Private land experiences in the Avon Valley

Lavendale Country Retreat sits on 140 acres of wheatbelt bushland and open paddocks at Gilgering, in WA's Avon Valley, ten minutes from the historic town of York and ninety minutes from Perth Airport. The property holds two and a half kilometres of private Avon River frontage — a rarity in this part of the Wheatbelt, where riverside land is more often council or parkland than a working farm. Walking trails follow the water, the riverbed itself shifts with the seasons (dry and sandy through summer, running through winter and spring), and there's room to fish or paddle without leaving the boundary. Depending on the season, guests share the property with a small menagerie — alpacas, sheep, geese, chickens, a goat, an emu, a horse, and two resident cavoodles. Accommodation is cottage-style, and the farm's shared gathering spaces do double duty for retreats, group getaways and events, as much as for a couple after a quiet weekend. The property is run with sustainability front of mind, and guests are asked to help keep it that way. Ninety minutes from Perth Airport and ten from York — the state's oldest inland town — Lavendale is one of the closest genuine farm stays with real river frontage on the eastern side of the ranges.

A not-for-profit farm animal sanctuary at Gidgegannup, in the Perth Hills, taking in animals facing euthanasia or slaughter since 2008 — the same organisation behind the widely-shared "Timmy the Lamb" story. Guided walk-throughs let visitors meet the rescued goats, pigs, ponies and sheep firsthand, with the sanctuary's ongoing work funded through adoption and donation programs.

An olive grove and pressery at Daliak, just outside York in the Avon Valley, extra-virgin oil has been pressed here since 2002. The on-farm shop stocks the oil alongside tapenade, jams and marmalades, ice cream (award-winning at the Perth Royal Dairy Awards) and fresh bread, and the Pieralisi press is also used on contract to process fruit for other growers in the district — a taste of the Mediterranean settled into the WA wheatbelt.

WA's favourite archery destination since 1978 — fifty acres of natural bushland outside Toodyay where two self-guided trails, a nine-target Family Fun course and a fifteen-target Adventure trail, wind through the trees. There's a 20-to-80-metre target lane for distance work, bow hire for all ages, an archery store, and an on-site caravan park for those staying the weekend.

Laurelville Manor is an 1896 Edwardian manor on three acres on the side of Mt Brown, overlooking York and the Avon Valley, and home to the Marwick family for six generations. Now a country-house destination, it hosts weddings, conferences, private dining and house parties, offers beauty spa treatments, and finishes its guest rooms with New Zealand linen and merino blankets.

A Hamptons-style luxury estate at Wongamine, twenty kilometres from Toodyay, designed and built by interior designer Natalee Bowen and featured twice on the cover of Home Beautiful. The estate hosts weddings for up to 250 guests, corporate retreats, parties and media shoots against sweeping rural views, with staycation accommodation sleeping fourteen across the main house and the self-contained Blue Studio, plus a pool.

A 270-acre tree farm tucked between Beverley and Brookton, with five genuinely private campsites spread across wide-open Wheatbelt space — bushwalks through the trees, dark skies for stargazing, and creature comforts at some sites, including a wood-fired hot tub.

A 120-acre wheat, oats and livestock farm at Bejoording near Toodyay, with two campsites tucked under the wandoo and York gums beside a winter creek. Classic Wheatbelt cropping fills the paddocks around you, there are two farm dams, and Drummonds nature reserve is just down the road.

A private animal rescue and rehabilitation centre on a nature reserve at Dewars Pool near Toodyay, where Marc and Jane run bookable farm sessions capped at twenty-five guests — feeding and meeting hand-raised lambs, goats, donkeys, camels, deer, alpacas and more, every animal named after a famous singer. Day sessions run alongside on-site camping and accommodation, with picnic and BBQ areas and a playground.

Green Gables Stables is a family-run horse-riding operation at Bakers Hill, owned and run by the Cranfield family for more than 40 years. The property doubles as a permanent home for rescue horses and farm animals, and visitors can book trail rides or riding lessons across a range of abilities.

A chalet retreat at West Toodyay in the Avon Valley where the stay comes with clay — the adults-only retreat runs pottery workshops on the property alongside the Olive Garden Chalet accommodation, with the valley's bushwalks, lookouts and river paths all around.

A grand heritage house on five acres of grounds in York's historic Avon Valley, overlooking Mount Brown and within walking distance of the town's attractions — taking guests in its historic rooms and hosting country-house weddings, corporate retreats and functions for up to thirty delegates. The drawing room, library and gardens carry the character of the house.

A 300-acre farmstead in the Needling Hills east of York, just over an hour from Perth, that's grown into a full adventure park — a 4WD park, Lake Kimberley for swimming with the licensed Bar & Grill alongside it, bushwalking trails, a caravan park and campground — plus, carrying on the property's original purpose, a working airfield and flying school.

A not-for-profit, volunteer-run animal sanctuary home to more than 300 rescued animals, offering Goat Yoga sessions and sanctuary tours alongside its ongoing rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming work.

Billed as the oldest emu farm in the world, this farm near Toodyay opens to the public three days a week, Friday to Sunday, for a 40-minute guided tour walking among the emus and their chicks. An on-site shop sells emu-based products.

A long-established horse riding school on a 140-acre property at Gidgegannup in the Perth Hills, offering five arenas, a cross-country course, an 800m training track and private riding trails. Lessons cater to all ages from three years, alongside agistment, leasing and pony club.

A family-run riding school in Gidgegannup, operating since 1979 and a member of the Australian Horse Riding Centres. Offers private, shared and group lessons, plus term programs that pair each child with the same pony all term to build confidence and a bond. Also runs day camps, pony rides and twilight rides.

An off-grid eco outback farm at Wattening, an hour and a half from Perth, running farm stays, day tours, school camps and staff retreats. Guests feed the horses from a tractor-drawn trailer, meet the kangaroos, emus and peacocks, fish and canoe the shallow lake, and finish with a starry-sky night.

A small farm near York that opens its sunflower and canola fields each season for walks and photos, with miniature farm animals to pet and farm-gate eggs and soap.