The early settlers began to arrive in the Southern Forests and Valleys in the 1850s, drawn by the potential for farming, timber-milling and prospecting.

While there was plenty of water and fertile land, the heavily forested landscape offered many challenges too. The hardscrabble legacy of the pioneers can be explored in a number of ways, from climbing a bushfire look-out tree and peering into one of Western Australia’s earliest open-cut mine, to browsing museums filled with vintage photographs and machinery.