Julimar State Forest.

Distance from Perth: 90km
nearest fuel: 24km Toodyay (EAST) or 36km to Muchea (WEST)
Current track length: about 4 hours including the bog holes.

The Tracks & Off Road Experience:

Julimar State Forest is hill country with gravel tracks and many clay & dirt winding tracks in between.

Some of these tracks are very tight and squeezing the Landcruiser through was a bit of a challenge in areas, even the Jeep Wrangler had to really squeeze between the tighter sections.

There was plenty of evidence that 4wds have contacted a tree here and there, slow driving in these areas is a must if you wish to keep your panels intact but pin stripping is surprisingly not a problem even though its dense bush land.

We found an extreme hill in Julimar state forest which most 4wders would give a miss; it is very long, very steep, rutted, slippery and covered in loose jagged rocks with a very narrow opening at the top of the hill.

The Extreme Hill at Julimar State Forest.

This hill can be avoided by taking a very narrow winding track to the base of the valley.

NOTE* we didn’t attempt the hill on the day & this hill may only lead to a dead end or tracks too narrow for a 4wd, so if going descending it make sure you are confident you can get back up or have a winching vehicle along for the trip.

Further along the track a second steep hill appears, there is no chicken track going around & it’s the only way down!

However it has multiple entries and exits on the same hill which is very unusual and makes it very interesting.

There are many of different lines to pick from and depending on your 4wd picking the correct line is very important.

Walk the hill before you attempt it and stick with your plan as changing your mind halfway down or up could send you sideways in the loose rocks and angles.

This video is that exact hill, the Landcruiser is taking the steep entry with big rock steeps and the easy exit, the Jeep takes the entry without too many big rock steeps due to having stock suspension and exits on the same part as the cruiser:

Apart from the two main hills in Julimar state forest there are plenty of rutted tight bends and steep short sections to keep you amused along the way until a big open area is reached, this open area has plenty of bog holes.

Even after weeks of no rain in late November there was water around in the bog holes and plenty of crusty dried mud which has thick sticky mud just underneath.

This thick mud under the dry crust caught me out yet again, I knew there was mud under the crust but servilely underestimated the depth as it shallower the driver side of the cruiser before I could say S&$t!

When I stepped out of the cruiser I lost half my leg into the bog hole before I could pull myself back up by grabbing the roof rack. My brand new boots were now clogs of mud.

Luck the Jeep had a winch installed just 2 weeks before as there was no going forward with the cruisers winch with the front end buried in thick mud; this saved us from hours of dirty recovery!

Remember To Bring Recovery Gear.

As for lunch stops etc. the bog holes at the end of the track is a good place, but there is a few spots before that where it opens up a bit, enough for 4 4WD’s at the most.

We wouldn’t recommend larger than 6 4WD convoy in this area as there is not much room around the hill descents/climbs.

This was our first visit to Julimar and we will be going back to extend our exploration of the area and make the track longer or create a second set of tracks.

SECOND VISIT TRACKS see this link: Julimar State Forest Challenge.

General Track conditions and difficulty:

Medium to Extreme

The tracks are very tight and slow going in areas and generally easy with lengthy rutted out sections some of them are on some tight bends which makes for interesting situations.

The hill climbs and descents can vary from medium to extreme depending on which way you choose and in winter we would strongly recommend approaching with caution!

This is winch country, there is no place for snatch straps on those hills, however at the bog holes there is plenty of room for snatching out bogged vehicles.

Travel in convoy for these tracks.

Things to do:

4WD Explore Julimar State Forest
4WD Hill climb and bog hole challenges
Enjoy a drive in the bush

Best time to go:

Anytime:

All year round, if chasing a muddy adventure then late winter won’t disappoint as we still found bottom less mud pits in late November 2013!

Julimar State Forest GPS Waypoints:

For information about How to enter the GPS Way-points into Google Earth see this video.

For information about How to enter the GPS Way-points into Google Earth

see this video.

Easy version of the Julimar Track, for the more Challenging track see: Julimar State Forest Challenge

Julimar rd Entry Point:

Entry Point:

Latitude: 31°29'44.60"S

Longitude: 116°14'53.00"E

Air down parking area:

Latitude: 31°29'41.57"S

Longitude: 116°14'54.35"E

After airing down head north along the main track for about 4kms

The Track Entry:

Latitude: 31°27'34.12"S

Longitude: 116°14'46.06"E

Extreme Hill Descent:

Latitude: 31°27'34.77"S

Longitude: 116°15'41.84"E

Not sure where the tracks lead to at the bottom of that extreme hill descent, to continue on with the track simply follow the track around to the right!

Second Steep Hill Descent:

Latitude: 31°27'32.34"S

Longitude: 116°15'48.77"E

This one has multiple entries, choose wisely and take caution! Once at the bottom follow the winding tracks until you reach the next way point.

Track Exit to the West (turning left) or Bog hole area to the North:

Exit & Bog Hole Intersection:

Latitude: 31°26'43.40"S

Longitude: 116°16'31.64"E

Bog Holes:

Latitude: 31°26'23.70"S

Longitude: 116°16'36.54"E

This area has multiple tracks peeling off and will be explored and coved during our next visit out there.

Exit Tracks:

Head South from this waypoint:

Latitude: 31°26'30.19"S

Longitude: 116°14'45.46"E

Y Junction keep left for the exit:

Latitude: 31°26'53.85"S

Longitude: 116°14'44.00"E

From here you will past the entry of the tracks you just took on, keep heading south covering the main track you entered from the high and air up at the air down parking area.

Easy version of the Julimar Track, for the more Challenging track see HERE: