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John Forrest National Park

John Forrest National Park, on the northern edge of The Hills Forest, is one of Australia's oldest conservation areas and Western Australia's first national park.

The area was first established in 1898 as a reserve to conserve its many natural and cultural features.

It became John Forrest National Park in 1947, in honour of the famous WA explorer and statesman. In the early 1900s, visitors came from Perth by rail and alighted from their trains at Hovea Station, a short distance from Hovea Falls, to enjoy a 'day in the bush'. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, sustenance workers built steps, ornamental gardens, walls, footpaths, picnic shelters and swimming areas. The park soon became a sanctuary for city dwellers and remains so for many people today.

Recreation is an important use of John Forrest National Park. It provides magnificent vistas of the Swan coastal plain and contains walk trails through rugged wilderness, along the old railway line or to quiet pools and spectacular waterfalls.

From the main picnic area, follow the old railway track for 750 metres north-east to Hovea Falls, or wander north-west to National Park Falls. Just past the falls is Western Australia's only 'true' railway tunnel. The Swan View Tunnel, built in 1893, is a major feature on the John Forrest Heritage Trail and visitors can walk or cycle through the tunnel.

On the western boundary of the park is the Rocky Pool picnic area, which is set among attractive wandoo and paperbark woodland. Here, after winter rains, you can sit and watch the waters of Jane Brook tumble down a series of small rapids into the pool.

The park is also close to metropolitan schools. With its big expanses of natural forest and woodlands, it makes the perfect place for nature studies. Some of CALM's Go Bush! activities are centred there, and further programs will be offered to encourage awareness of the park's many natural and cultural features.

A common feature of the park is its granite outcrops fringed by heaths. As the soil here becomes shallow, annuals and herbs abound, with sundews, orchids and resurrection plants growing through the moss swards. Bungarra lizards are often visible in the open on these outcrops as well as on roads and tracks, while western bearded dragons often bask on fallen timber and on roads. Honey possums and western pygmy possums inhabit heathlands next to granite surfaces, and mardos are quite common and sometimes visible by day in forested areas. Woodland birds of the park include the 'twenty-eight' parrots and the less common red-capped parrots, rufous and golden whistlers, western spinebills and New Holland honeyeaters.

John Forrest National Park forms an integral and important part of The Hills Forest. A 10-year management plan for the park was released in 1994. The plan aims to increase awareness of the park's conservation, recreation, cultural and historical values, and to develop new facilities and recreation opportunities for visitors.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Where is it?:
28 km east of Perth.

How to get there:
Leave Perth on the Great Eastern Highway. The park lies to the north of the highway and is well signposted. There are three entrances off the highway.

What to do:
Sightseeing, picnicking, bushwalking, photography, mountain biking, horse riding. Some areas have access for the disabled.

• Walktrails lead to features such as Hovea Falls and National Park Falls. A trail continues along the northern side of Jane Brook to Rocky Pool, where the brook can be crossed and the return journey made along the John Forrest Heritage Trail. The falls and creek usually flow from the beginning of winter to about the end of October.
• The Swan View Tunnel

Naming:
Known initially as Greenmount National Park, the name has since changed twice - first to Forrest National Park and finally to John Forrest National Park in 1947. Lord Forrest, one of Western Australia's eminent Statesmen and explorers, was premier between 1890 and 1901.