The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, south-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 ...

. It is over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranbrook eastward past Gnowangerup. The Stirling Range is protected by the

Stirling Range National Park Stirling Range National Park is a national park in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, approximately south-east of Perth. Description It protects the Stirling Ranges, or Koikyennuruff, a range of mountains and hills over wide fr ...

, which was gazetted in 1913, and has an area of .

Environment

Geology

The mountains are formed of

metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...

derived from quartz sandstones and shales deposited during the Paleoproterozoic Era, between 2,016 and 1,215 million years ago (based on U-Th-Pb isotope geochronology of monazite crystals). The sediments were subsequently metamorphosed 1,215 million years ago, and later folded during reactivation of basement structures recording lateral displacements between Antarctica and Australia. Despite the relative youth of the mountains, the soils remain very poor, creating the species-rich heathland flora.

Climate

As the only vertical obstacle to

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmos ...

in any direction, the range tends to alter weather patterns around itself. Its upper slopes receive significantly more

rainfall Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

than surrounding areas. The branch of the

Kalgan River The Kalgan River is a river in the Great Southern (Western Australia), Great Southern region of Western Australia. Geography The river is long and, along with the King River (Western Australia), King River, drains into Oyster Harbour. The l ...

that forms the southwestern border of the park is fed in large part from precipitation falling in the western half of the range. The annual rainfall on the plains around the park is quite low compared with the rainy Porongurups to the south, averaging only 575 millimetres (23 inches) on the southern side and as little as 400 millimetres (16 inches) in Borden on the northern side. Although no rain gauges have been placed on the high peaks, the highest rainfall is estimated to be about 1000 mm (39 in) near Coyanarup Peak and

Bluff Knoll Bluff Knoll is the highest peak of the Stirling Range in the Great Southern (Western Australia), Great Southern region of Western Australia (WA). It is above sea level, with a prominence of 650 m (2,130 ft). The local Aboriginal peop ...

. This is supported by distinctly moist-climate pockets of vegetation in some high valleys. Most rain falls between May and August, with summer being very frequently completely dry around Borden for over a month and having typically very light showers in the south and on the peaks. Temperatures in the lowlands are generally warm. In the summer, average maxima typically are around 30 °C (86 °F) in Borden and about 27 °C (80 °F) in the southern plains. Summer minima range from about 16 °C (60 °F) in the south to 18 °C (64 °F) in Borden. In the winter, maximum temperatures typically are a very pleasant 16 °C (60 °F) and minima are about 8 °C (46.4 °F). On Bluff Knoll, winter temperatures range from maxima of about 11 °C (52 °F) to minima of 3 °C (37 °F). These are the lowest temperatures in Western Australia and consequently the Stirling Range occasionally receives

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

falls—the only place in Western Australia to regularly do so, though usually it is very light. Snow has been reported as early as 19 April 2019 and as late as 19 November 1992, but is mostly confined to the period from June to September.

Flora and fauna

The range is one of the richest areas for flora in the world. The low-nutrient soils support five major vegetation communities: (1) shrubland and (2) mallee-

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...

land at higher altitudes; and (3)

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...

, (4)

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

and (5) salt lake communities on lower slopes and plains.BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Stirling Range. Downloaded from on 2011-10-25. Ninety families, 384 genera, and over 1500 plant species occur there, 87 of which are found nowhere else. This represents more than a third of the known flora of the

southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

, and includes more species of wildflowers than in the entire British Isles. The range has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports populations of

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

short-billed black cockatoo Carnaby's black cockatoo (''Zanda latirostris''), also known as the short-billed black cockatoo, is a large black cockatoo endemic to southwest Australia. It was described in 1948 by naturalist Ivan Carnaby. Measuring in length, it has a s ...

s and

western whipbird Western whipbird may refer to the following bird species and subspecies: * ''Psophodes nigrogularis'', the black-throated whipbird ** subspecies: ''Psophodes nigrogularis nigrogularis'', 'western heath' ** subspecies: ''Psophodes nigrogularis obero ...

s, and is visited by

long-billed black-cockatoos. Significant

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

-restricted or range-restricted bird species found in the range include red-capped and

regent parrot The regent parrot or rock pebbler (''Polytelis anthopeplus'') is a bird found in southern Australia. It has predominantly yellow plumage with a green tail. The bird is found primarily in eucalyptus groves and other wooded areas of subtropical s ...

western rosella The western rosella (''Platycercus icterotis''), or moyadong, is a species of parrot endemic to southwestern Australia. The head and underparts are bright red, and the back is mottled black; a yellow patch at the cheek distinguishes it from oth ...

rufous treecreeper The rufous treecreeper (''Climacteris rufus'') is a species of bird in the family Climacteridae. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definiti ...

s, red-winged and

blue-breasted fairywren The blue-breasted fairywren (''Malurus pulcherrimus''), or blue-breasted wren, is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is non-migratory and endemic to southern Western Australia and the Eyre Peninsula in Sou ...

purple-gaped honeyeater The purple-gaped honeyeater (''Lichenostomus cratitius'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to semi-arid southern Australia, where it inhabits Mallee, tall heath and associated low eucalypt woodland.Menkhorst, P., ...

