Management of the Park
This park was previously known as Canning National Park.This park is managed by the Department of Parks and Wildlife. Click here for a link to their webpage with details about the Park.
Map
Open the following file to see a map showing Midgegooroo National Park. It is called Canning National Park on this document.
or
Canning_Pickering_Parks_Guide1.pdf356.39 KB
Facilities
The major recreation facilities located near Canning National Park are provided by the Water Corporation at Canning Dam.
Access to this picnic site is off McNess Drive, Roleystone or Canning Dam Road off Albany Highway.
Several Mountain Bike trails run either through the Canning National Park or adjacent State Forest areas. The Munda-Biddi
Mountain Bike trail which will eventually go all the way to Albany runs through the National Park.
Just to the north of Canning National Park off Brookton Highway is the Carinyah Mountain Bike Loop Trail. This trail is
15.7km long and starts from a terminus located 4.4km east along Brookton Highway from the Canning Road intersection.
Name
The Canning National Park was renamed Midgegooroo National Park (pronounced midj-ee-gor-oo).
Ref: Department of Environment and Conservation
Midgegooroo National Park (R47884) is the largest reserve in the City of Armadale with an area of about 2373 ha. It was formerly known as Canning National Park but was renamed Midgegooroo National Park after Midgegooroo, a Nyoongar Elder who played a key role in Aboriginal resistance to European settlement in the area and was killed by settlers in 1833. It covers typical Darling Range Jarrah-Marri forest growing on lateritic gravel with Sheoak in places and Yarri along the creeks. There are also rocky outcrops, the best known of which is Boulder Rock, about 8 km S of Chevin Road along Brookton Highway (park on the side of Brookton Highway and follow the track for a short distance to the rock). Weathering and erosion of the granite along fractures has led to the development of rounded tors or boulders. Many unusual plants can be found in the run-off area around the granite including the yet to be formally named Stylidium sp. Boulder Rock.
Some parts of Midgegooroo National Park are off limit without a permit from the Water Corporation as they are within the catchment area of Canning Dam but there are many tracks where walking is permitted. For example, it is possible to walk many kilometres from the end of Forestedge retreat in the Araluen Golf Club estate through to Canning Dam Road. Other walk trails can be accessed from Gardner Road in Karragullen.
Many wildflowers can be seen in Midgegooroo National Park, especially in Spring. At least 350 species of plant occur in the National Park including at least 29 species of orchid. For a list of the plants with photographs and their identifying features go to Roleybushcare’s Flora database click here and select Midgegooroo National Park in the reserve dropdown box prior to pressing the search button. To narrow down the list when trying to identify a plant, additional attributes such as flower colour and month of flowering can also be selected.
The Park was named after Midgegooroo (date of birth unknown, died 22 May 1833) who was a Nyoongar elder of the Beeliar people at the time of European settlement in 1829. Midgegooroo played a key role in indigenous resistance to white settlement in the Perth area. He was best known as the father of Yagan. Midgegooroo was executed by white settlers in 1833.
At the time of settlement, Midgegooroo was an old man and a senior authority in his family group. He had two wives and four sons, Yagan, Narral, Billy and Willim. Midgegooroo's family had customary land usage rights over a large area of what is now southern metropolitan Perth, and were able to move freely about an even larger area, presumably due to kinship ties with neighbours.
This map shows us where the park is in relation to the Araluen Golf Resort Estate.
Roleybushcare has been treating the trees on the edge of the park against Dieback Disease.
We work with the Department of Parks and Wildlife Officer.
Map Ref: City of Armadale's Online Mapping