The discovery of gold in the 1890’s sparked a rush to this region – but the country the settlers came to was hot, harsh and horribly unforgiving. This trail tells many of the stories of what was often a struggle for survival as Europeans set out to make their way in a land that was both foreign and pitiless.
From coach roads and stock routes to wayside hotels and staging posts, and from vast pastoral stations to historic mines and the shooting-star settlements that they spawned – the social history of this struggle for survival is strung out along this Loop for your enjoyment. Drive the 300km in a clockwise direction – it is a comfortable day’s outing, but do
check road conditions first as half the route is on gravel surfaces.
The Agnew Loop trail has 15 interpretive sites, spaced roughly 15 – 30kms apart. At each of these locations you will find an interpretive panel and, somewhere nearby, a figure, a ‘ghost’ from the past or a creature from the present, waiting to share a story with you… Let these rusty steel story tellers introduce you to the people and the
places and to the
pests and the perfectly natural – but you will need to go out and find them first! At each stopping place along both loops someone (or something!) is waiting to tell you their story – go and explore, see who and what you can discover, and learn about the lives and landscapes of this remarkable region.
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
There is possibly no more widespread tree species in the dry heart of Australia than mulga. On these two trails, you are
well and truly in Mulga country.
There are two broad types of mulga woodland – one has a shrub understory, while the other has grasses and spinifex. Both will be seen along
the loop trails.
Of course, the landscape out here is not all mulga – far from it! In particular, the northern and eastern sectors of the
Darlot Loop showcase a delightful variety of landforms and vegetation species. Hard spinifex makes an appearance as you leave the Goldfields Highway, bringing with it another sand-loving species, the magnificent marble gum. Desert oak, white Cyprus pine, prickly wattle and the water bush can all be seen along the trail. Hard stony quartz flats and sharply-defined watercourses bring variety, and breakaways (especially
the terraces) are always a visual treat.
Wildlife you can expect to see along the trails include; Kangaroos, Euros, emus, wedge tail eagles, a vast array of birdlife (particularly around the watercourses), and all manner of reptiles, particularly goannas.
History
The Goldfields region has a strong and proud Aboriginal
population, who inhabited the area for thousands of years before
European settlement.
The first contact the area had with Europeans dates back to 1869 when explorer
John Forrest and his party, in search of the lost Leichhardt Expedition, made
camp near a
hill and named it
Mount Leonora. It was then some twenty five years before more Europeans came to the area – but this time it was prospectors, not
explorers, who came prowling around the area covered by the trails.
In 1894 Paddy Lawler stumbled on a scattering of alluvial gold 125km north-west of
Leonora, sparking a rush to the area from both
Cue and
Coolgardie. In the same year gold was found near
Lake Darlot, which quickly emptied the fledging
camp of Lawlers of most of its men! When the rich Sons of Gwalia reef was discovered soon afterwards in
Leonora,
Leonora was
well on its way to becoming the centre for a major mining area – just as it remains today.
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