The
Darling Scarp, also referred to as the
Darling Range or
Darling Ranges, is a low
escarpmentAn escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations.-Description and variants:...
running north-south to the east of the
Swan Coastal PlainThe Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geological and biological zone, one of Western Australia's...
and
PerthPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
,
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. It extends generally north of
BindoonBindoon is a town located from Perth city on the Great Northern Highway within the Shire of Chittering.Bindoon is where the majority of training and selection takes place for the Australian Special Air Service Regiment...
, to the south of
PembertonPemberton is a town located in the South West region of Western Australia, named after the early settler Pemberton Walcott. It is the home of the karri tree, the largest tree in Western Australia and the third largest hardwood tree in the world...
, and easterly to include Mount Bakewell near
YorkYork is the oldest inland town in Western Australia, situated 97 km east of Perth in the Avon Valley near Northam, and is the seat of the Shire of York...
and Mount Saddleback near
BoddingtonBoddington is a town and shire in the Peel region of Western Australia, located south-east of Perth. The town sits on the road from Pinjarra to Williams on the Hotham River...
.
History
The feature was first recorded as General Darling Range by
Charles FraserCharles Fraser or Frazer was Colonial Botanist of New South Wales from 1821 to 1831. He collected and catalogued numerous Australian plant species, and participated in a number of exploring expeditions...
, Government Botanist with Captain
James StirlingAdmiral Sir James Stirling RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. His enthusiasm and persistence persuaded the British Government to establish the Swan River Colony and he became the first Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Western Australia...
aboard
HMS SuccessHMS Success was an Atholl-class 28-gun sixth-rate wooden sailing ship notable for exploring Western Australia and the Swan River in 1827 as well as being one of the first ships to arrive at the fledgling Swan River Colony two years later, at which time she ran aground off Carnac Island.- History...
in March 1827.
Maps from the 1830s show the scarp labelled "
General DarlingsGeneral Sir Ralph Darling, GCH was a British colonial Governor and Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831.-Early career:...
Range"; this later became Darling Range, a name by which the formation was still commonly known in the late 20th century, despite common understanding of it being an escarpment. There is also a tendency to identify the locations on or to the east of the scarp as being in the "Perth Hills" (or simply "The Hills").
The earliest traverses by
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
settlerA settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. Settlers are generally people who take up residence on land and cultivate it, as opposed to nomads...
s in the
Swan River ColonyThe Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...
occurred in the 1830s. The best known of these is the expedition of
Ensign Robert DaleLieutenant Robert Dale was the first European explorer to cross the Darling Range in Western Australia.Robert Dale was born in England in October 1812...
, who appears to have gone from a point near
GuildfordGuildford is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located 13 km northeast of the city. Its Local Government Area is the City of Swan.-History:Guildford was established in 1829 on the Swan River, being sited near a permanent fresh water supply...
, to the south side of
GreenmountGreenmount is a locality and a geographical feature in the Shire of Mundaring, Western Australia, on the edge of the Darling Scarp. It is a vital point in the transport routes from the Swan Coastal Plain into the hinterland of Western Australia....
Hill and up through the Helena Valley.
Geology
The Darling Scarp originated as the local expression, in the Perth area, of the extensive
Darling FaultThe Darling Fault is one of the longest and most significant faults in Australia, extending for at least 1500 km in a north–south orientation near the west coast of southern Western Australia. It is a major geological boundary separating the Archaean Yilgarn Craton in the east from the younger...
, a major and ancient geological discontinuity separating the Archaean
Yilgarn CratonThe Yilgarn Craton is a large craton which constitutes the bulk of the Western Australian land mass. It is bounded by a mixture of sedimentary basins and Proterozoic fold and thrust belts...
in the east from the younger Pinjarra Orogen and overlying
PhanerozoicThe Phanerozoic Eon is the current eon in the geologic timescale, and the one during which abundant animal life has existed. It covers roughly 542 million years and goes back to the time when diverse hard-shelled animals first appeared...
