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Lake Pollard Walk Trail, Yalgorup NP Lake Pollard Walk Trail, Yalgorup NP

  • 1-3 hours
  • 6 km
    • Bush Walk Class 2

      Easy trail with modified or hardened surface, and gentle hills or occasional steps. Clear directional signage. No bushwalking experience required. May be suitable for assisted wheelchair users (if ramps are provided at steps).

The six kilometre, approximately two-hour, Lake Pollard loop trail conveniently begins at the entrance to the Martins Tank campground; about one kilometre from the campground itself. This walk takes in tuart, peppermint and grasstree outcrops, with an opportunity to birdwatch in the hide overlooking Lake Pollard.  Walking in a clockwise direction provides a good view to Lake Pollard while walking.

The trail starts near the Martin's Tank campground
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The parking area for the trail can be located about 6km along Preston Beach Road North, at the entrance to the campground.

The walking track is clearly marked, flat and easy going, and follows a sandy vehicle access track. 

About two kilometres along the track is a sign-posted T-junction directing a right turn towards the bird-hide. You know you’re getting close to the lake when white trunked saltwater paperbark trees replace the tuarts and there’s shell grit along the path.

A small track leads to the wooden bird-hide, which sits on stilts at the edge of the lake.

Leaving the bird-hide is a choice of retracing your steps along the flatter route or continuing on a steeper loop trail that follows a fire break and a private property fence before following Preston Beach Road north back to the parking area

Yalgorup National Park consists of 10 elongated lakes with tuart and peppermint woodlands. It is included in the RAMSAR international wetland agreement, as it is an important area for migratory waterbirds. Lake Clifton contains the largest collection of thrombolites in the southern hemisphere.

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(08) 9538 1108

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Be trail ready for Lake Pollard Walk Trail, Yalgorup NP

Here is everything you need to know before visiting this trail.

Time / Duration

2 hours

Length

6km loop

What To Pack

Group A - Urban Trails (Urban trails or short trails near facilities) required.

Trail Start

Lake Pollard Walk Trail Car Park, about 6km along Preston Beach Road North

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Trail End

Lake Pollard Walk Trail Car Park

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Bush Walk

Class 2

Easy trail with modified or hardened surface, and gentle hills or occasional steps. Clear directional signage. No bushwalking experience required. May be suitable for assisted wheelchair users (if ramps are provided at steps).

Visit Trail Tips for further information.

Facilities

  • Car Park
  • Picnic Area
  • Shaded Area

Best time of year

April to November

Fees

National Park fees

Trail Access

Road 2WD

Prohibited Items

No pets, no fires, no swimming, canoeing, boating, fishing in lakes.

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4 trail goers have rated Lake Pollard Walk Trail, Yalgorup NP as 2.25 out of 5!

We love to hear from people who've been on our Western Australian trails, so it would be most appreciated it if you wanted to leave a review.

Chelle Fisher

Reviewed 31 May 2023, 2:56pm

Completely agree with Steve & Petes review. I absolutely loved the eastern part of the walk through to the bird hide but it went sour from there. Next time I would do a return to/from the bird hide, which is a shame because the views of the lake along the fence line are quite pretty, just a shame the way it has been mapped out. We went anti clockwise and even found the final walk along the road to be poorly planned.
Steve Lofthouse

Reviewed 27 Mar 2023, 8:35pm

The eastern side of the loop takes you through a gorgeous forest of jarrah, tuart & peppermint trees. Lots of bush birds can be seen, including both yellow and scarlet robins.

The western side has a very different feel, through heath and open woodlands following a fire break and road. The firebreak is a bit hilly and rocky, but shouldn't pose any issues for moderate level hikers. This side may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I found it to be a pleasant walk and it provides some variety for those who don't want to retrace the same steps back. If you're doing the full loop, I'd suggest doing this side first while you're fresh, but be aware the directional signage only faces people going counter-clockwise (the trail is pretty obvious though).

The bird hide is well designed but depending on the time of year, you may not see many birds. Still worth a look for bird nerds for the chance to see the likes of hooded plovers and white-fronted chats.

Although great in the day, this trail may be even better at night. The forest section is easy to navigate while dark and I saw over a dozen ringtail possums, several brushtail possums and bats and, best of all, a wambenger! Just watch your step to avoid the many emu poos!
Rheannon Murphy

Reviewed 24 Sep 2022, 2:09pm

Don’t bother.
Peter P

Reviewed 25 Apr 2018, 6:55pm

Ever been to a salad bar, seen a delicious looking concoction of croutons, parmesan and crispy bacon, thought 'I'll have that', and then realised that underneath that thin layer of crunchy goodness it was 3/4 limp soggy lettuce?

This trail was that salad bar, assuming the salad bar is about 2 hours from civilisation, off a major highway and down a spine jolting corrugated road.

First, the good crunchy bits. The first few km towards Lake Pollard are a nice walk, with shady peppermint trees and ample wildlife. The bird spotting platform is worth the detour just to see the lake, even if there is nothing feathered around- the salt flats on display from them are desolate, smelly, but really kind of pretty. At the halfway point, a sharp turn and climb up a limestone hill rewards with stunning views from the apex- to the east, the lake panorama, to the far west, in the far off distance the Indian ocean.

Then it all gets a bit weird. The second half of this track is 2 km along a perfectly straight, rusty barbed wire fence line with a sandy track on one side. Nondescript and pretty much like any fenceline on any farm. This is followed by a right angle turn and another 2km walk along a wide crushed limestone vehicle road, surrounded by nothing in particular. Helpful markers confirm that no, you haven't strayed off the trail, you really are supposed to experience the wonder and beauty of Western Australian bushland by walking along a road for a while- basically, at this point it is not a 'bush-walk' so much as a ' oh-no-my-car-has-run-out-of-petrol-and-I-need-to-walk-along-the-road-until-the-bloke-from-wolf-creek-drives-by-and-offers-me-a-lift-walk.'

So really this is a nice 3km bush trail masquerading as a much less nice 6km trail. My suggestion is walk anti-clockwise, and once you get to the apex of the hill, save yourself the hassle and retrace your steps- it will still be 6km in total, and you'll stay out of the sun and off the roads.

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