The black truffle is one of the best things about winter in WA. They go well with pasta, steak, burgers, and just about everything else. The downside is they’re quite inconvenient to farm.
They grow underground, on the roots of oak and hazelnut trees, and the only way to find one is to follow a dog that can smell it — the ones we’ve encountered have all been very friendly labradors. In the Southern Forests around Manjimup, the truffle harvest runs from early June through September, and during those months, the region produces more than 80 per cent of Australia’s black truffles.
Truffle season is short, so best to plan a trip now rather than later. A truffle hunt, followed by a long lunch built around the day’s haul, makes for the perfect excuse for a weekend down south.
Here are six small towns to plan your trip around.
Manjimup
Manjimup is the centre point of WA’s truffle industry, and the place to start. Truffle Hill (formerly The Truffle & Wine Co) planted WA’s first commercial truffière in 1997 and remains the largest producing truffière in the southern hemisphere, with a restaurant, a cellar door, and guided hunts through the orchard during the season. You’ve probably seen their truffle oil in supermarkets and their truffles on restaurant menus.
Truffle Kerfuffle, the region’s most popular festival, returns in 2026 as a dining series rather than the old three-day event, with dinners in Manjimup on the 26th and 27th of June. If the dates suit, build your weekend around the event. The hunts and lunches run for months on either side, so your weekend away doesn’t depend on the festival.
Pemberton
Pemberton, about half an hour south of Manjimup, is the other half of the Southern Forests truffle region. A stay here also means you’re in one of the south west’s best wine regions, especially for pinot noir and chardonnay. Several of the truffières pair a morning truffle hunt with a sit-down lunch; think prime cuts with fresh shaved truffle, truffled cheese, winter vegetables, and a glass of local vino.
The town also has a high-ropes course in the forest, and the long Karri Forest Explorer drive, so a truffle lunch can sit at the centre of a fuller day rather than being the main event.
Our pick is to stay at Ampersand Estate while you’re in Pemberton — home to WA’s People’s Choice pinot noir.
Nannup
Nannup is in the Blackwood River Valley, about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Perth. It’s close enough to reach Manjimup’s orchards for a morning hunt and quiet and secluded enough to make it a perfect weekend away for two.
The town’s small microbrewery, cafes, and galleries should be on your to-do list while you’re there, and the River Walk Trail along the Blackwood is the perfect way to start the day (when it’s not raining).
Bridgetown
Bridgetown takes the truffle in a different direction. This is a town that already fully embraces winter — it calls itself WA’s winter capital and runs a season-long winter festival called Fridgetown. By a different direction, we mean the local drinks producers have folded the truffle into what they brew.
The Cidery and Blackwood Valley Brewing Co. have both turned out truffle-season releases, a truffle cider and a truffle ale among them, which is about as Bridgetown an approach to the season as you could ask for. Pair that with the Sunday markets and the heritage main street, and Bridgetown becomes the relaxed, glass-in-hand stop on a truffle itinerary.
Balingup
Balingup is usually a town you pass through on the way south, without giving it a second thought. It sits in rolling green farmland about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Perth, and despite its small size, it’s the perfect spot for a quiet weekend away.
The region’s truffle hunts cluster further south around Manjimup, so treat Balingup as home base while you explore the region on a series of day trips. You can also browse the local shops and walk through the Golden Valley Tree Park, which looks magnificent during the wet season.
Northcliffe
Northcliffe is the smallest and most remote town here, sitting in tall karri country south of Pemberton, on the outer edge of the Southern Forests truffle region.
The reason to make the detour to Northcliffe is the Understory Art and Nature Trail, a 1.2-kilometre walk through Northcliffe Forest Park threaded with more than 70 sculptures by Western Australian, national, and international artists. Pair a cold-weather walk through the karri with a truffle lunch back up the road, and Northcliffe makes for a truffle weekend very different from your usual weekend in the south west.
