Pemberton is a timber town in the south west of Western Australia, surrounded by tall karri forest, cool gullies, and national-park tracks. The sawmill still matters, but travellers come for the trees: pale trunks rising clean and high, with forest roads slipping away into Warren, Gloucester, and Beedelup national parks.
The signature experience is climbing one of the old fire lookout trees. The Gloucester Tree is the classic, while the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree is taller and more nerve-testing. If metal pegs around a giant trunk are not your idea of fun, Beedelup Falls gives you water, forest, and easier walking.
Pemberton works best as a slow forest base rather than a quick roadside stop. Give it a day for the trees and falls, longer if you want mountain biking, canoeing, or the rougher tracks deeper into the national parks.