Gloucester Tree Reopens in WA's South West After Three-Year Closure
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- Western Australia's landmark Gloucester Tree in Pemberton has reopened to visitors after a three-year closure for safety upgrades.
- The iconic karri tree now allows climbs to a reduced height of 37 meters, offering a new viewing platform and boosting the local tourism sector.
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The Gloucester Tree, a landmark tourist attraction in Pemberton, Western Australia, was closed in 2023 due to structural issues and safety concerns, prompting a safety upgrade.
Tourism operators in WA's South West are celebrating the reopening of landmark tourist attraction, the Gloucester Tree, after its abrupt closure three years ago.
Visitors were allowed to make the historic climb up the native karri tree, located in Pemberton, 320 kilometres south of Perth, over the weekend, even though bad weather delayed official opening celebrations.
The attraction, which previously allowed visitors to climb 61 metres into the forest canopy without a harness or supervision, has reduced the height to which tourists can climb to 37 metres.
Once there, visitors land at a newly built viewing platform overlooking the forest.
For decades, the Gloucester Tree, along with the neighbouring Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree, served as major visitor drawcards for Pemberton and surrounding communities.
A combination of structural issues and safety concerns prompted WA authorities to close the attraction to climbers in 2023 and order a safety upgrade.
A tourist "rite of passage"
Pemberton Visitors Centre President Graeme Dearle said the community's relatively young tourism sector would benefit greatly from the tree's reopening.
"We're really enthusiastic about the future of what the Gloucester Tree will do to the tourism industry and the people that it will attract," he said.
Mr Dearle said the tree's closure had affected the tourism industry and the community at large.
"The longer it was closed, the more relevance it lost," he said.
"When you grow up in the area with an attraction, such as the Gloucester Tree, it does become a rite of passage and to see it closed was definitely a loss.
The town and surrounding Southern Forests region have spent more than a decade targeting travelling foodies in particular, as it pivots away from its timber industry roots.
Incredible views
Shire of Manjimup President Donelle Buegge said the view from the top was unmatched.
"It is a magnificent view," she said. "To watch the sunrise through the canopies of the trees is absolutely incredible."
Ms Buegge said the tree was a bridge between the town's timber industry roots and its new tourism focus.