Perth BasinThe Perth Basin is a thick sedimentary basin in Western Australia. It lies beneath the Swan Coastal Plain west of the Darling Scarp, representing the western limit of the much older Yilgarn Craton, and extends further west offshore...
to the west. The Darling Fault is exposed for over 1,000 km, from the area east of
Shark BayShark Bay is a World Heritage listed bay in Western Australia. The term may also refer to:* the locality of Shark Bay, now known as Denham* Shark Bay Marine Park* Shark Bay , a shark exhibit at Sea World, Gold Coast, Australia* Shire of Shark Bay...
, to the southern coast of Western Australia east of
AlbanyAlbany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....
. The location of the scarp must once have coincided with the location of the fault, but the scarp has since eroded about 15 kilometres eastwards. The original location of the scarp is indicated in places by an unusual landform known as the
Ridge Hill ShelfThe Ridge Hill Shelf is a landform that forms part of the foothills of the Darling Scarp, a low escarpment that runs parallel with the west coast in southwest Western Australia. It was formed by coastal erosion of the scarp in the Pleistocene, when the sea level was higher, and the scarp located...
.
The Archaean
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
s and
gneissGneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
es of the Yilgarn Craton form the high ground of the Perth Hills and can be observed in road cuts, with good examples in the
Mundaring WeirMundaring Weir is the name of a dam which are located from Perth, Western Australia in the Darling Scarp. It is situated in the Mundaring locality...
area. The only exposed sediments of the Perth Basin, west of the fault, are of
CenozoicThe Cenozoic era is the current and most recent of the three Phanerozoic geological eras and covers the period from 65.5 mya to the present. The era began in the wake of the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous that saw the demise of the last non-avian dinosaurs and...
age, and comprise the material such as sandy
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
,
travertineTravertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, and cream-colored varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot...
and dune sand on which the city of Perth is built, including sand dunes of
PleistoceneThe Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
age formed during the last Ice Age.
This area is also a distinct physiographic section of the larger
Yilgarn BlockThe Yilgarn Craton is a large craton which constitutes the bulk of the Western Australian land mass. It is bounded by a mixture of sedimentary basins and Proterozoic fold and thrust belts...
province, which in turn is part of the larger
West Australian ShieldThe Australian Shield, also called the Western Australian Shield or Western Plateau, occupies more than half of the continent of Australia. It occupies the portion of Australia west of a line running north-south roughly from the eastern shore of Arnhem Land on the Bay or Gulf of Carpentaria to the...
division.
Climate effects
Often the
Bureau of MeteorologyThe Bureau of Meteorology is an Executive Agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together the state meteorological services that existed before then...
identify different weather for 'the hills' in comparison to that of the
Swan Coastal PlainThe Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geological and biological zone, one of Western Australia's...
Also, in traditionally hot summers, strong easterly winds travelling across the scarp have presented serious issues for planes using the
Perth AirportPerth Airport is an Australian domestic and international airport serving Perth, the capital and largest city of Western Australia. The airport itself is located in the suburb of Perth Airport....
because of the alignment of the runways.
A documented accident in 1999 involving wind shear from the scarp is at the Perth Airport article. In addition, orographic uplift is produced when rainclouds move over the hills, giving higher rainfalls in settlements in the ranges compared with their coastal neighbours.
Landuse
The Darling escarpment has been exploited for stone
quarriesMining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
,
forestryForestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
and
bauxiteBauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...
mining. Extensive
timberTimber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
railways and timber mills and the supporting communities existed along the escarpment because of the high quality jarrah forests.
Water supply
In the early twentieth century, most of the main rivers flowing off the escarpment had mainly been utilised for dams for water supply. The dams on the scarp, or slightly inland include:
Mundaring WeirMundaring Weir is the name of a dam which are located from Perth, Western Australia in the Darling Scarp. It is situated in the Mundaring locality...
