Parking
Use the Meanarra Hill car park on Meanarra Lookout Road. Follow the paved lookout path for about 100 m to the Malleefowl Trail junction. Toilets and a shade shelter are in the lookout area, not along the loop.
Overview
About Malleefowl Trail
Why go
- A compact loop mixes coastal heath, rocky trail and river-to-coast views.
- Interpretive signs give the short walk more to notice.
Heads up
- Steep, rocky stretches make it a poor choice if you need a level path.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Kalbarri map
Full mapElevation185–200 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Kalbarri Tour Guide
Your drive to Malleefowl Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Kalbarri National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Kalbarri audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Meanarra Hill Lookout0:00 / 0:29
“Up ahead is the access road for Meanarra Hill Lookout, where you can see how Kalbarri, the river mouth and the ocean fit together. I'd take this detour for the broad view without a long hike.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Kalbarri Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Two Boats, One Mistake
- The Wild Side of Waxflowers
- A Trunk Built from Leaves
- The Strike That Started a Fish Barbecue
- 58 audio storiesacross Kalbarri’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Perentie, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Western Grey Kangaroo, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 18 trails, 19 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Malleefowl Trail
Is this a good short walk?Malleefowl Trail is a roughly 1.
Malleefowl Trail is a roughly 1.6 km loop around Meanarra Hill, through coastal heath and over some steep, rocky ground. The posted figure is 1.5 km; including the mapped path that closes the loop brings the full line to about 1.6 km. Allow 45 minutes to an hour, especially if you stop at the signs. It is a good choice for a quick bush walk with broad views. If you only want an easy viewpoint, take the short paved lookout walk and skip the rougher loop.
Find the loop from the lookout pathPark at the Meanarra Hill car park on Meanarra Lookout Road, then follow the paved path toward…
Park at the Meanarra Hill car park on Meanarra Lookout Road, then follow the paved path toward the lookout for about 100 m. The Malleefowl loop branches from that approach. It winds around the hillside through coastal heath; expect a few short steep pitches and rough, rocky footing, so this is a short hike rather than a smooth stroll. Directional signs mark the route, and interpretive signs give you reasons to pause and look around.
The views and its namesakeViews open to the south and east over Kalbarri, the mouth of the Murchison River and the Indian…
Views open to the south and east over Kalbarri, the mouth of the Murchison River and the Indian Ocean. Malleefowl are known to visit the eastern part of the trail, but they are shy and elusive. Treat a sighting as a lucky bonus, not the point of the walk.
Before you set outThe lookout area has public toilets and a shade shelter; these are at the access area, not…
The lookout area has public toilets and a shade shelter; these are at the access area, not along the loop. Standard park entry fees apply, and pets are not allowed anywhere in Kalbarri National Park. 1080 poison baits are used around Meanarra Hill to control feral predators. Do not touch any bait you find.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Kalbarri
29 sightingsPerentieMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
12 sightingsWedge-tailed EagleMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
33 sightingsWestern Grey KangarooMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
44 sightingsBlack-flanked Rock WallabyMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
24 sightingsEmuMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
23 sightingsEchidnaMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Kalbarri. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
