Bluff Knoll – The highest peak in the Stirling Ranges (and often referred to as the highest point in WA – which it is not. This belongs to Mt Meharry – 1249m- in Karijini)
Bluff knoll (“Pualaar Miial” – great many faced hill) is 1,099m
(3,606ft for my American friends 🙂 )
I’d say I was lucky enough to hike Bluff Knoll for the first time back in July 2017, before the trail and a big portion of the park was destroyed/damaged in bushfires in early 2020. The trail was also closed for several months after the bush fires and a lot maintenance was done to the trail and A LOT of new steps were put in! Read Bush fire story here
I had actually headed south in Jan 2020 with the intent of hiking up Bluff Knoll, to reach the Stirling Ranges the same afternoon the first fire was breaking out – I remember driving down the Salt River Road and seeing the smoke get bigger and bigger and turning around at the sight of many fire engines racing past me. I remember being desperate to hike up Bluff Knoll and get up the mountain after a tough month back in Perth – and hoping the fire was further east and that I’d still be able to hike. Well, I was an idiot. The bushfire in the Stirling Ranges raged for days and destroyed a lot of the park and it had started just at the bottom of Bluff – closing the area and the much loved trail for 4 months whilst they repaired steps, trail and installed a new bridge half way up! Despite being 50km away, over on the east side of the park and close to Mt Magog, I knew it wasn’t safe to be anywhere in the park, and I wasn’t climbing any mountains. (But the 5 hour drive wasn’t wasted – I drove another hour to Albany and found some coastal hiking trails there instead)
Bluff Knoll trail is a good 6km return – and a constant uphill with lots of steps to the summit. I preferred the old trail coming down as the steps now can be pretty hard on the knees. I first did the trail, in 2017, with 2 little kids (I think they were 7 and 9) – they did pretty well really – and I remember us doing it in winter just after the summit saw a tiny bit of snow in the week previous (the only snow WA see’s is up here, and its very brief).
The second time it was more mentally than physically challenging for me, but also rewarding to make it to the top. After 4 months of closure and extensive maintenance the trail was reopened and with lots of steps put it the trail was a complete different experience to the first time. Read news article here
Here’s me jumping at the summit on a cold winter morning! (July 2020).
My third time up the mountain was finally done in warmer weather (Oct 2021) My girlfriend and I decided to make it a sunrise hike, which meant leaving our camp ground at 3am to get to the base at 3.30ish to hike up in the dark by using flashlights. Hiking at this time in the morning, and with little sleep was a challenge, but physically and mentally I was in a good space – by far, I had the best company going up the mountain this time around. We watched the sunrise just short of the summit which ended up being a lot nicer and just us, before catching the sun rise fully from the top when people were starting to head down, so the timing worked out pretty perfect in the end. It was chilly at the top – we had our fleeces and down jackets on, but the weather for the walk up and down was pretty nice.
The views from the top of Bluff Knoll are incredible, with stunning views of the Stirling Ranges, as well as views of the Porongurups. You feel like your’e a world away from Perth. We stayed at the Stirling Ranges Retreat which is close to the base of Bluff Knoll – which is a great little site for camping (and caravans, cabins etc).
I think the only time I’ll be doing Bluff Knoll again is if I ever get chance to do the Stirling Ridge walk – which is from Bluff Knoll to Ellen Peak. As a stand alone hike just up to Bluff and back – I think I’m “Bluffed out”