(on the
Helena RiverThe Helena River is a tributary of the Swan River in Western Australia. The river rises in country east of Mount Dale and moves to the north west to Mundaring Weir, where it is dammed...
), Serpentine Dam and Pipehead (Serpentine River), Wungong Dam, Churchman's Brook Dam, North Dandalup Dam, South Dandalup Dam (on the two Dandalup branches) and the
Canning DamThe Canning Dam and reservoir provide a major fresh water resource for the city of Perth, Western Australia. The dam is situated on the Darling Scarp and is an impoundment of the Canning River. It is noted for its innovative structural and hydraulic design that was considered to be at the forefront...
(on the Canning River). The only free flowing water from the Darling Range in the Peel Region is the Dirk Brook in
KeysbrookKeysbrook is an outer southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale along the South Western Highway. It was first established as a railway siding on the South Western Railway in 1897, and is believed to have been named after Charles Key , who leased...
and the
Murray RiverThe Murray River is a river in the southwest of Western Australia which played a significant part in the expansion of Aboriginal settlement in the area south of Perth after the arrival of British settlers at the Swan River Colony in 1829....
.
The scarp also defines the easternmost limit of the various
aquiferAn aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
s present in the Perth Basin sediments, most notably the Southwest
Yarragadee AquiferThe Yarragadee Aquifer is a significant freshwater aquifer located in the south west of Western Australia and predominantly beneath the Swan Coastal Plain west of the Darling Scarp. It has a north-south range from about Geraldton to the south coast, but with a split in the formation south of Perth...
. The scarp forms a divide between the hypersaline groundwaters typical of the Yilgarn Craton basement from the fresh ground waters of the Perth Basin. Some dams along the scarp are contaminated by seepage of saline water from the granite into the base of the dam's water column and must be periodically flushed to preserve water quality.
Rock quarries
Also in the early to mid-twentieth century numerous rock quarries existed on the edge of the escarpment - visible and affecting both the aesthetics and the environment of the escarpment.
In the area where the
Helena RiverThe Helena River is a tributary of the Swan River in Western Australia. The river rises in country east of Mount Dale and moves to the north west to Mundaring Weir, where it is dammed...
emerges from its valley to the
sandplainThe Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geological and biological zone, one of Western Australia's...
, there are still four quarries evident, despite being unused as quarries for fifty years or more. Mountain and Stathams quarries are now managed as rock climbing locations.
- Bluestone quarry (1850s name), later known as Greenmount Quarry (1850s to 1920s), at Greenmount Hill on the west side of Greenmount National Park
Greenmount National Park is a national park in the locality of Greenmount Western Australia , 22 km east of Perth.It is one of the smaller National Parks along the Darling Scarp and is a component of the Darling Range National Park....
.
- Mountain Quarry (now usually signed as Boya Quarry), south of Greenmount Hill, which ceased operation in 1963.
- Byford brickworks (State Brickworks), shale scar visible from early 20th century to WW2 quarrying.
- Fremantle
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
Harbour Works Quarry (sometimes, C. Y. O'ConnorCharles Yelverton O'Connor CMG was an Irish engineer who is best-known for his work in Australia, especially the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme.-Early life:...
's Mole Reconstruction Quarry, and later known as the Public Works Quarry), now Hudman Road Amphitheatre at edge of DarlingtonDarlington, Western Australia, is a locality in the Shire of Mundaring on the Darling Scarp, dissected by Nyaania Creek and north of the Helena River.- Location :...
- BoyaBoya may refer to:*Boya, Western Australia, locality on the Darling Scarp, in the Shire of Mundaring, Western Australia*Boya, Nepal*Boya people, an ethnic group in Sudan*Boyar caste, Boyar caste of India*Casati Boya, paint manufacturer in Turkey...
localities border, operated from the 1900s to the 1930s.
