Climbing the Valley of the Giants and the Gloucester Tree

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
7
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
1
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
7
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
6
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
3
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
7
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
67 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
192nd/454
Top 40%
continent
Oceania
country
Australia
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$20 ($10-$30 in 2025 prices)
Time of year visited
December
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Driving Forests Hiking
All Tags
Adrenaline rush
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐

Summary

Western Australia’s southwest is primarily known for its wonderful wines around the Margaret River region, but its forests are also simply magnificent with some of the tallest trees in the world around the suitably named “Valley of the Giants”.

Its certainly worth half a day to explore and the best way to do it is:

#1 Drive through the area – in particular on the Great Forest Trees Drive near the Shannon River.

#2 Walk the Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk – a walkway suspended 40m / 130ft high that allows you to walk through the forest canopy.

 

Very decent views from the Giants Treetop Walk, Western Australia

Very decent views from the Giants Treetop Walk

 

#3 Climb the Gloucester Tree – a giant Karri tree with a 58m / 190ft viewing platform at the top, making it the second tallest tree lookout in the world.  But it isn’t so much the height that is unusual.  Instead, it is the 153 spikes that ring the tree and are the method for climbing it that stands out.  For those even remotely scared of heights, this is a truly terrifying experience wrapped up as a family friendly activity – especially as people have to pass you by on the way up or down.  Only 20% of people make it to the top lookout . . . and back down again – respect if you do.

 

Climbing the Gloucester Tree in the Valley of the Giants, Western Australia

The Gloucester Tree – yes, hectic

 

The Gloucester Tree and Treetop Walk can get a little busy (relatively), so I would suggest prioritising the Great Forest Tree Drive as there are various options to be able to stop and have a walk around with the forest largely to yourself, including a 8km Great Forest Trees Walk across the Shannon River.  The drive is also in between Gloucester Tree and Treetop Walk, so you can then chose to drive to either as part of your route.

 

Highlights for us

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#1 The drive through the magnificent forests, occasionally stopping to have large walks all to yourself

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#2 The Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk - an elevated walkway that allows you to have the 40m / 130ft canopy view of these giants

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#3 The truly terrifying climb up the spikes to the viewing platform at the top of the giant 58m / 190ft tall Gloucester Tree.

Experiences Nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other Forest Experiences around the World

Cycling and drinking craft beers around the Chico Circuit in Bariloche
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Macquarie Harbour in Tasmania – fishing, sailing, trains and hiking
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hiking the 4 day / 3 night Inca Trail
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Half a day walking through Redwood national Park
⭐⭐

Hiking Zhangjiajie National Park
⭐⭐⭐⭐

A day walking through Yosemite National Park
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A trip to the end of the earth, 4 days in the Tierra del Fuego
⭐⭐⭐

10 day roadtrip around Tasmania
⭐⭐⭐

3 very civilised days in Torres del Paine National Park
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Driving through the Black Forest and visiting Baden-Baden
⭐⭐

Walking the Valley de Cocora, visiting the humming birds and soaking up Salento
⭐⭐⭐

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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