thumb|View of Range from Toolbrunup
Stirling Range National Park is a national park in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, approximately south-east of Perth.
There is also an eponymous locality, stretching across the shires of Cranbrook, Gnowangerup and Plantagenet, but the boundaries of the national park and the locality are not identical.
Description
It protects the Stirling Ranges ( or , meaning ), a range of mountains and hills over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranbrook eastward past Gnowangerup. Notable features include Toolbrunup, Bluff Knollthe tallest peak in the southwestern regionand a silhouette called the Sleeping Princess which is visible from the Porongurup Range.
Popular recreational activities in the park include bushwalking, abseiling and gliding. Camping is permitted only in Moingup campsite within the park boundaries (fee applies). Other peaks which have tracks include Mount Trio, Talyuberlup Peak and Mount Magog. A premier walk known as the Stirling Ridge Walk is usually done over two days and includes Ellen Peak (the most easterly peak) and Bluff Knoll.
History
The traditional owners are the Mineng and Koreng groups
The first European to sight the range was Matthew Flinders in January 1802 while he was exploring the southern coast of Australia. He named the range Mount Rugged.
Sandalwood cutters established a track through the park in about 1848. European settlers arrived in the late 1800s initially around Amelup and farmed much of the surrounding areas. John Forrest climbed Toolbrunup in 1881 with Henry Samuel Ranford and made a cairn at the summit.
The National Park was gazetted in 1913 and the first park ranger was appointed in 1964.
In 2020, a bushfire caused by lightning devastated of park land.
In August 2022, there was a lot of snow in the park.
Environment
thumb|Stirling Range heath
The area is of great biogeographic and evolutionary interest and displays one of the richest floras in the world.
The park is particularly rich in banksias, eucalypts, orchids and verticordias. Ten species of mountain bells (Darwinia spp.) have been identified in the park and only one of these is found outside Stirling Range.
Five major vegetation communities are known in the park with thicket and mallee-heath at higher elevations and woodlands, wetlands and salt lake communities on the lower slopes and plains.
Fauna
thumb|[[Varanus gouldii on road in park]]
The park has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports populations of endangered short-billed black cockatoos and western whipbirds, and is visited by endangered long-billed black-cockatoos.
Many native mammals are found in the park including the western pygmy possum and the western grey kangaroo.