- Statham's Quarry
Statham's Quarry is the site of a quarry on the Darling Scarp on the southern side of the entrance of the Helena River valley on to the Swan Coastal Plain in Perth, Western Australia...
at Gooseberry HillGooseberry Hill is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the Shire of Kalamunda. It is the site of Gooseberry Hill National Park....
at northern edge of the Kalamunda Zig ZagThe Kalamunda Zig Zag was completed in 1891, as part of the Upper Darling Range Railway line in Western Australia which was built by the Canning Jarrah Timber Company to supply railway sleepers to Perth's growing railway system....
formation.
- Armadale brickworks (State Brickworks), Bedfordale Hill, shale scar visible from 20th century quarrying, with an underground rail bypassing the South Western Highway
South Western Highway is a highway in the South West region of Western Australia connecting Perth's southeast with Walpole. It is a part of the National Highway 1 network for most of its length...
to transport the ore.
There have also been visible quarries on the scarp in the
GosnellsThe City of Gosnells is a Local Government Area in the southeastern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, located northwest of Armadale and about southeast of Perth's central business district...
and
Herne HillHerne Hill is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located in the City of Swan local government area. The area holds several wineries that make the Swan Valley popular for its wine production.- Wineries :Carilley Estate, Highway Wines, Talijancich Wines,...
areas.
Legislative restrictions upon such developments were initiated in the late twentieth century to prevent further visible scars on the western face of the scarp.
Bauxite mining
See also Bauxite mining in AustraliaBauxite mining and aluminium smelting in Australia is a major contributor to world supplies of aluminium.-Companies involved:* Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals* Alumina Limited* BHP Billiton* Queensland Alumina Limited* Rio Tinto Alcan...
In the late twentieth century, the proving of bauxite deposits correlating to the extensive jarrah forests saw wide ranging protests against the proposals to mine the forests.
Campaign to Save Native ForestsThe Campaign to Save Native Forests was the name of a grassroots organisation which grew from a campaign started in Perth, Western Australia, in 1975, as a response to the development of a woodchipping industry in the south-west Jarrah and Karri forests of Western Australia...
was one group to oppose the activity.
The lengthy process of protest forced the government and miners to check their original proposals, and wide ranging processes to guard segments of the jarrah forests from mining ensued.
The current mining activity in the region is extensive - the main mines being Huntly and Willowdale.
Railways
The building and developing of rail access across the scarp developed three separate main routes over a eighty years
- The Eastern Railway first traversed the Darling Scarp in the 1880s along its first route through Greenmount (where three of the above quarries were later able to utilise the railway).
- By the 1890s the second route passed through Swan View Tunnel
The Swan View Tunnel is a 340 m railway tunnel located on the southern side of the Jane Brook valley at Swan View, Western Australia on the edge of the Darling Scarp. Currently inactive, due to its location within the John Forrest National Park, the tunnel and its adjacent landscape exist...
and John Forrest National ParkJohn Forrest National Park is a national park in the Darling Scarp, 24 km east of Perth, Western Australia. It was the first national park in Western Australia and the second in Australia after Royal National Park.- Name :...
.
- In the 1960s the third route utilised easier grades through the Avon Valley
- The Kalamunda Zig Zag
The Kalamunda Zig Zag was completed in 1891, as part of the Upper Darling Range Railway line in Western Australia which was built by the Canning Jarrah Timber Company to supply railway sleepers to Perth's growing railway system....
or Upper Darling Range Railway ran up the southern steep side of the Helena Valley entrance until 1949.
- The Millar
-People:* Alan Millar, former Head of Philosophy at the University of Stirling* Andrew Millar , British publisher and bookseller* Charles Vance Millar , Canadian lawyer and financier* Chris Millar , Scottish footballer....
s timber lines operating south to Yarloop, north through Jarrahdale up to Jarrahglen east of Byford and the Chandler mill.
Perth Suburbs on the Scarp
The localities or suburbs on the 'edge' of the scarp are those that sit at its western edge, and in most cases command excellent views of the
Swan Coastal PlainThe Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geological and biological zone, one of Western Australia's...
