Gloucester National Park is a national park in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

 (Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

), 281 km south of Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

 and about 3 km from Pemberton, Western Australia

Pemberton, Western Australia

Pemberton is a town located in the South West region of Western Australia, named after the early settler Pemberton Walcott. It is the home of the karri tree, the largest tree in Western Australia and the third largest hardwood tree in the world...

.

This park contains the Gloucester Tree

Gloucester Tree

The Gloucester Tree is a giant karri tree in the Gloucester National Park of Western Australia. At 72 metres in height, it is the world's tallest fire-lookout tree, and visitors can climb up to a platform in its upper branches for a spectacular view of the surrounding karri forest...

, a renowned karri

Karri

Eucalyptus diversicolor, commonly known as the Karri, is a eucalypt which is native to the wetter regions of south west of Western Australia.-Description:...

 tree. Visitors can climb up to a viewing platform 61 metres (200 ft) above the ground, using the climbing pegs inserted into the tree. The tree and the park are named after the then Governor General

Governor-General of Australia

The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...

 the Duke of Gloucester

Duke of Gloucester

Duke of Gloucester is a British royal title , often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England, the next in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; this current creation carries with it the...

 who visited the area in 1946.

The tree served as a fire lookout and had the platform, cabin and climbing pegs installed in 1947, it was one of eight lookout trees constructed in the area between 1937 and 1952.

By 1963 it was estimated that over 3,000 people had climbed the tree, and in 1973 the original wooden cabin was demolished and replaced with an aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

 and steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 cabin and gallery.

Another popular attraction in the park is The Cascades, a cascade waterfall in Lefroy Brook.

External links

• Gloucester National Park - Department of Environment and Conservation