Wunanga Trail and Bennett Brook Railway - Whiteman Park

We last walked the Wunanga Trail way back in 2017 and were pleasantly surprised by it's quiet beauty when we walked it again in 2025. Wunanga means ‘quiet’ or ‘peaceful’ in Noongar and this trail certainly lives up to its name. The only noise breaking the peace is the call of birds, occasional muted traffic and every now and again the train whistle as it approaches the level crossings.

The yellow trail is 4.3km long so will take about 1 to 2 hours. As the trail is set in a figure of eight you can do a shorter walk by just completing one loop following the orange (2.1km) trail markers. The trail is mostly flat but is uncompacted soft sand in many places.

The trail starts just behind the Revolutions Transport Museum near the Village Railway Junction Station and heads through the western part of the park. The trail can be accessed from either side of the railway line with clear wooden markers indicating the direction. This trail passes through various woodlands and is completely different to Whiteman Park's other trails - Gooloorto and Werrilyiup - which are wetland walks. Trail notes can be downloaded from the Whiteman Park website or pick up a paper copy at the Visitor Centre in the Village.

The trail passes through banksia woodland with some jarrah and in spring you may find some orchids.

About 35 minutes in we came to where the two trails split with the yellow trail heading into the bush and the orange trail continuing along a wider fire trail. After a short walk through the bush the trails meet up again at a shelter at the Emu Way crossroad where you can see trail markers heading off in every direction. This is the crossover point of the figure 8 trail so whichever way you turn you will come back full circle.

We chose the narrower trail straight across from the hut and delved into a winter-wet dampland containing sedges, paperbark (modong), zamias, and bracken fern. This is not an environment we recalled from our previous experience and it certainly makes this walk worth doing. This is the headwaters of Bennett Brook and in early June it was still relatively dry. Without the trail notes we did not realise we could cross a log over the brook at N on a slight detour. When you rejoin the trail you can turn left and retrace your steps back through the damplands to Emu Way. It is a 10-15 minute walk each way.

As we started to emerge from the damplands we could hear a faint buzzing which is the model aeroplane facility a short distance away. We came out of the damplands at Zamia Station and then took a moment to figure which way to go but turned left following a bitumen pathway for a short distance through sparse vegetation which is known as Santa Maria paddocks. This area was grazed by cattle until the late 1990's. A trail marker directed us on to a wider sandy trail which crossed the railway line and then crossed Bennett Brook bringing us back to Emu Way. This section was not very interesting and we would opt to return through the damplands next time as both options took about 10 minutes to complete.

Rejoining the orange trail we noticed a few pink starflowers amongst the banksias. The trail passes by Kangaroo Flats Station with it's beautiful mosaic mural. You might spot a kangaroo or two as they enjoy grazing this area - judging by the amount of kangaroo droppings!

The trail heads back away from the railway line and winds through the bush back to the starting point. Our timing was perfect as the train came along just before we headed into the trees. This last section of the trail took about 20 minutes so all up we walked both trails in 75 minutes. The extended loop through the damplands took 20 minutes and was the highlight so I would recommend the longer trail.

The best time of year is Winter and Spring when the fungi and wildflowers are out.

After your walk explore the Revolutions Transport Museum open every day from 10am - 4pm. Entry by donation. Or catch a Vintage Train Ride on the Bennett Brook Railway to explore more of the park. For all the things to see and do refer to the link at Whiteman Park.

The Bennett Brook Railway runs weekends and school holidays and over winter you can ride the steam train. Note you will get covered in soot riding at the front of the steam train. The train covers a loop similar to the Wunanga Trail crossing Bennett Brook before passing by Zamia Station, passing Kangaroo Flat Station and then back to the start. The trip takes about 20 minutes. It costs $10 per adult, $5 per child but the ticket is valid all day so you can have multiple trips.

We really enjoyed this walk second time around but wouldn't attempt it in the hotter months.

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for more on Whiteman Park click on https://www.outandaboutfnc.com/post/2019/11/05/whiteman-park

I love wandering along trails, both marked and unmarked, and sharing my discoveries with my Out and About FNC community.  If you enjoy reading my blogs please consider a small donation which will be used towards the costs of keeping the website up to date and relevant.

In the spirit of reconciliation Out and About- Family Nature Connection acknowledges the traditional owners of the Wadjak boodjar (Perth land) and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.