This 73 hectare reserve (Location numbers 11658, 20020) is vested to the shire of Narrogin as a gravel reserve. The reserve forms most of an ancient lateritic mesa and includes private land that the owner has fenced out and boosts the area to over 80 hectares. The reserve is a remnant on the the eastern edge of Darling Range Jarrah forest.
The mesa is part of a land surface that formed hundreds of millions of years ago and has mostly eroded away, but is still extensive in the Darling Range to the west where it is mined for bauxite. Soils on this land surface are very poor for agriculture.
The next image shows the reserve and an adjoining remnant of the old land surface surrounded by farmland on newer soils formed on lower land layers. If the separation of India and Antartica from Australia had not caused uplift, faults, and tilting, to disrupt the old land surface there would be no wheatbelt agriculture today, just sandy woodland and scrub and more bauxite.
The next image shows the reserve and an adjoining remnant of the old land surface surrounded by farmland on newer soils formed on lower land layers. If the separation of India and Antartica from Australia had not caused uplift, faults, and tilting, to disrupt the old land surface there would be no wheatbelt agriculture today, just sandy woodland and scrub and more bauxite.
The following exaggerated height image from Narrakine South Road side shows a gentle ridge and upland plain of the mesa, which is mostly surrounded by breakaways. The infertility of the plain is illustrated by sandy cleared land on the south side of Contine Road that the owner has left out of agriculture.
There are no fire access roads, just a network of tracks that can be rough and stony in places. Illegal wood cutters have been cutting Jarrah for many years. Apart from gravel and sand mining activity on the south and western sides, vegetation is in surprisingly good condition, and there is a healthy bird community. There are few orchids in the reserve. I have seen greenhoods and purple enamel orchids.
Sandy soils support open Jarrah woodland with low Lepidobolus rush and sparse shrub understorey.
 Open Jarrah woodland |  Recent illegal firewood cutting |
Much of the area is shallow stony ironstone supporting Wandoo-Jarrah woodland, which has either a sparse understorey or dense Banksia / Dryandra nobilis shrubs. The reserve has not been burnt for decades. Similar soil at North Yllliminning Nature Reserve produced profuse understorey regrowth after fire.
 Woodland with sparse understorey |  Woodland with sparse understorey |
Breakaways surrounding the mesa include spots with moss and lichen encrusted outcrops and are lined by Brown Mallet thickets.
Ancient ironstone breakaway coated with lichens and moss
Brown mallet thicket below breakaway
Regenerated gravel pit The shire of Narrogin has ripped the abandoned gravel pit adjoining Narrakine South Road and planted trees, which have made reasonable growth in most of the area. There is also some shrub regeneration in bare ground.
The most attractive bush in the reserve is a north-south strip of kwongan shrubland on the slope above the gravel pit, which has a lovely range of wildflowers in September and October.
 Stylidium schoenoides |  Stylidium expeditionis |
 Pimelea sauveolans |  Kunzea micromera |
 calothamnus planifolius |  Beaufortia ericifolia |
 Petrophile striata |  Synaphea sp., Dampiera lindleyii |
 Vericordia acerosa |  Hibbertia commutata |
 Chloanthes coccinea |  Mirbelia commutata |