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2022 Bibbulmun Track Hiker Survey

At 1000km long, the Bibbulmun Track is one of Australia’s greatest long-distance hiking trails. The Bibbulmun Track Hiker Survey is designed to provide hikers with a comprehensive and up-to-date planning resource to help them prepare for any trip ranging from day hikes to end-to-end thru hikes.

At its core, the survey is community driven as it is only made possible by hikers sharing their knowledge and experience. In 2022 we had 82 responses. If you want to participate in the 2023 survey, you can be notified when the survey is opened by filling out the form below.

Due to the wide scope of the survey, the results have been broken down into the following sections:

  • Hiker demographics & motivation
  • Hiking statistics
  • Resupply
  • Gear
  • Hiker health
  • Common fears & advice for future hikers

If there is something that isn’t covered in the survey, make sure to let us know so we can improve it for next year. Finally, as with any survey, there are a number of limitations that must be considered when interpreting the results:

  • The survey results are only as reliable as the information collected.
  • Survey results will skew towards the types of people that answered the survey (as shown below).

Age

Gender

Hiker Demographics

Where Are Hikers From?

of hikers live in Australia.
0 %
of all hikers are from Western Australia.
0 %

Why Do People Choose the Bibbulmun Track?

of people choose to hike on the Bibbulmun Track because of its reputation.
0 %

How Do People Have Time to Hike on the Bibbulmun Track?

of people hike on the Bibbulmun Track during their annual leave.
0 %

Some More Quick Facts

of hikers did pre-hike training.
0 %
started their trek alone.
0 %
were planning their trip for <6 months.
0 %
of people had never hiked before.
0 %

Top Three Planning Resources

Hiking Statistics

When Is The Track Busiest?

The Bibbulmun Track is busiest in the second half of September and the first week of October. This typically corresponds with prime orchid season, ideal temperatures, and school holidays!

End-To-End (E2E) Hikers

Which Direction Do E2E Hikers Walk?

of hikers attempting an E2E walk southbound (Kalamunda – Albany).
0 %

Why Do Hikers Walk Southbound?

Why Do Hikers Walk Northbound?

How Long Does An E2E Take?

The average duration of an E2E was 48 days. This corresponds to hiking 20.8km per day (including rest days).

The average person took a total of 4 rest days (zeros) throughout their E2E.

How Much Does an E2E Cost?

The average total cost of a Bibbulmun E2E (including gear, transport, food etc).
~$ 0

What Is the Total Cost of Hiking the Bibbulmun Track?

The average on trail cost of a Bibbulmun E2E (food, accomodation etc).
~$ 0

How Much Does Hiking the Bibbulmun Track Cost?

The average cost per month on trail is $750, which works out to be $25 per day or $1.20 per kilometre!

Which Sections Do E2E Hikers Enjoy the Most? Which Is The Hardest?

Hikers favourite section of trail was Walpole to Denmark (30.2%), which was also rated as the most challenging section of trail (37.1%). Interestingly, however, 0% of people said Walpole to Denmark was both their favourite and most challenging section!

Favourite Section

Most Challenging Section

Why Do E2E Hikers Quit?

79.6% of hikers complete their end-to-end.

For those who don’t finish, 42.9% stop because they run out of time.

Return Rate

Of all E2E finishers, 76.7% reported that they would attempt another E2E.

16.3% would only hike their favourite sections again.

7.0% would not hike the trail again.

79.6% of hikers complete their end-to-end.

For those who don’t finish, 42.9% stop because they run out of time.

Why Do Hikers Not Finish Their E2E?

There was an issue displaying the chart. Please edit the chart in the admin area for more details.

Section hikers

The average section hiker completed 187.0 km along the Bibbulmun Track at any one time.

The most popular distance to hike was 60-80km, completed by 25.6% of hikers.

Most Popular Sections

Weighted by Distance from Perth

  1. Walpole – Denmark (↑ 2)
  2. Northcliffe – Walpole (↑ 2)
  3. Denmark – Albany (↑ 4)
  4. Balingup – Donnelly River (↓ 2)
  5. Donnelly River – Pemberton (↑ 3)
  6. Collie – Balingup (↓ 1)
  7. Pemberton – Northcliffe (↑ 2)
  8. Dwellingup – Collie (↓ 2)
  9. Kalamunda – Dwellingup (↓ 8)

Overall Popularity

1. Kalamunda – Dwellingup
0 %
2. Balingup – Donnelly River
0 %
3. Walpole – Denmark
0 %
4. Northcliffe – Walpole
0 %
5. Collie – Balingup
0 %
6. Dwellingup – Collie
0 %
7. Denmark – Albany
0 %
8. Donnelly River – Pemberton
0 %
9. Pemberton – Northcliffe
0 %

Although Kalamunda – Dwellingup is the most popular section to hike on, it is likely not because it is the most scenic or enjoyable. Instead, Kalamunda – Dwellingup is probably the most popular because it is close to Perth (where most section hikers live).

Once section popularity is weighted by distance from Perth, the two most popular sections are Walpole – Denmark and Northcliffe – Walpole. This aligns with what E2E hikers reported as their favourite sections.

What Factors Negatively Impact Experience?

