Private land experiences in the Southern Forests

Dalmore Farm has worked 250 acres of the Blackwood River Valley at Winnejup, near Bridgetown, since the Scott family took it up around the turn of the last century — one of the valley's longest continuously farmed properties. The age of the place shows rather than just reads on a page: the pear trees in the orchard are old enough that nobody alive planted them, and they still crop heirloom fruit every season. The shearing shed dates from the same era and has been restored and converted into a function space with a commercial kitchen and room to entertain outdoors — the reason Dalmore now hosts weddings and group gatherings alongside its farm stays. A creek runs through the property year-round and carries fish with it, and the accommodation sits on the working farm itself rather than at its edge, so a stay here means sharing the land with the day-to-day business of the place. For a hundred years of working-farm history near Bridgetown, or a wedding in a shearing shed that has actually sheared sheep, Dalmore is the reference point in the Blackwood Valley.

Dalton's Paddock puts three separate stays — two tiny homes and a homestead — on forty acres of working land seven minutes outside Manjimup, across vines, truffle trees, olive groves and a fruit orchard. Rather than fence guests off from the farming, the property lets you walk straight into it: stroll the vineyard, explore among the truffle trees, and in season pick fresh fruit straight from the orchard. Manjimup carries the truffle-capital title for the whole southern hemisphere, and staying here puts that industry at the doorstep rather than down the road. The three stays — The Soak and Watertree, the tiny homes, and the four-bedroom Homestead — are spaced apart for privacy: the tiny homes suit couples, the Homestead a family or larger group, and none of the three crowd each other across the paddocks. Weddings are also held on site. For a working vineyard stay near Manjimup where truffle country is the back yard, not just the district, Dalton's Paddock is the pick of it.

Clover Cottage Retreat is a farmstay wrapped around an 1875 pioneer homestead on the Warren River, between Pemberton and Manjimup in the Southern Forests. The homestead itself is one of the district's original pioneer buildings, and the self-contained limestone chalets are positioned to look straight down over a trout-stocked lake to the forest valley behind it. Fishing isn't an afterthought here — the lake sits on the farm, it's stocked with trout, and the property markets it as one of the main reasons to come, not a bonus. Chalets come with wood fires, private spas and their own barbecues, cottage gardens surround the buildings, and the grounds host country weddings — so it suits a quiet week by the water as much as a celebration. For a farmstay near Pemberton with genuine heritage, its own stocked fishing lake and the Warren River at the boundary, Clover Cottage has few equals in the Southern Forests.

Big Brook Retreat is an adults-only chalet retreat on 15 acres at the edge of Big Brook State Forest, six kilometres from Pemberton in the Southern Forests. The chalets are contemporary self-catering builds set among quiet gardens, with karri forest filling the outlook rather than a road or a car park — some come with their own spa. Hosts live on the property, and keeping the retreat adults-only is a deliberate choice: it's built for couples winding down, not families with a full itinerary. The forest is the whole point of the address. Big Brook's own 15 acres run straight up to the state forest boundary, and the forest's walking trails, Big Brook Dam's swimming and the district's mountain-bike tracks all start close by — outside the fence rather than on the property itself, but few retreats put karri views on the deck and this much within reach. For an adults-only stay near Pemberton with the forest genuinely at the end of the garden, Big Brook Retreat delivers exactly what its name promises.

A farm-experience venue at Southampton, near Balingup, run by owner Katherine, who personally guides small groups through meeting, feeding and patting the resident animals. The farm also runs animal-therapy sessions and school-holiday programs, and takes a mobile version of the farm off-site to events and special occasions.

A farmstay of self-contained cottages a kilometre outside Pemberton, on a working farm backed by the karri forest of Pemberton Forest Park. Every morning starts with an 8:30 hayride and animal feeding, and the property also runs bookable half-day wellness sessions — tea ceremony, Qi Gong, sound healing — alongside hosting weddings.

A family-run farm stay eight kilometres south of Bridgetown, in the South West wine region, with A-frame chalets alongside two larger country cottages. The animals are hands-on — guests feed them, help milk the cows — and the farm runs the same routine as a day program for visiting school groups.

A retreat and workshop venue at Mullalyup in the Blackwood Valley, combining hotel-style bed-and-breakfast rooms with an event space available for hire. On-site holistic offerings - massage, sound therapy and pamper-and-stay packages - make it as much a small venue as a place to stay.

A regenerative farm on the South Western Highway just outside Bridgetown, raising pasture-raised chickens under the motto 'real food, real people, real values.' Produce is available from the on-site farm shop or via online ordering for collection, and the property also offers accommodation and hosts events through the year.

A Pemberton estate winery at Channybearup, where vineyard, cellar door, restaurant and accommodation all sit on the one property. Stay a few nights, dine at the estate, and taste the Walcott and Bowers ranges right where the grapes are grown.

A boutique honey producer and packer at Channybearup near Pemberton, working with unprocessed, 100% natural West Australian honey. Pemberton Honey Co. calls itself a centre of excellence connecting people to the bush — running experiences built around the bees, the land and the environment, telling a story of time and place through the hive.

