfer-laden Trigg beaches, moving along to the numerous little coves up to the always-popular Mettams Pool and North Beach until you hit the boat harbour. My ideal summer afternoon is spent walking along the coast once the sea breeze has come in.

The Bridges

The loop walk between Narrows Bridge and the Causeway along the Swan River foreshore in the Perth CBD/South Perth is a great little walk with an awesome landscape view of Perth City. It looks nothing short of spectacular as the sun starts to set and the city lights come on.

As such, this route is hugely popular for after work walkers, and why wouldn’t it be? It is literally right in the middle of our city and is so easily accessible. The recent opening of Elizabeth Quay means you have the choice of old favourites like the Lucky Shag plus a huge array of places to stop for your mid-way drink. The people watching opportunity is sublime down on the South Perth foreshore to boot. This is one to take any Perth visitors to for sure.

Bold Park

Bold park sits along the coastal plains of Floreat and City Beach right near Perry Lakes. The park is a really good size considering how close it is to the Perth CBD and the city’s main beaches. Each time I’ve been it hasn’t been too crowded either, which adds to the tranquility of these centrally located trails.

This large reserve has a heap of horse riding and hiking trails spread out over more than 400 hectares. My favourite hike is the Zamia trail, a six km round loop that will take you about an hour to finish. There are a few decent hills to get the legs burning and a great view to soak in – out over the city in one direction and the coast in the other. Not a bad one at all to tackle on a Sunday afternoon.

Kent Street Weir

I discovered Kent Street Weir when I was studying at the nearby Curtin University. One for southern-suburb folks, the weir is located just off Albany Highway, near the Westfield Carousel. It’s part of the Canning River Regional Park so it is well signposted and maintain with some great picnic and walking facilities. As well as a café at the main car park there is also an eco-learning centre for the kids.

The walking paths seem to stretch on forever and there are some decent loop tracks as well, so you can walk for as long or short as you like along the banks of the river. The weir it also a very popular spot for launching kayaks and paddleboards so you can give that a go as well post or pre-walk.

Kings Park

No list of Perth walks could be complete without mentioning the infamous Kings Park. The largest inner-city park in the world and one of Perth’s main points of State pride, Kings Park has bush hiking trails for miles that will keep you busy for hours.

The view out over the city and Swan River is breathtaking and the park is popular for a weekend picnic and hike. Parking can be a little difficult and the main grassed areas are crowded on the weekends, but once you get out on those tracks you’ll feel like you’ve got the whole place to yourself. Enjoy getting lost without fear, because eventually you will stumble upon a road or sign to get you back in the right direction.

Photo: @jenuineblogger

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