western spinebill The western spinebill (''Acanthorhynchus superciliosus'') is a honeyeater found in the heath and woodland of south-western Australia. Ranging between long, it weighs around . It has a black head, gray back and wings, with a red band behind its ...

western thornbill The western thornbill (''Acanthiza inornata'') is a species of bird in the family Acanthizidae. It is endemic to southwestern Australia. Its natural habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and b ...

s, western yellow and

white-breasted robin The white-breasted robin (''Eopsaltria georgiana'') is a passerine bird in the Australasian robin family Petroicidae and the Yellow Robin genus Eopsaltria. Occasionally it is placed in the genus ''Quoyornis''. It is endemic to southwestern Austral ...

s, and

red-eared firetail The red-eared firetail (''Stagonopleura oculata''), also known as the boorin, is a small finch-like species of bird. It occurs in dense wetland vegetation of coastal to sub-coastal regions in Southwest Australia. Its appearance is considered appe ...

s. The range is an important site for endemic

mygalomorph The Mygalomorphae, or mygalomorphs, are an infraorder of spiders, and comprise one of three major groups of living spiders with over 3000 species, found on all continents except Antarctica. Many members are known as trapdoor spiders due to t ...

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s, and for land snails. Some 20 species of native mammals, including the

reintroduced Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild, from captivity or other areas where the organism is capable of survival. The goal of species reintroduction is to establish a healthy, genetically diverse, self-sustainin ...

numbat The numbat (''Myrmecobius fasciatus''), also known as the noombat or walpurti, is an insectivorous marsupial. It is diurnal and its diet consists almost exclusively of termites. The species was once widespread across southern Australia, but ...

, have been recorded.

History

The plains in the Stirling Range region were the hunting grounds for small groups of

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

for thousands of years before European settlement. At least two tribes frequented the area: the ''Qaaniyan'' people in the west, and the Koreng people in the east. The Stirling Range played an important role in their culture, appearing in a number of

Dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his co ...

stories. The first recorded sighting of the Stirling Range by a European explorer was by Matthew Flinders on 5 January 1802. While sailing along the south coast of Australia, just east of

King George Sound King George Sound ( nys , Menang Koort) is a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805. The name "King George Sound" gradually came into use ...

, he noted at a distance of eight

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

s () inland a chain of rugged mountains, the easternmost of which he named ''Mount Rugged'' (now called

). An army garrison was established at King George Sound in 1826, and the following year the commanding officer, Major

Edmund Lockyer Edmund Lockyer, (21 January 1784 – 10 June 1860) was a British soldier and explorer of Australia. Born in Plymouth, Devon, Lockyer was the son of Thomas Lockyer, a sailmaker, and his wife Ann. Lockyer began his army career as an ensign in ...

, explored the land north of the Sound. On 11 February 1827, he observed mountains in the distance running east and west about .

Alexander Collie Dr Alexander Collie (2 June 1793 – 8 November 1835) was a Scottish surgeon and botanist who journeyed to Western Australia in 1829, where he was an explorer and Colonial Surgeon. Early life Collie was born in Insch in Aberdeenshire, Scotland on ...

explored to the north of the Sound in 1831. On 29 April, he described the Stirling Range and recorded names for the main peaks. The following year,

Robert Dale Lieutenant Robert Dale (1810–20 July 1853) was the first European explorer to cross the Darling Range in Western Australia. Robert Dale was born in Winchester, England in November 1810, son of Major Thurston Dale and Helen Matthews. Throug ...

led an expedition to the Range. On 24 January 1832, he made the first recorded ascent of a peak in the Stirling Range, scaling Toolbrunup. Late in 1835, Governor James Stirling and

John Septimus Roe John Septimus Roe (8 May 1797 – 28 May 1878) was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, a member of Western Australia's legislative and executive councils for nearly 40 years, but also a participant in ...

led an expedition from Albany to

. They first saw the Stirling Range on 3 November, and on travelling closer to them the following day, Roe gave them their name. Because Stirling personally led the Pinjarra massacre and later threatened the Noongar people with genocide, there are some calls to rename the Stirling Range. Early exploitation of the Stirling Range included cutting of

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...

and kangaroo hunting. The Range was never formally taken up for grazing, probably because of the many poison bushes in the area. However,

squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

ran

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

to the south of the Range in the 1850s, and in the 1860s a selection was taken up at the base of Mount Trio. The area that is now the Stirling Range National Park was temporarily reserved in April 1908, and formally gazetted as Western Australia's third national park in June 1913.

Attractions and activities

Notable features include Toolbrunup,

(the tallest peak for a thousand kilometres or more in any direction and most popular tourist attraction), and a silhouette called The Sleeping Princess which is visible from the Porongurup Range. Popular recreational activities include bushwalking,

abseiling Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...

and gliding.

Camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more na ...

is not permitted within the park boundaries.

Major peaks

—, * Mount Hassell— , * Mount Magog— , * Mount Trio— , * Talyuberlup Peak— , * Toolbrunup— ,