A family strawberry farm at Smith Brook in the Southern Forests, growing berries in Manjimup's famous soil and known for supplying the big supermarkets — with the rows also opened for pick-your-own visits in season. Grown with love by Aussie families.

A family-run truffière in the karri forests of Manjimup, in WA's Southern Forests, where Leanne and Scott Johnstone — with Solly the truffle dog leading the way — grow and harvest French black truffles. The farm opens each winter for guided truffle hunts: search the ground with Solly, then taste what you find fresh from the earth.

A working 320-acre farm at Collins, tucked just off the South Western Highway between Pemberton and Manjimup, with unpowered, self-contained-only camp sites -- each with its own fire pit -- plus a kids' bike track. Farmland stretches one way, bush the other, and the truffle-and-wine country of the Southern Forests is a fifteen-minute drive.

Two tiny houses set on Warren Valley Farm, a 270-hectare regenerative farm of river country, rolling hills and karri forest at Quinninup near Pemberton. The property takes in the privately owned Lake Janis and views over the Warren River valley, and the farming family runs tours connecting guests to how their food is grown.

A dedicated retreat venue at Kangaroo Gully near Bridgetown, hired out whole for a group's own retreat or joined individually for scheduled programmes, with ten bell tents set among the bush. The venue supplies fire pits, communal gazebos, a commercial sound system and full set-up, and its calendar runs from yoga and women's wellness retreats to grief and trauma-therapy programmes. Access extends from the grounds into the surrounding state forest.

A historic homestead bed and breakfast at Dingup outside Manjimup, with ensuite queen rooms, a two-bedroom family cottage sleeping up to eight, and grounds that host weddings, celebrations and functions.

A hundred-acre wedding and events property in the Blackwood River Valley just outside Balingup, where ceremonies are held under stands of pine and a barn on site hosts the reception. Six timber cottages on the grounds sleep the bridal party for the weekend, or work as farm-stay accommodation on their own.

A working truffière between Pemberton and Manjimup with more than two thousand truffle-producing trees, doubling as a luxury wedding venue with lodge accommodation for up to sixteen guests and views over forest and river. Fresh truffles and truffle trees are sold from the farm in season.

Jalbrook Estate is an adults-only retreat at Balingup, built around seven deluxe rammed-earth cottages that sleep up to thirty-three between them. It doubles as a wedding venue, with the rustic Forest Clearing set aside as a dedicated ceremony space. Tree-lined driveways lead in past a babbling winter brook, and the cottages lean into the mood with wood fires, private spas and twin outdoor bath tubs; two of the seven welcome pets.

A family farming estate at Eastbrook near Pemberton, first farmed by the Radomiljac family in the 1970s and planted to vines in 1995 by Monica and David Radomiljac. Bookable wine experiences run at the cellar door, and the estate's winter Black Perigord truffles ship direct from the ground to your kitchen.

Two hundred acres of open grazing country in the Blackwood River Valley at Benjinup, with six self-contained campsites looking out over the valley. Guests get the run of the farm — walking, running or riding a bike by day, clear skies for stargazing at night — with the Nollajup Nature Reserve on two sides and the Blackwood River itself close enough for a morning of fishing or a paddle.

A working farm of towering karri set on 100 acres outside Pemberton and wrapped by D'Entrecasteaux National Park, with the Warren River winding through the property. Three self-contained campsites sit on the riverbank, twenty minutes from Pemberton and Northcliffe and forty-five minutes from the Yeagarup dunes.

A quiet 40-acre farm retreat five kilometres up Sandhills Road in the Brookhampton Valley, where a winter brook runs through peaceful meadows and Donnybrook's orchards and wineries are nine kilometres away.

A not-for-profit respite and community centre on the edge of Balingup, run as a registered charity since 1983. Groups and individuals come for retreats, courses and organised activities, with rooms offered on a donation basis rather than a set tariff.

A family-owned horse and cattle property on eighty acres of state forest at Winnejup, running lessons, trail rides and hands-on cattle-work sessions for riders at every level, plus kids' camps and arena hire for those who bring their own horse. Multi-day visitors can pitch a tent and turn a lesson into an overnight stay.

A family-run black truffle orchard in the Southern Forests near Manjimup — a region with a big reputation for premium black truffles — growing and hunting Périgord truffles (Tuber melanosporum). Entry is by appointment only, with biosecurity requirements for all visitors.

A three-generation family potato farm near Manjimup in the Southern Forests, run by Andrew and Lisa Falcinella alongside Andrew's parents, with an ongoing commitment to regenerative farming practices. Farm visits and tours are available by arrangement.

An organic working winery and cidery on a six-hectare property in Pemberton, its buildings hand-built from mud brick and recycled timber over two years. The cellar door doubles as an art gallery, and the estate offers self-contained camping. Tangletoe Cidery, established in 1987, was the first cidery in Western Australia.

Perched beside the Donnelly River and cradled by old-growth karri forest at Peerabeelup near Pemberton, Ampersand Estates is Western Australia's only fully integrated luxury estate — a boutique winery, the artisanal Rainfall Distillery, premium accommodation across three residences, and exclusive-use event spaces for weddings and functions, all on one property.

A zipline and high ropes park strung through the karri giants at Pemberton, with courses for juniors through to twenty-five metres off the ground.