7 new things to do in Dwellingup

By: Monique Ceccato

There are already plenty of reasons to head to Dwellingup, and now you can add these seven to the list, too.

The past few years have seen a flurry of activity in Dwellingup, the small timber and fruit-growing region on the Darling Scarp. New forest trails and mountain bike tracks have been made, much-loved local businesses have made big moves, and a range of new tours have been added to local operators’ rosters to showcase the best of the region.

If you haven’t been to Dwellingup in some time, there are at least seven great reasons to plan your next visit.

1. Visit Redgum Wine Estate

An afternoon sipping wine at a small local producer’s cellar door is an afternoon well spent. You can do just that from Friday to Sunday (Thursdays, too, in cooler months) at the recently rebranded and re-opened Redgum Wine Estate in Teesdale.

Owners Maree Lawson and Ben Funnekotter purchased an existing wine-producing property in 2018 with grand ideas. They have spent the past four years bringing their vision for the vineyard and new Redgum Wine cellar door to life alongside their winemaker, Nathan Schultz. It’s a spacious venue, with a warm and inviting the timber and sandstone interior , cosy enough for a wine tasting in a small group yet large enough to host small weddings and other functions.

Take a seat on the large, covered porch to make the most of the sweeping views over the property’s vines and the Marrinup State Forest, and share a cheese platter with farmhouse paté. Or, take Ben’s 90-minute story-filled vineyard tour with a full wine tasting (six wines), mid-tour snacks, and a cheeseboard finale back at the cellar door.

2. Walk the Dwaarlindjirraap Suspension Bridge

There’s now a quicker and easier way to get from the Baden Powell Campground and Dwaarlindjirraap day-use area to the Murray Valley Mountain Bike Trail. Instead of driving around Lane Poole Reserve to get to the Murray Valley trailhead, campers and day trippers can take a more direct route over the 108m-long Dwaarlindjirraap Suspension Bridge. It crosses the Murray River just downstream from the Baden Powell waterspout and affords prime views of the flowing river to anyone who takes it.

The bridge is accessible to pedestrians and bikers and in time, the epic Munda Biddi cycle trail, running for Mundaring to Albany, will realign to use it, too. It’s all part of the ongoing Dwellingup Adventure Trail plan, which has seen some 60km of single-track mountain biking trails, four major walking trails, and several canoe launching facilities built in and around the Murray, positioning the town as a world-class trail destination.

3. Hike the Nyingarn Bidi Trail

Until recently, the Bibbulmun Track was the only multi-day hike running through Dwellingup. But, with the addition of the 16km looped Nyingarn Bidi Trail to create a full 49.5km walk, there’s now more than one reason to head to the region on a days-long hiking adventure.

Nyingarn Bidi — the Noongar name for ‘the echidna trail’ — begins and ends in the Dwellingup town centre. Along the way, it connects with the Bibbulmun Track and uses two of the trail's established campsites for the overnight components. Each campsite has a few amenities, including a three-sided timber shelter, a pit toilet, a rainwater tank (make sure to boil the water before drinking), and a handful of tent sites.

Like the Bibbulmun, the Nyingarn is marked with small triangular signs featuring the Dreamtime serpent, the Wagyl. The Nyingarn Bidi loop trail uses bright orange instead of yellow to differentiate the two. Follow the markers through jarrah forest and planted pine towards the Swamp Oak Campsite on day one, the shortest but most vertically challenging walk of all the days (12.9km). Day two takes you from Swamp Oak to the Chadora campsite through undulating Sydney Blue Gum plantations. The final day is the flattest and longest at 19.7km and takes you past the Hotham Valley Railway stations at Etmilyn and Holyoake.

Completing the entire class 4 hike takes three days and two nights, and you’ll need a good level of fitness, proper hiking gear, a first aid kit, and navigational skills to get you through. Day walkers can set out from the trailhead in Dwellingup and follow the trail towards Swamp Oak or Chadora as far as it suits.

