The Ancient Giants
I am face to face with giant behemoth trees, as I stand 40 meters above the ground on a steel-latticed walkway. Like a hovering bird I stand holding the handrails, the walkway slightly swaying, as I listen to the wind peacefully dancing through the eucalypt leaves. The smell of wet soil and forest trees reminds me of a sign I saw earlier about ‘forest bathing’. Bathing in a forest? That is an interesting concept, however standing, listening, fully immersed among the trees, bathing in a forest becomes a reality.
As I look up, the tree tops tower over me, while their rough grey trunks pillar to the ground below. I’m partaking in the Valley of the Giants Tree Top walk. I’m walking among Giants, known as red tingle trees (eucalyptus jacksonii), descendants of forests that predate the first humans by millions of years.
Unfortunately, not all the tingle trees will survive; as these ancient trees could be lost due to human involvement.
The Home of the Giants
Located about five hours south of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, the Valley of the Giants sits at the edge of the world, in a beautiful area of Walpole. Perth itself is a three-hour flight from any major Australian city, or a three-day drive across the Nullarbor Plain, one of the most remote stretches of road on Earth. To say Western Australia is remote is an understatement.
What makes this isolation even more remarkable is the fact that only a handful of decades ago, Highway One, also known as the Eyre Highway, was still unsealed. Before affordable air travel and prior to the Nullarbor crossing having sealed roads and reliable services, few tourists ventured to this southwestern corner of Australia.
The occasional explorers willing to make the journey to Walpole and the surrounding forests, were rewarded with awe-inspiring sights. One can only imagine the feeling of standing before such giants for the first time, with trees towering to 70 meters and bases more than 20 meters in circumference in a forest that seemed untouched by time.
What they were witnessing, as I am, is the red tingle tree, known as Eucalyptus jacksonii. Maybe the visitors were lucky and spied a glimpse of the small white flowers the tree produces once every four years. Confined to such a small section in the Walpole-Nornalup National Park, these trees are not found elsewhere in Australia. This biodiverse, lush area was a secret that wasn’t going to last. As Australia became more accessible, this hidden wonder started becoming a drawcard for travellers.
By the year 1989, the annual number of visitors rose to over 100,000, cars were parked everywhere, and the giants had understandably become the main attraction.
If you’re passing through, Walpole sits close enough to Denmark WA to easily combine the two on the same trip — we’ve rounded up 23 amazing things to see and do in Denmark WA if you want to turn this into a longer stop, or start with our 3-day Denmark WA itinerary if you’re mapping out the wider south coast.
The Gondwana Moment
Restarting my walk along the bridge, 40 meters above the ground, I observe the trees whose ancestors evolved 65 million years ago. Continuing along the delicate-looking, yet ultra-strong bridge through the canopy, the vantage point at the highest platform is still below the highest of the Tingle trees. It’s hard to imagine the concept of 65 million years in the past, which coincided with the end of the Cretaceous period, the emerging ancestors of today’s red tingles.
Cretaceous period (146-65 million years ago)
This is where things start getting interesting. Imagine you’re standing in Antarctica, but it doesn’t resemble anything like it does today. Instead, it’s a huge landmass known as Gondwana. Gondwana consists of modern-day Australia, Antarctica, New Zealand, and South America.
Australia was located closer to the South Pole, and Southern Australia was inside the Antarctic Circle. The global climate was warmer, making the South Pole free from ice for most of the year. Dinosaurs roamed the land, and a few of the first mammals were starting to appear.
The world was thriving. Both animals and plant life were basking in the warm, wet weather. Water temperature at the Southern Pole was around 17 degrees, much warmer than today’s standards. Tingle ancestors were enjoying life, climbing high to catch the sun’s photosynthetic rays.
These ideal conditions were soon to come to an end. As the Cretaceous period ended, almost 80 percent of animal species became extinct. Although the reasons why are still being discussed, the popular theory is that an asteroid hit Earth, creating a blackout effect of rock debris. This would hinder all photosynthesis, gradually stopping the food chain for all animals. Whatever the reason was, the world was going to become different from then on.
Australia drifts north – Eocene Epoch (56 – 33 million years ago)
Fast forward a few million years, and Australia starts breaking away from Gondwana. It’s now the Eocene era, around 45 million years ago. The temperature warms as Australia starts drifting north. Carbon Dioxide also played a role in the warming temperature.
Vegetation starts changing to what you and I would recognise as a rainforest environment. The Eucalyptus genus started evolving and proliferated the section of Gondwana that became present-day Patagonia, eastern Antarctica, and southeastern Australia.
Southern Beech Trees (Nothofagus) covered much of Australia. Dinosaurs no longer roamed the planet, but smaller land animals such as the frog and turtles were rapidly adapting to this new way of life.
Plants adapting to the changing climate started flowering, their pollen able to traverse large distances, due to the flowers produced. The tingle tree stayed strong; its wide buttress was made for the wet conditions, and it would also have started producing flowers to help reproduction.
