Three old rail corridors in this state got turned into decent riding. A fourth looks good on the map and rides average once you're actually on it. That's the short version of WA's rail corridor bike paths, and it's taken me a fair few weekends on different bikes to sort which is which.
The pattern's the same everywhere in Australia once a rail line closes. The corridor's already cleared, already graded to a gentle gradient because steam engines couldn't handle hills any better than a loaded hybrid can, and the land's usually still in public hands. Someone, eventually, lays gravel or asphalt down it and calls it heritage. Some of these rides earn that tag. Others are a dirt strip between backyard fences with a plaque at one end.
The Kalamunda line and what's left of it
The best-known conversion east of the city is the old Eastern Railway deviation through the hills, now ridden as the Kalamunda Railway Heritage Trail. This followed the line that hauled timber and passengers up from Perth before the route was abandoned for the standard-gauge realignment last century. You can still pick the grade by feel on a bike, long steady pulls rather than anything that'll have you out of the saddle.
Surface is compacted gravel for most of it, firm enough for a gravel bike at normal road pressure, though I'd drop a touch front and rear if you're running anything skinnier than 32mm, there's enough loose stuff on the bends near Gooseberry Hill to catch a narrow tyre off guard. The old station reserve near Railway Road in Kalamunda is still the easiest spot to pick the trail up, and Kalamunda History Village sits close enough that it's worth timing a stop there if you want context rather than just kilometres.
Kattamordo is the better bush loop, not the heritage line
If you've done the rail trail and want something with more bite, the Kattamordo Heritage Trail: Kalamunda's overlooked bush loop sits a short pedal away and isn't on a rail formation at all, it's bush track, narrower, rockier, and in my view a more honest ride than the rail line gets credit for. I reckon most people do the railway trail because it's signposted everywhere and skip Kattamordo because it doesn't photograph as well from the car park. That's backwards. The rail line is flatter and easier, fine for a family outing, but if you actually want technical interest you want Kattamordo and a mountain bike, not a hybrid.
The wider rail trail network, state to state
I've gone through the broader list of converted corridors before in WA's old rail trail bike paths: a quick tour, which covers more of the regional stretches further out from Perth. Worth a read if you're planning something longer than a half-day loop, because a lot of those corridors link up with gravel roads that aren't signed as trails at all, they're just quiet enough that nobody minds you being there.
What that piece and this one both run into is the same limitation: WA's rail network wasn't dense the way Victoria's was, so we don't have the stacked options of somewhere like the old Lilydale line. What we've got is a handful of decent segments, mostly near the hills, plus a scatter of shorter heritage walks that get lumped in with cycling content even though they were never built for bikes.
The heritage trails that aren't really rail trails
Two of those worth mentioning, mostly so you don't turn up expecting a smooth gravel strip, are the Star Swamp Heritage Trail and the Vlamingh Memorial Heritage Trail up in the northern suburbs. Neither follows an old railway formation. They're walking trails through bushland reserve, narrow in sections, with roots and sand patches that'll have a road bike squirming. On the old hybrid I keep for exactly this sort of thing they're fine, slow and a bit bumpy, good for a wander rather than a workout. Don't go in expecting rail-trail gradients because that's not what they are.
If you want distance, that's a different trail altogether
For riders after something longer than an afternoon, the real distance option in this state isn't a converted rail line at all, it's the purpose-built off-road route down through the south-west, run by the Munda Biddi Trail Foundation. Over a thousand kilometres of singletrack and forest track from Mundaring to Albany, built from scratch rather than inherited from a closed railway. It's a different kind of ride entirely, multi-day, mountain bike territory, proper planning required. I mention it here because people often ask if it's a rail trail and it isn't, though the northern end does cross some of the same hills country as the Kalamunda line.
Surface, gear and the bit everyone skips
Tyre choice matters more on these corridors than most riders account for. The compacted gravel sections hold up fine at 40 to 50 psi on a gravel bike, but drop closer to 30 if you're hitting loose patches on the steeper pinches, particularly after rain when the fines wash to the surface and sit loose on top of the base. A road bike will get you along the smoother stretches of the Kalamunda trail but you're taking a risk on the corners. Mountain bike is overkill unless you're detouring onto Kattamordo. Hybrid splits the difference and it's what I'd point most casual riders towards if they're doing the rail trail and nothing else that day.
For anyone wanting proper numbers on where WA's shared path and trail network actually stands, rather than my seat-of-the-pants version, WestCycle keeps better data than I do on path conditions and advocacy work across the state. Worth a look if you're the sort who wants the official line before taking a mechanic's opinion off a tourism website.
Which one's flat out the pick
For a short, easy, well-signed ride with actual rail heritage under your wheels, the Kalamunda line is it. It's not technical, the surface is forgiving, and there's enough grade to feel like you've done something without needing recovery time. That's flat out the pick for a family afternoon or a first gravel outing.
But if someone asks me for the better ride, not the easier one, I'll point them at Kattamordo every time, and I won't pretend the rail trail's reputation is fully earned just because it's got the plaques and the easier car park access. Good surface and a gentle gradient don't automatically make a ride interesting, they just make it accessible. Those are different things, and WA's rail corridor bike paths are mostly in the accessible camp rather than the interesting one. Nothing wrong with that. Just know what you're getting before you load the bike rack.