:
The suburbs near Midland and Kalamunda are often referred to as the Perth Hills
| Near Midland Midland is a suburb in the Perth, Western Australia metropolitan area, as well as the regional centre for the City of Swan local government area that covers the Swan Valley and parts of the Darling Scarp to the east. It is situated at the intersection of Great Eastern Highway and Great Northern...
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Near Kalamunda-Transport:Kalamunda Road serves as a major access road for Perth Airport, and provides the foothills suburbs with access to the Perth central business district....
|
Near Armadale Armadale is a suburb within the City of Armadale, located on the south-eastern edge of Perth's metropolitan area. The major junction of the South Western and Albany Highways, which connect Perth with the South West and Great Southern regions of Western Australia respectively, is located within the...
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| Stratton Stratton is a mostly residential eastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Swan. Formerly known as Wexcombe, the name Stratton was chosen in 1989 to honour John Peter Stratton, a farmer, businessman and local landowner who was president of the Western Australian...
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Carmel Carmel is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the Shire of Kalamunda.Prior to 1949 it was a stopping place on the Upper Darling Range Railway. The railway siding was originally known as Green's Landing after Perth businessman Levi Green, who had moved into the area in 1844...
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Martin Martin is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Gosnells. It was named in 1974 after a pioneer family of the Gosnells district, and in particular Edward Victor Martin who had served for 37 years on the council....
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| Swan View Swan View is an eastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its Local Government Areas are the City of Swan and the Shire of Mundaring, and it is located from Perth in an area known as the Perth Hills on the edge of the Darling Scarp, just to the west of the John Forrest National Park, east of Roe...
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Gooseberry Hill Gooseberry Hill is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the Shire of Kalamunda. It is the site of Gooseberry Hill National Park....
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RoleystoneRoleystone is an outer southeastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Armadale.-History:Roleystone's name originates from a property purchased by Thomas Buckingham in 1858, upon which he built a sawmill in 1866. The town was also referred to as "The...
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GreenmountGreenmount is a locality and a geographical feature in the Shire of Mundaring, Western Australia, on the edge of the Darling Scarp. It is a vital point in the transport routes from the Swan Coastal Plain into the hinterland of Western Australia....
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Lesmurdie Lesmurdie is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the Shire of Kalamunda.It is viewed as being a rival suburb to the neighbouring suburb of Kalamunda directly to the north. The main access to the suburb from the Swan Coastal Plain is via Welshpool Road, that snakes its way up the...
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Karragullen Karragullen is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Armadale. Its postcode is 6111.Prior to 1949 it was a stopping place on the Upper Darling Range Railway....
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| Darlington Darlington, Western Australia, is a locality in the Shire of Mundaring on the Darling Scarp, dissected by Nyaania Creek and north of the Helena River.- Location :...
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Walliston Walliston is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the Shire of Kalamunda.Prior to 1949 it was a stopping place on the Upper Darling Range Railway. It was named after John and Emma Wallis, the area's first settlers who arrived in the 1880s...
|
Bedfordale Bedfordale is a semi-rural suburb in the south east of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Armadale. Located approximately 40km from Perth in the Darling Range, some of the local attractions include Churchman Brook Dam, Wungong Dam and the Elizabethan Pub. . The area is popular for...
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| Boya Boya is a locality on the Darling Scarp, in the Shire of Mundaring, Western Australia. On the south side of Greenmount Hill, and just west of Darlington....
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Bickley |
JarrahdaleJarrahdale is a small historic town located 50 km south-east of Perth, Western Australia in the Darling Range. Jarrahdale is a descriptive name, derived from its situation in some of Western Australia's best Jarrah forest...
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| Helena Valley Helena Valley is the name of a river valley and a locality in the foothills of the Darling Scarp in Perth, Western Australia. It is located approximately 10 minutes from Midland.-Geology:...
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Pickering BrookPickering Brook is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the Shire of Kalamunda.Prior to 1949 it was a stopping place on the Upper Darling Range Railway....
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Wungong Wungong is a semi-rural south-eastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located midway between Armadale and Byford and under the administration of the City of Armadale....