The Munda Biddi Trail has been realigned for 2.5km along Park Road and over the new Dwaarlindjirraap suspension bridge.

4. Join Dwellingup Adventures’ Pedal ‘n’ Platter Tour

Dwellingup has become somewhat of an epicentre for mountain biking, so it is no surprise that a raft of tours in the region are set up around the sport. The latest tour comes courtesy of Dwellingup Adventures, which, over three hours, takes you both off-road biking and forest picnicking.

After picking up bikes and helmets and going over all the safety basics with the group, the ‘pedal ‘n’ platter’ tour — led by an experienced mountain biker and tour guide — takes off down the mighty Munda Biddi Trail. It’s not an overly technical trail and is considered to be beginner-friendly, though the tour is recommended for people 14 years and up with at least a moderate level of fitness. At the halfway point, sit among the towering jarrah and marri forest for a pre-prepared picnic by Waypoints Cafe before returning to the town centre.

It’s possible to upgrade to an electric assist bike for increased power on the ride.

5. Shop at The Red Shed Vintage

Though The Red Shed Vintage no longer has its eponymous red timber exterior, it’s still very much the same store known and loved by West Australian vintage hunters, just in a brand new location. Since March, the eclectic collection of second-hand goods has been at home right in the heart of the Dwellingup town centre, in the space that was once the local post office.

The colourful, mural-painted entrance on the corner of McLarty and Newton Streets is just a taster of the colourful trinkets and keepsakes you’ll find inside. Rake your eyes over the rainbow-bright collection of coloured glassware on the shelves, take your time flipping through boxes of old vinyl records, or find yourself a quirky ornament to take pride of place on your hallway cabinet. It’s almost impossible to leave empty-handed.

6. Dine on the Hotham Valley Railway’s restaurant train

The Hotham Valley Railway has been around in some way, shape, or form since 1910. Initially a timber haulage line between Holyoake and Dwellingup, the railway became defunct when the timber mill closed in the late 1950s. Some 20 years later, a group of passionate locals rallied to resurrect it as a tourist attraction to share insight into the region's history and the once-busy route. Now, train enthusiasts can take a 95-minute scenic ride through forest and farmland aboard a historic diesel or steam train on any given Saturday throughout the year.

For a truly memorable ride, hop aboard the restored 1919 dining car of the seasonal Etmilyn Restaurant Train. The three-hour journey departs from Dwellingup Station at 7:30 pm every Saturday from April through December and combines history with bush scenery and a five-course roast beef dinner. Start the night with an appetite-whetting bowl of soup as the steam train slowly chugs through flood-lit jarrah forest and end it on a glass of port and some fine cheese.

Note: All bookings must be made in groups of two or four as tables are for groups of four, and they are unable to accommodate special dietary requirements.

7. Hit the Dwellingup mountain bike trails

While the web of ridable trails throughout Dwellingup was officially completed back in 2022, if you haven’t visited the town in the time since, they’ll all be new to you. Around 40km of mountain biking tracks have been cut through the forest in addition to the existing Marrinup and Turner Hill circuits, cementing Dwellingup as one of the top destinations in WA for mountain biking enthusiasts.

Warm up your wheels with a few laps of the Moore St pump track—a circuit of rollers and banked turns ridden with the momentum generated by ‘pumping’ the body up and down—before heading out to one of the trail heads. There are 13 different trails to choose from, each categorised by difficulty as either white, green, or blue. White trails are the easiest rides, green are easy, and blue trails are moderately difficult.

Novices can cut their teeth with a gentle ride on the wide, smooth surface of the town-traversing 3km Mack Trail or a 1.6km cross-country through young jarrah forest on the Emu Run. The more initiated can attempt the tight and traditional cross-country Whistler descent. It’s 1.6km long and peppered with rocks, roots, and other obstacles to spice up the ride. If it’s a longer ride you’re after, attempt the hand-cut and technical 7.7km Marrinup Circuit.