Ramble among streams, wildflowers and industrial relics at Clackline, WA.
The township of Clackline is just 80km east of Perth on the Great Eastern Highway. Motorists usually drive straight past since the town is tiny and set back off the highway, and walkers know that Clackline is on the 75km Kep Trail, which runs from Mundaring to Northam. But what most people don’t realise is that this town has four day walks, ranging in length from 1km to 8km return. They all leave from the town and you can walk several of them in one day, mixing and matching to meet your interests.
On a recent visit, we walked three of the trails: the Nanamullen Brook Loop (5km), Clackline Brook Flora Trail (4km) and Lion Loop Walk (1km). Each had its own unique character and together they revealed many aspects of Clackline’s colourful past. To reach the Nanamullen Brook Loop, walk through the pedestrian underpass beneath the highway and follow the red markers along the trail. The path crosses a small brook and meanders through woodland past a railway dam spillway and relics of the original water pipeline, which was opened to take water to the goldfields in 1903.
The track skirts past some houses and then back into woodland, following the route of an old railway line before heading down to a loop around the brook. There are several brook crossings and an impressive array of wildflowers in the spring. The walk ends back where it started, beside the platforms that are all that remains of the old railway station.
Clackline Brook Flora Trail is marked with yellow signs. It goes from the station, initially following the Kep Track and then branching off onto a side path that runs parallel to the Kep Track, with more ups and downs. The path leads to an old brickworks that operated from 1898 to the 1970s. Today, the old kilns and clay handling buildings stand abandoned in the bush, and are a poignant reminder of Clackline’s industrial past.
On the return walk, take the Flora Trail side path, which follows a circuitous route past more remains of the old water pipeline, across the brook and through a short section of the Clackline Flora Reserve. The track eventually leads back to the old railway platforms.
From there you can return to Clackline through the pedestrian underpass and head left along the Lion Loop Walk. The trail passes beneath the old timber Clackline Bridge built in 1934, crosses the brook and comes out at an alternative parking area with toilets. Here you can see the lion that gives the walk its name, sitting atop a quaint memorial built in 1929 to commemorate the centenary of colonisation of Western Australia. There is one further walk, the Warranine Homestead Trail (8km return). All the walks are well signposted.
Walknotes
Nanamullen Brook, Clackline Brook and Lion Loop trails, Clackline, WA
Time/distance: 4-5hr/10km return. Grade: easy
Need to know
Take the Great Eastern Highway 80km east from Perth and turn into the small township of Clackline. Park near the historic railway carriage and pick up a walk trail leaflet from the general store.
Words and photos_Keith Hall