Miocene Epoch (23-5 million years ago)
As Australia continues to drift closer to its present-day position, we’re about 16 million years in the past, and the Miocene Epoch climate slowly starts to cool. Relatives of the typical Australian wildlife, such as the kangaroo and koala were evolving, starting to resemble much more closely the present day animals. The plant life was in abundance in these rich conditions.
The late Miocene Epoch, around 5 million years ago, saw global drying and cooling, sea levels fell as the polar ice sheets increased in size, and rainfall decreased. Many plants and animal groups became extinct, while others flourished in adapted conditions. Despite most of Australia experiencing arid conditions, the tingle trees found solace in the Southern section of Australia around Walpole, where the rainfall continued.
Present day
As mentioned, the tingle trees are uniquely found in a small corner of Australia near Walpole. After travelling on a drifting continent, surviving ever-changing temperatures and the sudden extinction of most animals, the tingles survived. They adapted to the wetter, cooler world, one that only exists in an area of around 6000 hectares. Climate change is happening again. Is it due to the human population expelling gases into the air this time? That’s a discussion for another day, but it is noted that the current temperature is rising. In 2024, the global temperature was 1.8 degrees Celsius warmer than the 20th-century average.
The Valley of the Giants descent
From my vantage point on the bridge, I descend the 40m back to the forest floor, where the lattice of the bridge meets solid ground. I’m back on Earth, the temperature drops around 3 – 5 degrees, and light levels by around 70%, the tingles forming a dense overhead canopy.
The walk continues at ground level, over a deck structure that meanders for 650 meters, laid purposely in place. If I were to walk on the soil, it would be spongy with decades of leaf litter and fungi slowly breaking it down.
Closer to the base of the tingles, you can see a very large buttress, a large bulbous root structure that helps give the giant stability. This follows on from ancient times when the tingles lived in wet forests. Not only is the large shaped root structure stable, but also the tingle tree’s shallow root system absorbs moisture and nutrients from shallow soils. Some trees measure 20 meters across, making them the largest Eucalypt tree by girth.
Walking in close proximity to these towering trees, I notice strange marks. These are fire scars, which I noted were 2-3 meters above the ground. This is proof that fires have come through the area for centuries. For a tree that is known to live longer than 400 years, they have seen a lot of adversity. Due to the high moisture content in the buttress, which protects the inner trunk, and its thick fibrous bark, tingle trees have survived wildfires.
These trees also hold a secret, something uncommon among other varieties in that many are hollow. If the fire breaks the natural shield, it starts eating away at the inside, leaving the thicker outer layer.
Having survived many years, one could assume the tingle can withstand fire. The hollow trunk creates a chimney effect for any future fires, by drawing the heat up and out. The trees only need a small percentage of living tissue to remain alive. However, it isn’t infinite. Each burn eats through more of the tree, weakening it. If fire returns too quickly to the area, the tree won’t have enough time to recover, leaving devastating effects.
The Inspiring Threshold
I walk up to the largest red tingle that I can see. I’m now face-to-face with the hollow of a tree that has survived numerous fires, weathered the storms, and is still standing strong, towering into the sky. The entrance is many meters across. I can’t reach both sides with my hands. It’s charred black inside. Since the fire was many years ago, there is no ominous smell, just a massive dark cave and the forest smell of wet dirt.
The deck I’m walking on is designed to geometrically fit inside and around the tingle. I walk inside. The feeling is eerie, surreal. This is a living, healthy tree. As you look up, the hollow continues for 10-20 plus meters and feels like looking directly up a chimney. Specks of light filter down, creating patterns. The sound inside changes, almost a cathedral effect, quite different from the outside forest floor.
Inside The Tingle Hollow
I’m standing inside a red tingle, one possibly 400 years old. My time on Earth has only been a small fraction of this timeline. How many fires has this tree withstood? How many more can it withstand?
The dark, charred walls are what’s left when a fire races through the area. The inside of the red tingle is rather sawdust-like, while the outer bark is fibrous. As the fire sweeps through, it combusts the inner section, eating the inside of the tree, leaving the hollow.
The tree then continues to grow, expanding the inner section. Future fires can risk the destruction of the hollow even further, resulting in potential damage to the water transport system and weakening the tree’s base. It is estimated that when a hollow reaches 70% of the base of the tree, structural integrity is lost.
The curious shape of the trees, as they weave their almost mysterious grey string bark skywards, gives them a human-like characteristic; each tree is unique. What draws most visitors to this area is not only the immense size of the tingles but also the hollow that you can walk inside. This is not necessarily the best outcome for the tree.
The Fire History
The red tingle trees have witnessed many changes over the last 65 million years, but fire or rather lack of it, shaped their evolution. When Australia was part of Gondwana, the climate was wet and cool. Fire would have been uncommon. Even as the continent drifted north and dried, the Walpole region maintained rainfall exceeding 1100mm annually. This created conditions where fire remained a rarity.
