Cape to Cape Track

The Cape to Cape Walk Track is a long-distance walk trail located in the far south-west corner of Western Australia, 250 km south of Perth. It meanders along the whole length of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge, which forms the backbone of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. Its start and finish are the lighthouses at the tips of Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin. The Track extends over 135 km of coastal scenery, sheltered forests and pristine beaches, and is in close proximity to the caves, vineyards and other features and attractions of the "South West Capes - Margaret River Region".

The original Aboriginal inhabitants of the area, the Wardandi people would have known the ridge and its resource's intimately, and would regularly have traveled its length. Soon after the first European settlers arrived at Augusta in March 1831, John Dewar and Andrew Smith traveled to the Swan River on foot, recording the section to Cape Naturaliste in their journal. They seemed to have had little difficulty traversing the country, reporting that much had been burnt, and they traveled alternately on the beaches or three to four miles inland along a ridge of low hills. It took them six days to reach Cape Naturaliste, much the same time that it takes now, though probably in slightly less relaxed fashion, as they started before sunrise, and sometimes marched by moonlight.

Since those days, the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge has become increasingly populated, with roads and tracks criss-crossing the land. Most of these, however, run east-west, whereas the coastline runs north-south, and much of the remaining bush land between has grown thick and impenetrable. The coastline and a significant proportion of the ridge are now reserved as the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. In the 1980s Jane Scott, a local resident, found ways of walking from the one Cape to the other (pers. comm. 1987).

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