Stirling Range National Park is a protected area located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, about 337 kilometers (209 miles) southeast of Perth.

There is also a place with the same name that covers parts of the Cranbrook, Gnowangerup, and Plantagenet shires. However, the area of the national park does not exactly match the area of the place with the same name.

Description

The Stirling Ranges (Koikyennuruff or Koi Kyenunu-ruff, meaning "mist moving around the mountains") are a group of mountains and hills that are more than 65 kilometers (40 miles) wide from west to east. They extend from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranbrook eastward past Gnowangerup. Important features include Toolbrunup, Bluff Knoll—the tallest peak in the southwestern region—and a shape known as the Sleeping Princess, which can be seen from the Porongurup Range.

Popular activities in the park include bushwalking, abseiling, and gliding. Camping is allowed only at the Moingup campsite within the park boundaries (a fee is required). Other peaks with trails include Mount Trio, Talyuberlup Peak, and Mount Magog. A popular walk called the Stirling Ridge Walk is typically completed over two days and includes Ellen Peak (the most easterly peak) and Bluff Knoll.

History

The traditional owners of the area are the Mineng and Koreng groups of the Noongar people. These groups have lived in the region for tens of thousands of years. The area was important to Indigenous Australians because the nearby lowlands provided many food sources. Women collected seeds, roots, and fruit, while men hunted kangaroos and other animals.

The first European to see the range was Matthew Flinders in January 1802. He was exploring the southern coast of Australia and named the range Mount Rugged.

Ensign Dale explored the area in 1832 and climbed Toolbrunup.

In 1835, the surveyor John Septimus Roe named the range Stirling Range after James Stirling, the Governor of the Swan River Colony. However, Stirling never visited the area.

Sandalwood cutters created a path through the park around 1848. European settlers arrived in the late 1800s, mainly near Amelup, and farmed much of the surrounding land. In 1881, John Forrest climbed Toolbrunup with Henry Samuel Ranford and placed a cairn at the summit.

In 1908, Jas Hope, the Chief Draftsperson of the Lands and Survey Department, first proposed the park’s boundaries. The proposal was approved by N. J. Moore, who was the Minister of Lands at the time.

The National Park was officially established in 1913. The first park ranger was appointed in 1964.

In 2006, the park was listed as a National Heritage place.

In 2020, a bushfire caused by lightning damaged 40,000 hectares (99,000 acres) of park land.

In August 2022, there was heavy snowfall in the park.

Environment

The area is very important for understanding how life develops and changes over time. It has one of the most diverse plant life in the world. The park is a safe place for many native Australian plants and animals.

Even though the soil is not very rich, the area has over 1,500 types of flowering plants. Of these, 87 are found only in the park.

The park has many types of plants, including banksias, eucalypts, orchids, and verticordias. Ten types of mountain bells (Darwinia spp.) have been found in the park, and only one of these is found outside the Stirling Range. The park has five main types of plant communities. Thicket and mallee-heath are found at higher elevations, while woodlands, wetlands, and salt lake areas are on lower slopes and plains. The critically endangered Stirling Range Wattle (Acacia awestoniana) is found only near the park's northern edge.

BirdLife International has named the park an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it is home to endangered short-billed black cockatoos and western whipbirds, and is visited by endangered long-billed black-cockatoos.

Many native mammals live in the park, including the western pygmy possum and the western grey kangaroo.

Deeper shaded gullies are home to ancient species like land snails, trapdoor spiders, and giant earthworms that have existed for millions of years.