| Walpole-Nornalup National Park | |
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IUCN Category II (National Park)
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The Tree Top Walk in the Valley of the Giants |
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| Nearest city | Walpole |
| Area | 19,448 ha (48,060 acres)[1] |
| Established | 1957 |
| Governing body | Department of Environment and Conservation |
| Official website | |
Walpole-Nornalup National Park is a national park in the South West region of Western Australia (Australia), 355 km south of Perth. It is famous for its towering Karri and Tingle trees. Red Tingle trees are unique to the Walpole area.
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The 'Valley of the Giants' is one of the main tourist draws in the area. Those with a head for heights can get a tree top view on the 'Tree Top Walk' a 40 m high walk-way that can accommodate wheelchairs. Most similar canopy walks around the world are constructed using suspension bridge-type structures — not for the faint of heart. The Tree Top Walk, however, is a series of sixty-metre, lightweight steel trusses built on steel pylons to form a secure ramp. Beneath the canopy walk there is a pathway around the Tingle trees for walkers — this is known as the 'Ancient Empire'.
The Tingle tree has evolved to cope with bush fires and can withstand low level fires. The Department of Conservation and Land Management in Western Australia (CALM) carries out fuel reduction backburning in the national park; this limits the risk of a large scale bush fire by reducing the amount of dry leaf litter on the ground. Tingles can look completely burned in the inside but continue to survive as they grow from just under the layer of outside bark.
The park also extends to the coast, providing a range of habitats from forest to coastal heathland featuring swamp paperbark and a red flowering gum which is endemic to the region. Conspicuous Cliff is one of the few places the coast is accessible in the National Park.
The Bibbulmun Track winds through the park to the coast.
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