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Television transmission towers
The suburbs to the south of Kalamunda are the locations of the main Perth Metropolitan television station transmission towers. There is also another site at Mount Lennard near
Collie-External links:*...
that Services the Southwest areas including
BunburyThe port city of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after the State Capital Perth and Mandurah. It is situated south of Perth's central business district...
.
Dieback and fire
Also in the late twentieth century,
diebackPhytophthora cinnamomi is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants called root rot or dieback. The plant pathogen is one of the world's most invasive species and is present in over 70 countries from around the world.- Life cycle and effects on plants :P...
affecting jarrah timber in particular infected large tracts of the forest. Currently only the restriction of vehicle access has proved effective in slowing the spread of this disease. This gained greater acceptance and publicity through the decision to allow
Rally AustraliaRally Australia is an automobile rally event which was held in and around Perth, Western Australia from 1988 until 2006, when that state's tourism commission severed its collaboration with the event. The rally was part of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in 1988 and the World Rally Championship...
to operate along services roads provided that the vehicles had a thorough wash including the under carriage at the end of each stage.
In late 2004, the largest bushfire in the Northern Jarrah Forest for at least 100 years created significant issues for the forest as well. As a result of this fire intensity the Government increased the volume of controlled burns along the entire escarpment to reduce the build up of flammable materials.
In the early 2000s,
Greenmount National ParkGreenmount National Park is a national park in the locality of Greenmount Western Australia , 22 km east of Perth.It is one of the smaller National Parks along the Darling Scarp and is a component of the Darling Range National Park....
and
John Forrest National ParkJohn Forrest National Park is a national park in the Darling Scarp, 24 km east of Perth, Western Australia. It was the first national park in Western Australia and the second in Australia after Royal National Park.- Name :...
have been repeatedly burnt by bushfires - in most cases through suspected arson.
Darling Range Regional Park
A network of reserves of crown lands on the escarpment have been connected into a regional park to maintain and conserve parts of the escarpment.
In most cases the reserves or parks had individual names prior to being incorporated into the larger park, for example the
Serpentine National ParkSerpentine National Park is a national park in Western Australia , located on the Darling Scarp, approximately 50 km southeast of Perth....
,
John Forrest National ParkJohn Forrest National Park is a national park in the Darling Scarp, 24 km east of Perth, Western Australia. It was the first national park in Western Australia and the second in Australia after Royal National Park.- Name :...
and the
Greenmount National ParkGreenmount National Park is a national park in the locality of Greenmount Western Australia , 22 km east of Perth.It is one of the smaller National Parks along the Darling Scarp and is a component of the Darling Range National Park....
, or were simply known as State Forests (e.g. State Forest No.42).
Following a change in 2005, the separate parks have been known as the 'Parks of the Darling Range' - and take up 23,948 hectares on the scarp. Further in August 2008 the parks were given indigenous names
- Beelu National Park
Beelu National Park is a national park east of Perth, Western Australia. Lying south of Mundaring, Western Australia, and west of the Mundaring Weir Road,it is part of the group of parks known as the Parks of the Darling Range...
- Korung National Park
- Midgegoroo National Park (formerly known as Canning National Park )
- Banyowla Regional Park (formerly known as Kelmscott-Martin Regional Park)
- Mundy Regional Park (formerly known as Kalamunda Regional Park)
- Wooroloo Regional Park (formerly known as Chidlow Regional Park)
- Wungong Regional Park
See also
- Eucalyptus laeliae
Eucalyptus laeliae, Darling Range ghost gum is a small to medium sized tree occurring only on the western side of the Darling Range, particularly the western scarp, in Western Australia....
- also known as Darling Range Ghost Gum
- Jarrah Forest
Jarrah Forest is an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia region in Western Australia.-Location and description:The ecoregion stands on the 300m high Yilgarn block inland plateau and includes wooded valleys such as those of Western Australia's Murray River and the Helena River near...
External links