Noongar people have cared for this Country for at least 50000 years, and the red Tingle forests hold socio-cultural importance. Noongar custodians have long recognised the fire sensitivity of these trees. Prior to European colonisation, these forests were not intentionally burned by First Nations People, as they have sophisticated understanding of the species’ vulnerability. While Noongar fire management practices shaped surrounding karri and jarrah forests through regular cool burns, the fire-sensitive tingles were deliberately protected from burning.
Tingles evolved without frequent fire. Their shallow roots, fibrous bark, and hollow structure make them vulnerable to burning. Research suggests optimal fire intervals of approximately 90 years for red tingles. This alludes to only four or five fire events over their 400-year lifespan. This stands in stark contrast to surrounding karri forests, which experience natural fire intervals of 8-15 years.
Current-day fire management in red tingle forests operates on dramatically different assumptions. Since European colonisation, prescribed burning has become standard practice, with fire intervals far shorter than the species evolved to withstand.
Contemporary prescribed burning in red tingle forest became prevalent in the 1970s, with fire management practices designed for karri forests also applied to tingle forests. Historical records show that significant fires occurred in 1937, 1951, 1987, and 2000.
The Fire Dilemma
Fire management in the tingle forests has a troubled history. A 1997 experimental burn in the Giants East forest block, directly adjacent to the Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk, resulted in at least 18 large red tingle tree deaths. This outcome was considered unacceptable by both conservation groups and government bodies at the time.
Despite recommendations to prevent such losses, a prescribed burn in December 2024 of the same area has reignited this controversy. The outcome remains heavily disputed. Government sources reported one giant tingle fell, while local researchers and conservation groups documented over 100 fallen trees.
The pattern of burns reveals cumulative damage. Research shows that more frequent prescribed burns have lower densities of large trees and a higher rate of hollow development in young trees. Each burn damages the tree base, with smoldering combustion in the fibrous bark creating or enlarging the hollows.
As climate change brings warmer, drier conditions to southwestern Australia, fire risk increases. Yet, for the tingles that evolved with fire intervals of 90 plus years, the solution isn’t simple. The December 2024 burn has prompted calls from conservation groups for an independent review of prescribed burning practices in tingle forest, with arguments that fire-sensitive species require fundamentally different management approaches than fire adapted eucalypts.
The question remains urgent and unresolved: How do we protect these ancient forests from wildfire without destroying them through the very practices meant to save them? What survived 65 million years of climate change may not survive human attempts at fire management.
Loved to death
While climate change and the intensity of wildfires can be blamed for the future demise of these giant trees, something else was unexpectedly destroying the trees. In 1990, the largest of the red tingle fell to the ground. Not by natural causes, not by fire, but by tourists. The reason why this forest was dying was because inquisitive visitors were walking in and around this tree.
The bark on the tree lost its humus, the nourishing layer, and the root system was being trampled to death. Due to the root system that was buttressing instead of deep forming, obtained from its ancestors living in wetlands, the delicate nutrient supply was cut off.
It was a sad day for locals and visitors alike. The remains of this tree can be seen today as a reminder of how fragile some ecosystems are, despite their enormous nature. A tree lineage can survive 65 million years, yet tourism today killed one of the giants.
A new beginning for the red tingle trees
Something had to be done to save the rest of this endangered forest, at least from the inundation of visitors. It was at this point that the Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) started investigating the possibility of a tree top walk and interpretive boardwalk. One that would keep visitors above the delicate root system, educate with interpretive information stops, and improve the experience for both humans and the living forest.
It is here, on the boardwalk that opened as part of the complete experience in 1996, that I stand inside the hollow of a red tingle tree. They survived 65 million years as a species and saw different climates, but almost perished due to human interaction. A project on an equally massive scale turned what could have been a tragedy into a wonder for tourists and has kept the tingle trees safe.
Climate change, on the other hand, is continuing to warm. Data from millions of years ago suggest that Earth has had cyclical warming cycles and increased levels of carbon dioxide. As researchers are looking into the past to predict the future, and government bodies are attempting to halt the carbon dioxide creation into the atmosphere to slow the temperature rise, the tingle trees sit and wait.
Conservation groups have called for an independent review of prescribed burning practices in tingle forests and increased pre- and post-fire monitoring programs. Are prescribed burns the answer? It could be argued that the interval would need to be carefully worked out; fires are not natural to the tingle trees, but climate change could change the burn frequency.
For now, as I walk around the interpretive boardwalk, looking up at the towering trees with their bumps and gnarls looking like characters from a fairytale, my story is such a short one compared to what the red tingles have endured. They hold 65 million years of evolutionary memory in their wood and char.
The question they pose is urgent: Will we learn to read what they’re telling us in time? The char walls inside these hollows are archives written in carbon and survival. The next chapter of these trees depends on the choices we make now.
