5 extra special bike trails around Perth

Travel & Touring| WA Things to Do

7 September, 2023 By: Fleur Bainger

Five Perth bike paths that lead to more than just cycling.

What do a haunted tunnel, a boutique winery and a wooden giant have in common? They’re all things you can discover while bike riding along some of Perth’s most scenic trails

RELATED:Family bike rides around Perth »

The five we’ve chosen transform the places you think you know into refreshingly new experiences. These cycle routes and their sights are almost entirely on dedicated, well-maintained trails, so there’s no need to worry about riding alongside traffic.

The Giants trail

Head down Mandurah’s Halls Head Trail and you’ll come across a looming, wooden Giant perched on a hilltop. Santi, as this Giant is known, has his arms held aloft as he calls in the winds blowing across the Indian Ocean, which he faces.

Santi Ikto is part of the Giants outdoor art exhibition around the Peel region, with one Giant also in Subiaco. Created by Danish upcycle artist Thomas Dambo, the Giants are part of a global network of repurposed wooden creatures that act to draw us into nature and remind us of its value.

You can ride the easy, 12km return trail, which welcomes a new paved section, or continue on to another of the giants, Seba. Sticking to the sparkling coastline, and heading for the Dawesville Cut, you’ll arrive at a stone groyne and spot the giant holding a long, thin trumpet. After contemplating its lookout, return to the shared bike and pedestrian path and curl back through Mandurah estuary.

The entire loop runs for about 35km, crosses and runs along some roads, and will take you around 3.5hr. If you’re unsure about doing it alone or making the distance, join a guided e-bike ‘Ride the Giants’ tour with The Bike Kiosk, which has its headquarters beside the Mandurah Visitor Centre along the Mandurah foreshore.

For more on the Halls Head Trail, see visitmandurah.com/hiking-walking-trails

The haunted trail

The 340-metre-long Swan View Tunnel was designed by CY O’Conner and was considered quite an engineering feat at the time. Originally constructed in 1894, over the years it’s developed a reputation for being haunted.

The old train tunnel is one of many highlights along the Perth Hills’ Railway Reserves Heritage Trail, tracing the path of the former Eastern Railway line. The trail, which can be joined at many points as it loops around Swan View, Parkerville, Mundaring and Darlington, measures 41km and takes the average leisure rider 4-5hr to complete in total. But you can also do sections.

Departing the Swan View Railway Heritage Trail Hub carpark, at the corner of Morrison and Swan roads, you soon reach yawning views of the hills, looking back to the city skyline. A side path to the right leads to the otherwise hidden Swan View Tunnel, and invites you to enter.

It’s best to turn on your bike’s headlight so you’re not completely in the dark and ride at a moderate pace so the rubble doesn’t wobble your wheels. As your eyes adjust, you’ll notice what look like recessed doorways in the walls: these are shelter points for anyone that was walking through when an old steam train chuffed along.

The tunnel had other dangers, too. With poor ventilation, noxious smoke would fill the narrow space as the locomotive slowly laboured uphill. It was so bad, train drivers and firemen were overcome by the fumes and heat. A driver died from asphyxiation in 1942 and three years later, a bypass around the tunnel was built.

As the trail cuts further into John Forrest National Park, you’ll first hear, then see the National Park Falls and Hovea Falls, each usually gushing across huge, rounded rocks in winter and spring. Between the two, riders will find the swimming hole, Jane Brook Dam and a series of historic fairy huts constructed in the 1930s in the surrounding native flora garden.

The old-school pubs, Mount Helena Tavern, Parkerville Tavern and Mundaring Hotel are worthy stops, as is a disused quarry. It’s easy to make a day of this one.

Download a trail map at railwayreserves.com.au

The valley trail

Wineries, roadside veggie stalls, picnic possies and more dot the Swan Valley Heritage Trail.

Kicking off from historic Guildford, you can ease into the ride by parking your bike outside any of the treasure-filled antique shops or stickybeak the alluringly quirky Museum of Natural History. Jammed into a lofty building are hundreds of taxidermized creatures, from stingrays to emus and a huge tortoise; if you spot the owner-taxidermist, he’ll provide you with some fascinating insights.

As you pedal away, admire Guildford’s shop facades; the suburb’s place as one of the oldest settlements in Western Australia is clear to see. From there, follow West Swan Road on the shared-use path and choose your adventure. The trail detours off Hamersley Road before returning to the main route, and again at George Street.

The full trail is about 30km return, but you can opt to shorten it, spending anywhere from one to three hours exploring. Cross the Swan River then decide where you want to pause along the way. Some options include Hill Park, Riverbank Estate and the Margaret River Chocolate Company café.

Celebrate reaching the end point by popping into The Naked Fox cafe, picking a treat and spreading a picnic blanket on the shady lawn overlooking grapevines.

For the trail map and more details, search Swan Valley Heritage Cycle Trail at trailswa.com.au

The city kangaroo trail

Where can you see wild kangaroos, admire ‘love locks’ and cycle under one of Perth’s busiest bridges? Right in the heart of the city, by following the Three Bridges Loop.

The easy, mostly flat 11.4km loop route, which takes around 1hr to ride, wraps around the Swan River and crosses Matagarup Bridge, Windan Bridge and the Causeway Bridge. The latter leads you to Heirisson Island, where a group of female kangaroos have been living in the samphire wetlands and grassy plains for many years, all within view of Perth’s cluster of skyscrapers.

If you want to see them, ride around the island’s perimeter with your eyes peeled. The roos are most easily spotted at the start and end of the day, often at the western end of the island. Sunset casts a beautiful glow.

You can start the ride from any point, but perhaps the simplest is from East Perth’s Claisebrook Cove.

The trail circles the cove’s collection of al fresco cafes and passes Trafalgar Bridge – you can cross it to add an extra bridge to the collection. As you dismount for the pedestrian-only river crossing, you’ll notice hundreds of paddlocks engraved with names and sweet nothings.

Just north is Windan Bridge, and the only steep climb you’ll have on this ride. It curls up to the enclosed walking and cycling tunnel that’s cleverly built into the bridge, shielding riders from traffic. The trail’s other bridge, black and white Matagarup Bridge is another point of interest. Its artful form depicts swans – the bird emblem of WA – and the Wagyl, a giant serpent from Noongar Dreaming. Ride across it, watching for people zooming down the 400m-long zip line above.

You can find this trail on alltrails.com

The trail for campers

An hour’s drive east of Perth, beside the community of Chidlow lies the former railway dam known as Lake Leschenaultia. Back in the early 1900s, the waterway was used as the Eastern Railway’s largest source of water and in 1949 it was transformed into a recreation area, with people flocking there to swim.

Between a collection of bike trails, you’ll find a family-friendly bush campsite with in-season fire pits, canoes and stand up paddleboards for hire, a floating pontoon and a café.

There’s an easy, 3km cycling trail that hugs the lake’s perimeter, while a land bridge leads to a spaghetti of approachable MTB trails added in 2019. One of the MTB trails, called the Railway Run, follows the track of an old miniature rail line, and there’s a pump track riddled with steep mounds to zoom on. About half are worthy beginner runs for even the youngest family members, and the remainder are more challenging, intermediate trails.

Collectively, the trails run for 12km, so if you’re camping overnight, you’ve got time to cover the lot. Between rides, there are seasonal attractions aplenty. In spring, the namesake blue leschenaultia wildflower blooms, along with many other native species, leading riders from cluster to cluster. From mid-autumn to mid-spring, the clear skies (and colder nights) open up for stargazing, with few sources of ambient light allowing the Milky Way to shine.

Get more details at mundaring.wa.gov.au