Hiking Granite Skywalk, Borongur (Castle Rock), Porongurup NP, WA

The stunning views and incredible infrastructure of the two Granite Skywalk lookouts on Borongur (Castle Rock), is reached by a steep Class 5, 4.7km return trail, ascending 670m, allow 2 hrs. There are many stone steps, that pass the Balancing Rock to reach the impressive man-made ladders and viewing platforms after scrambling over rocks and climbing a 6m caged ladder. A large granite outcrop at the summit of Caste Rock supports the Granite Skywalk, a suspended walkway that spirals around the rock, with lower and upper lookouts that allow views of Albany on the south coast, Mt Gardner and Mt Manypeaks to the southeast, and the Stirling Range to the north. Traditional custodians of Porongorup National Park are the Minang Noongar people. 0:00 Granite Skywalk Trail markers and intro slide 0:14 "Welcome to Castle Rock" sign with trail map 0:37 Trail starts easy through the shad of the eucalyptus trees 0:56 First steps, wildflowers (weed, Centaurium; native Fan Flower, Scaevola) 1:16 Huge log across the track with path cut through 1:50 Flat track, another huge tree down 2:03 200m to go, steps get serious 2:14 Balancing Rock and sign 2:41 Sign "Choice of paths to the view", the rock scramble begins 3:00 Metal grab rails in the rock, first look at enclosed ladder to the lookout 3:12 Climbing the enclosed ladder 3:39 The man-made lookout curving around the rock 3:51 Sweeping vista 4:06 Looking back along the lookout infrastructure with supports into the rock 4:41 Back down using metal grabrails, and clambering over rocks 5:01 Side trail to the lower lookout structure 5:50 Back past other balancing rocks 6:14 The (quite big) Balancing Rock again, and on down the easy paths 7:14 Magpie, female, or young 7:21 Skywalk structure - more footage of stainless steel design for the engineers Share the experience as we capture the essence of hiking trails in Australia, non-narrated. Recorded Feb 2023.