What‘s Parksin a name? Darling of Range the by SamilleThe national and Mitchellregional parks of the Darling Range just east of Perth have been given new names that reflect their Aboriginal heritage. pend a day wandering through the land, their spirits mingling with the significance of their Aboriginal past. Stree-cloaked valleys and rises of the early morning mists that hang in the The parks, plus one other which Darling Range east of Perth and you valleys, their whispers rustling through retained the same name, are collectively may find yourself struck by a feeling the treetops. known as the ‘Parks of the Darling of timelessness. Perhaps it’s the ancient For, while colonists have lived amid Range’. They span 57 kilometres from granite rock outcrops dating back 2,500 this nature-rich area since soon after Wooroloo to Karrikup, encompassing a million years that gives it the feel. Or the settling of the Swan River Colony total area of 23,948 hectares. maybe it’s simply the eternal cycle of in 1829, it is Aboriginal people who are Initially, the parks were given nature, of living and dying, decay and its traditional custodians. In recognition interim names that reflected their renewal. of this long and intimate relationship geographic location. However, since Or maybe, just maybe, it’s an with the area, three regional parks and March 2005 the Department of ethereal presence from the Aboriginal three national parks have been renamed Environment and Conservation (DEC) people who have long roamed this with Aboriginal titles to reflect the has undertaken extensive consultation to decide on new Aboriginal names for the parks. This involved liaising with the Darling Range Community Above A sign near the Kattamorda Advisory Committee, the local Heritage Trail, Beelu National Park. government authorities of Swan, Photo – Andy Ballard Mundaring, Kalamunda, Gosnells and Serpentine-Jarrahdale, Aboriginal Above right Bibbulmun Track in Beelu groups and individuals and Aboriginal National Park. Photo – Michael Pelusey language specialists. After consultation with the Aboriginal elders of the combined Beelu National Park Swan River and Swan Coastal Plain Beelu National Park (pronounced Native Title Claimants and other beel-u) is cradled in the valleys of the traditional owners, a variety of names Darling Scarp, adjacent to Mundaring were selected to reflect Aboriginal Weir Road. It was previously known cultural links to the area. as Mundaring National Park but was The park names were endorsed renamed to recognise the Beelu, or by the Conservation Commission of river people, who once lived here. Western Australia and the then Minister These people lived in an area generally for the Environment, and were formally bounded by the Helena, Swan and ● Parks of the Darling Range accepted by the State Government’s Canning rivers and had winter camps Geographic Names Committee on 30 in the Mundaring and Kalamunda May this year. hills. The name Beelu (or Beeloo) is As a result, the national parks of related to the Nyoongar name for river Mundaring, Canning and Pickering or stream. Brook have become Beelu, Today Beelu National Park features Jacoby Park to the Number 1 Pump Midgegoroo and Korung respectively. recreation sites ranging from the Station along the Goldfields pipeline is In addition, Chidlow Regional Park manicured and well-maintained to particularly popular. has become Wooroloo Regional Park, areas of relative wilderness. The most While in the area, be sure to stop Kalamunda Regional Park has become modified area is Fred Jacoby Park, the at one of the scenic points along Mundy Regional Park and Kelmscott- ideal place for a family day out and Mundaring Weir Road, including Martin Regional Park has become picnic. Fred Jacoby Park features rolling South Ledge, North Ledge, Farrell Banyowla Regional Park. Wungong grassland, exotic trees, picnic facilities Grove, The Dell, Gungin Gully, Regional Park has retained the same and free barbecues. It is also home to Pimelia Mycumbene and Grevillea name. one of the biggest living English oak Mycumbene. The 400-metre-return But what exactly do these names trees in Western Australia. A boardwalk walk from South Ledge to the mean, and what can you experience enables visitors to walk under the Golden View is particularly scenic. within the protected areas? canopy of this 140-year-old heritage- The walk through the bush meets listed giant, while protecting the tree a viewing platform overlooking the The more adventurous can set out Previous page roots from compaction. nearby Mundaring Weir and Lake CY on mountain bike or hiking trails from Main Misty forest near Helena Valley, You can set out from here on a O’Connor, and affords sweeping views The Dell, while North Ledge and Beelu National Park. section of the Kattamorda Heritage of the surrounding Helena River Valley. Farrell Grove offer tranquil