Nancy Peak Circuit and Devil’s Slide: Porongurup Range, Western Australia

Dec 31

We acknowledge the Minang People as the traditional custodians of the land and waters of the Porongurup Range

expansive view from the top of Devil's slide towards the Stirling Ranges — This extraordinary day walk in the Porongurup National Park has incredible views in every direction. You’ll climb along a spine before crossing a saddle and ascending again to the highest peak for ever more spectacular scenery, from the Stirling Range in the north to the coast in the south. Botanists will also spot many rare and endemic plant species that occur nowhere else. It is one of our favourite hikes in Western Australia.

locality map hike is near south coast of Western Australia — Locality Map: The Porongurups are 35km north of Albany, and the Porongurup Range Tourist Park is conveniently situated to access both the Castle Rock Sky Walk to the east, and the Nancy Peak loop to the west.

Elevation Graph — Elevation gain and loss is 550 metres over 6.9 kilometres, including the spur trail to Devil’s Slide which is 1.2 km return. You’ll pass Tree in the Rock, the spot where the vast majority of hikers turn back. Ignore them: there is more and better to see!
Don’t underestimate the effort required to complete these seemingly short distances: there is a lot of elevation gain and loss, with some rough and rocky sections and potentially slippery rock faces.

In fact, the vast majority of visitors to the park only see the Granite Sky Walk at Castle Rock. While the Granite Sky Walk is fun, it can be very crowded and the views don’t compare to those from either the Nancy Peak loop or Devil’s Slide. We visited the Sky Walk very early, around 8am, before it got too busy, and then drove to the start of the Nancy Peak Circuit.

Completing both walks is manageable even for slower hikers but leisurely hikers, especially those who wish to complete the Devil’s Slide spur trail as well as the loop, may prefer to omit the Sky Walk or complete it on another day. If you plan to do both in one day, hike Castle Rock first, early, then the circuit.

smooth well-worn dirt track through tall trees — The track starts innocuously enough through karri forest with a dense understorey, but begins to climb very soon.

tree growing out from top of rock it looks in poor conditoni — The Tree in the Rock is somewhat underwhelming and it is Not Happy, not one bit. If you want to see it alive, visit soon.

well-crafted rock steps up the natural soil path through forest — Many people dislike steps on hiking trails. We are ambivalent: as long as the entire trail isn’t a staircase, well-built ones have their place in reducing erosion and improving access. These ones are exceptionally well-built, in places incorporating adjacent stone that has been left in place so carefully that it retains all its mosses and lichen; we chat to the masons who are working as we pass. Steps will certainly change the ambience of this hike.

clear path through moss covered rock formed by many footprints — As you climb, you’ll pass moss-covered granite slabs offering marvellous views.

hiker making lunch on granite outcrop with expansive view across plains far below towards Stirling Range in distance — We stop for lunch on one of them; if you haven’t hiked Castle Rock that morning, you’ll likely find Morgan’s View a more timely spot. You can see the Stirling Range in the background, including the famous and distinctive Bluff Knoll. Although we’ll visit that Range tomorrow and stay a few days, we’ll probably choose less busy peaks. But today, only one couple pass us as we’re eating lunch, and we see no-one else.

On day hikes when pack weight isn’t an issue, fresh vegetables (tomato, cucumber, sprouts), cheese and/or salami and crackers make for a practical lunch. There’s even a cutting board from our car camping kit!

Geoff is carrying my new ArcHaul Ultra pack, which has proven to be excellent and a significant improvement on the already outstanding but worn-out nylon ArcHaul it replaced. The precurved stays in this model don’t invert with a full pack as sometimes happened with my previous one. We are also carrying ultralight umbrellas as well as our lightweight raingear.

hiker walking along a clear path over moss covered rock with thick vegetation either side of rock — The flowers are hanging on; it has been a particularly cool start to the season. The park has a rich diversity of plants with more than 700 native and 10 endemic species within its 2,621 hectares.

The Porongurup National Park is also significant at a national scale for endemism in spiders, especially primitive trapdoor spiders (mygalomorphs). These have a Gondwanan distribution: some descendants are restricted in Australia, but are also found in southern Africa, and are relict of Jurassic times when Africa and Australia were joined 140 million years ago. It’s an amazing thought, isn’t it: the same spiders that occur in this one mountain range in Oz are also in a country halfway round the world!