There will always be aspects of hiking that can make trips less enjoyable. We asked hikers to rate the following factors out of 10 (10 being the highest), depending on how negatively they impacted their experience.

Resupply

Resupply Strategy

of hikers would not change their resupply strategy.
0 %
would not post any resupply boxes.
0 %
would mail food to every town.
0 %

“If I were to hike the trail again I would still mail some supplies, but resupply mostly from towns.”

“Next time, I would only send boxes to smaller towns, eg. Donnelly River.”

“Posting was so much hassle and didn’t work out to be much cheaper.”

Resupply Locations

Where Do Hikers Who Post Food Send Their Food Parcels To?

TWR stands for Three Ways Roadhouse. Note that it is currently closed and it is unclear if/when it will reopen.

How Do Hikers Rate Each Town for Their Resupply Options?

Dwellingup (7.3/10)
Collie (8.8/10)
Balingup (5.3/10)
Donnelly River (5.1/10)
Pemberton (7.6/10)
Northcliffe (6.2/10)
Walpole (7.5/10)
Denmark (8.3/10)

Other Food Parcel Facts

of hikers who posted food would change their parcel contents for next time. Of those hikers,
0 %
would pack less food.
0 %
would pack a larger variety of foods.
0 %
would pack more food.
0 %
would pack more dehydrated food.
0 %

How Did People Store Their Food at Night in Shelters?

The shelters on the Bibbulmun Track can attract mice and other rodents that might want to inspect your pack for food at night!

Note: Plastic tubs are typically only provided at shelters where rodents are more troublesome.

How Do Hikers Store Their Food at Night?

Gear

Base Weight

The average hiker base weight (pack weight minus food and water)
0 kg

What Baseweight Do Hikers Have?

Tents

carried a freestanding tent.
0 %
carried a double-walled tent.
0 %

Most Popular Tents

Sleeping Bags

of hikers carried a sleeping bag.
0 %
carried a quilt.
0 %

Female hikers carried a sleeping bag/quilt with an average temperature rating of -3.8°C (25.2F).

Male hikers carried a sleeping bag/quilt with an average temperature rating of -1.9°C (28.6F).

How Many Hikers Were Cold At Night?

Note that being cold at night may also depend on factors such as the R value of your sleeping mat, sleeping in a tent vs a shelter, and how much you ate for dinner!

Most Popular Sleeping Bags

Note: The temperatures ratings are supplied by the manufacturer. The S2S Flame uses the EN women’s comfort rating, whereas the S2S Trek and S2S Spark use EN lower limit ratings.

Sleeping Mats

of hikers carried inflatable mats.
0 %
carried foam mats.
0 %

Most Popular Inflatable Sleeping Mats

Most Popular Foam Sleeping Mats

Backpacks

The average backpack capacity.
0 L

Most Popular Backpacks

Stoves

of hikers carried a stove.
0 %

Of those, 92.0% used gas canisters for fuel.

The average pot capacity for a solo hiker was 1.0L.

Most Popular Stoves

Trekking Poles

of hikers used trekking poles.
0 %

Most Popular Trekking Poles

Shoes

The average E2E hiker used 1.3 pairs of shoes for the whole trail.

of hikers wore trail running shoes.
0 %
wore lightweight hiking boots.
0 %
wore heavy duty hiking boots.
0 %

Most Popular Shoes

Socks

The average E2E hiker carried 3 pairs of socks at any given time.

Most Popular Socks

Rain Jackets

Most Popular Rain Jackets

Insulation Layers

Most Popular Down & Synthetic Jacket

Most Popular Fleece Jackets

Electronics

of hikers carried a power bank.
0 %

The average power bank capacity was 12005 mAh.For an iPhone 14, that’s around 2.5 full charges.

Most Popular Power Banks

Most Popular SOS Devices

of hikers used their phone as one of their means of navigation.
0 %

Top 3 Apps Used by Hikers Who Navigate with Their Phone

1
FarOut (71.9%) ($14.99 USD)
2
Maps.Me (21.1%)
3
AllTrails (14%)

Additional Gear

Top 5 Additional Items

Camp shoes

Towel

Sit Pad

Paper Books

Town Clothes

Top 5 Items Hikers Picked Up

Blister care

Massage ball

Trekking poles

Bug net

Tarp (to use under mat in shelters)

Top 5 Items Hikers Discarded

Games

Umbrella

Guide books

Gas cannister stabiliser

Extra cooking utensils

Hiker Health

Injury

of hikers got injured on trail.
0 %
of these were new injuries.
0 %

On average, injured hikers took an additional 1 day of rest due to their injury.

On average, hikers estimate their injury cost them an additional ~$37.

Top 5 Injuries on Trail

1
Knee pain
2
Sprained ankle
3
ITB pain
4
Plantar Fasciitis
5
Shin splints

Illness

of hikers got injured on trail.
0 %

No hiker reported that they got COVID on trail.

Water Treatment

The average water carrying capacity.
0 L

How Often Did Hikers Treat Their Water?

Top 3 Water Treatment methods

1

Water purification tablets (used by 63.5% of hikers)

2
Water filter (used by 36.5% of hikers)
3
Boiling water (used by 21.2% of hikers)

Most Popular Water filters