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

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.

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!

Don’t bother.

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.