The Hyden-Norseman road is an excellent alternative to travelling the Great Eastern Highway if you wish to travel between Norseman & Perth because you'll get off the tar and away from the trucks. In fact you may not encounter any other traffic, making this a relaxing drive indeed. There is plenty to please the senses along this route - infact it is a tourist route all unto itself, being marketed as "The Granite & Woodlands Discovery Trail".
The route is mostly gravel, wide and easy travelling at close to highway speeds so generally it is suitable for all vehicles, including those towing caravans. Wet weather however can cause the road to be closed.
Travellers will find interpretive "sites" and stopping places along the way, as part of the Granite & Woodlands Discovery Trail. These are signposted in numerical order from 1 to 16 from the Hyden end. It is worth picking up a copy of the free trail guide brochure at the Hyden Truck Stop or just download this trek note to know what to expect at each site.
We suggest this is a 2 day route if you are here to explore as it is still a 3-4 hour drive across without stopping.
How to Use this Trek Note
- To download this information and the route file for offline use on a phone, tablet, headunit or laptop, go to the app store and purchase ExplorOz Traveller. This app enables offline navigation and mapping and will show where you are as you travel along the route. For more info see the ExplorOz Traveller webpage and the EOTopo webpage.
Environment
This route lies amongst temperate
woodlands on the edge of the wheat belt, where 80 different varieties of eucalypts grow. Across the 300km of this trek you'll also see sandy heathlands, distinctive
granite outcrops, salt lakes, & claypans.
Wave Rock in
Hyden is the most visited of the
granite outcrops in the area, however there are many other rocks noted in this trek that are worth exploring.
Amongst this diversity, are two massive nickel mines, Emily Ann and Maggie Hays and associated processing plants &
infrastructure. No doubt the reason the road is so
well maintained is to cater for the
mine trucks.
Birdlife in the area include mallee fowl, bush turkey,
grey currawong, numerous parrot species, cockatoos, and lorikeets including the tiny purple crowned lorikeet.
History
Whilst both Hyden and Norseman have significant historical beginnings, the region of woodland between the two was very much ignored by both aboriginals and Europeans and remains an area of no agriculture or pastoralism today.
Sandalwood cutters are believed to have been the first white men in the area and early attempts at pastoralism were unsuccessful, mostly due to a lack of readily accessible underground water. 11 trial plots (10 acres) were established at Forrestonia in 1959 but did not lead to take up by permanent settlers and were abandoned in 1966.
The Wudjari and Ngadju people would only pass through the area if water and food permitted, and doggers would utilise the shed at Forrestania Plots whilst hunting feral dogs and dingos.
Of most significance was the discoveries of gold and nickel, with a few large mines in current operation.
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