West Terrace Walk

Just beyond this entrance is a carpark (if you drive, park here) and a very large concrete tank.

This is where the West Terrace Walk official begins. The trail is marked by mauve trail markers.

From the concrete tank, it is a leisurely stroll along a wide gravel track through the bushland. There are views over the Swan Coastal Plain.

After about 500m along this path, I meet a junction of tracks. The West Terrace Walks takes a sharp right, downhill.

It was near the junction of the tracks that I spotted a male Splendid Fairywren in full blue plumage chasing a female in the bushes. The Splendid Fairywren is really quick, so I didn't have time to take a picture before it darted deeper into the scrub (check out the Wikipedia page for some information).

Downhill I continue.

At the bottom is a creek with very green and fertile surrounds.

The ground is rather muddy after recent rains.

I leave the low-lying area and head south, up a wide rocky track.

At the top, there are views over the Swan Coastal Plain and the Perth CBD.

The trail takes a left to the east and reaches the dead-end street of Panoramic Terrace. From here it is uphill towards the south-east.

It is steep and a little eroded. If you want to work up a sweat, this is a good part of the track. If the trail is too much, you can take the first left and walk along the contour of the hillside. However, the Kalamunda.wa.gov.au website suggests walking up further to the next trail with the promise of "good views to the coastal plain and the north". I take on the challenge and reach the next trail heading east.

It's good to have a nice flat track after that climb, but I wouldn't really rate the views as they are obscured by trees (I must not have rated them, as I didn't even take a picture).

What goes up, must come down eventually. The trail heads north and downhill.

Spotted some wildflowers in this section. So far, the trail has been rather sparse in wildflowers, compared to the southern sections of the park I have visited recently (the Palm Terrace Walk and Lesmurdie Falls and Whistlepipe Gully and Lewis Road Walks).

I hit the creek again ...

and then another uphill into grasslands.

Soon enough I am back at the junction where I spotted the Splendid Fairywren. That's pretty much it, I continue along the track back to the large concrete tank and finish the West Terrace Walk. It's 9:45 am, so the official West Terrace Walk took me about 1.5 hours to complete. I need to get home though, and because it is a Saturday the public transport options are limited. My best option is to walk along Kalamunda Road to Hawtin Road and take the 296 bus at 10:21 am back to the city.

In conclusion, the West Terrace Walk is a rather short walk, with some steep rocky sections which kept my heart rate up and my lungs out of breath. It's an ok walk, but there is much better in Mundy Regional Park (the Palm Terrace Walk and Lesmurdie Falls and Whistlepipe Gully and Lewis Road Walks). I think the southern and mid sections of the park are much more interesting. For example, there is significantly more wildflower action in the south. The ecology of the park appears different at either end of the park.

Anyway, I now feel like I have conquered Mundy Regional Park after exploring the north. Goodbye and happy trails!