New book maps the Perth Hills' 40 best walks

Back when we first started the Perth is OK! website, we relied on the great work of many contributors from far and wide to help us talk about stuff we weren’t exactly the authority on at the time — like for instance, hiking. And the main man for all things hiking and walking trails around Perth and Western Australia is Mark Pybus AKA Life of Py.

His in-depth articles on some of the best walks around WA were a huge help for us back in the — and still to this — day, and his website is truly un-matched in terms of quality insights for those of us seeking to get out there and touch a bit of grass. So when we found out he’d just released a brand new book documenting all the great walking trails right in our own backyard, it was a great opportunity to catch up with an old friend.

We may have also bought ourselves a copy, and have made it our 2026 mission to cross all 40 of the list!

^{Troy Mutton, Editor-In-Chief, Perth is OK!}

Mark Pybus knows the Perth hills better than almost anyone.

The hiker, trail blogger, HikeWest board member and regular Perth is OK! contributor has just released his latest book, Best Walks of the Perth Hills — a guide to 40 walks stretching from Yanchep to Jarrahdale.

We caught up with him about hidden trails, post-hike bakeries, and what a perfect Sunday hike looks like for a man that’s been on a few!

You’ve hiked the Bibbulmun end to end, completed the Munda Biddi, and you run one of WA’s best trail websites. What made you want to put all of that into a book specifically about the Perth Hills?

Even when I travel to other states to go hiking, I still love having a physical guidebook to reference for research, and WA didn’t have a modern range of walking guidebooks.

The website is also a very different way of describing a trail, with a more personal journal style, while the guidebook provides much more information with regards to navigation, waypoints, history, environment etc…

Construction has started on LaunchPad Golf Fremantle, a $22 million multi-level golf and entertainment venue at the Fremantle Public Golf Course, with a sod-turning ceremony this week marking the official start of works.

The Canadian brand — which operates two venues in Calgary and recently opened its first US location in Minnesota — is bringing its format to Australia for the first time.

The model will be familiar to anyone who’s visited Hamersley since it got its big glow-up in 2024, or followed the recent Collier Park redevelopment in Como: bookable driving range bays with interactive game technology, food and beverage service, and a hospitality offering designed to pull in people who wouldn’t normally set foot on a golf course.