picnic areas Photo – Michael Pelusey Trail, a 27-kilometre journey from It comes complete with interpretive immersed in the bush. The Bibbulmun Left Beelu National Park. Mundaring to Bickley Reservoir. The signage explaining much about the Track and Munda Biddi Mountain Photo – Andy Ballard three-kilometre stretch from Fred history of the area. Bike Trail also snake through the area. 42 LANDSCOPE LANDSCOPE 43 Midgegoroo National Park over a large area of what is now Bike Trail runs through the park on its Midgegoroo National Park southern metropolitan Perth. They long journey from Mundaring to the (pronounced midj-ee-gor-oo), were able to move freely about an even south of the State. which replaces Canning National larger area, presumably due to kinship Just to the north of the national Park, was named after Midgegoroo, a ties with neighbouring groups. park, off Brookton Highway, Nyoongar elder of the Beeliar people The most popular area within the is the Carinyah Mountain Bike at the time of colonial settlement 2,492-hectare Midgegoroo National Loop Trail—a 15.7-kilometre ride in 1829. Midgegoroo played a key Park is Canning Dam, which is managed starting from a terminus located role in Aboriginal resistance to white by the Water Corporation. 4.4 kilometres east along Brookton settlement in the Perth area—a role You can also set out on one of Highway from the Canning Road which eventually led to his execution by several mountain bike trails through the intersection. white settlers in 1833. Midgegooroo’s park and adjacent areas of State forest. Korung National Park family had customary land-usage rights The popular Munda Biddi Mountain Korung National Park (pronounced ko-rung) is the new name for the 6,344- hectare Pickering Brook National Park. The new name recognises Korung, a Nyoongar elder and warrior around the time of colonial settlement. Located around the town sites of Karragullen and Pickering Brook, the park is popular for bush walking. The Munda Biddi Mountain Bike Trail and the Kattamorda Heritage Trail run Above Zig Zag Track, Mundy Regional Park through parts of this park. There are no Photo – Andy Ballard picnic facilities located within the park Right Bibbulmun Track, Mundy Regional but several walk trails run through parts Park. of it, including the Mason and Bird Photo – Michael Pelusey Heritage Trail and the New Victoria Dam Walk. Wooroloo Regional Park Formerly known as Chidlow A railway stopping place named Regional Park, Wooroloo Regional Wooroloo was established in 1897 and Park (pronounced woo-roh-loo) is a government town site of this name named after an Aboriginal word first was declared in 1913. recorded in 1841 when a town site You can explore the park on the to be named Worroloo was surveyed. Helena Pipehead Walk—a one-and- Other spellings of Worrilow and a-half hour loop walk from Helena Warriloo are also recorded, but by Valley Road. You can use this walk to the 1890s the Wooroloo spelling was join Rocky Pool, Schipp Road and commonly used. Strathams Quarry walks. It is believed that the name was The 3,244-hectare regional park derived from the Aboriginal word adjoins Lake Leschenaultia, a popular ‘worrilow’, which referred to certain recreation site managed by the Shire of pools along the Wooroloo Brook. One Mundaring with picnic, barbecue and of the Aboriginal elders consulted camping facilities, shelter, toilets, café, during the park naming process says beaches and grassy lawns. Hiking and Wooroloo is a Nyoongar word for mountain bike trails surround the lake was one of the most important and higher ground in the east for cooking ‘come back again’ or ‘you will return’. and canoe hire is available. successful negotiators for Perth’s and eating. Whadjuk community. The 538-hectare regional park Mundy Regional Park This name is also recognised in features several walking trails. There’s Mundy Regional Park (pronounced Munday Swamp, a wetland located the two-hour West Terrace Loop Above left Midgegoroo National Park. mun-dee) is the new name for against the north-eastern perimeter Walk, which starts in West Terrace, Photo – Brett Dennis/Lochman Kalamunda Regional Park and fence of Perth Airport, south-west of Kalamunda. There’s also the Transparencies commemorates Mundy (or Munday), King Road and west of the Forrestfield Whistlepipe Gully Walk, which takes a leader of the Beelu people at the Left New Victoria Dam Walk, Korung and Kewdale railway yards. The Beelu about an hour and features pretty rock National Park. time of European settlement. During people hunted tortoises in the Munday pools and a gentle stream. You can also Photo – Ann Storrie the early days of settlement, Mundy Swamp area, carrying them to the set out on the two-hour Lewis Road 44 LANDSCOPE LANDSCOPE 45 Left Wungong Brook. Below Wungong Regional Park. Photos – DEC recognised by the naming of Ellis Brook in the Martin area.