Beelu National Park is a national park east of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, Western Australia. Lying south of

Mundaring, Western Australia Mundaring is a suburb located 34 km east of Perth, Western Australia on the Great Eastern Highway. The suburb is located within the Shire of Mundaring. The Aboriginal name of the area "Mindah-lung", said to mean "a high place on a high p ...

, and west of the

Mundaring Weir Road Mundaring Weir Road (Kalamunda-Mundaring road) is a road in the outer eastern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia that links Mundaring and Kalamunda. Although an earlier rough track existed in a similar route, the Kalamunda-Mundaring road ...

, it is part of the group of parks known as the ''Parks of the Darling Range''. The park was formerly named ''Mundaring National Park''. Mundaring National Park was established and gazetted in 1995 as part of the Protecting Our Old Growth Forests policy of the state government. The park was renamed in 2008 as an acknowledgement of the

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have right ...

of the area. The word ''Beelu'' is derived from the

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

word for river or stream. The Beelu were the original people of the area, whose district was bounded by the Helena, Swan and

Canning River The Canning River (Djarlgarra in Nyungar) is a major tributary of the Swan River in the South West Land Division of Western Australia. It is home to much wildlife including dolphins, pelicans, swans and many other bird species. Source a ...

s. The park contains an abundance of native flora including

jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, djarraly in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with rou ...

, marri, ''

Zamia ''Zamia'' is a genus of cycad of the family Zamiaceae, native to North America from the United States (in Georgia and Florida) throughout the West Indies, Central America, and South America as far south as Bolivia. The genus is considered to be ...

'', bull Banksia,

sheoak The Casuarinaceae are a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants placed in the order Fagales, consisting of four genera and 91 species of trees and shrubs native to eastern Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, and the Pacific ...

and grass tree.

Facilities

The park contains toilets, wood barbecues, picnic tables and a variety of

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

and mountain biking trails. An information centre, the Perth Hills National Parks Centre, is located within the park. A lookout is located at South Ledge, with a view over

Mundaring Weir Mundaring Weir is a dam (and historically the adjoining locality) located from Perth, Western Australia in the Darling Scarp. The dam and reservoir form the boundary between the suburbs of Reservoir and Sawyers Valley. The dam impounds the Hel ...

and Lake CY O'Connor. The largest oak tree in Western Australia is found in Fred Jacoby Park. Two campsites are available for use within the park.

References

* Mitchell, Samille (2008-9) ''What's in a name? Parks of the Darling Range'' ''Landscope'' Volume 24 number 2, pp. 40–46

Gallery

Image:Helena valley gnangarra.jpg, North Ridge across the Helena Valley Image:Beelu National Park Leucopogon.jpg, '' Leucopogon verticillatus'' flower Image:Beelu National Park sign 2008.jpg, Mundaring Weir Road, Darling Range {{authority control National parks of Western Australia Shire of Mundaring Helena River Darling Range Jarrah Forest

Facilities

See also

References

Gallery