Trek West will close the station gate to tours

Founded by Shelly Hawkins in 2017, Trek West was created to showcase some of Australia's most rugged and remote landscapes by trekking through Ms Hawkins' family property, Herbertvale Station.

The 159,850 hectares (395,000 acres) Droughtmaster cattle station, located two hours north of Camooweal, broadened its horizons tapping into the tourism market as a glamping trekking experience.

"A friend of mine wanted to do a trek overseas and I was unsure about doing a big trek overseas, so I thought we could do a hike from the top end of our property to the homestead," Ms Hawkins said.

"My mother-in-law and I would talk about being able to do something with tourism up here but we didn't know what to do, so on that trek was when it occurred to me how I could showcase our property and do some hikes up there.

"It was going to be a very simple affair like bring your own tent but the idea kept growing into a bigger deal than I ever imagined it would."

The business grew to cater for two different treks, one spanning 90 kilometres across six days, camping at a different location each night and another spanning 40 kilometres across five days, returning to the glamping tents at the stock camp each night.

"Catering became quite a big part of it also, so doing really nice meals and wines, very lux with long tables, white table cloths and wine glasses," Ms Hawkins said.

"The element of surprise when people got there was amazing and seeing the finer things out in the middle of nowhere was really nice to be able to provide. Also having beautiful, healthy wholesome meals with a little gourmet was really well received and nice to do."

After six years in business Ms Hawkins announced that Trek West would close in 2024, shutting the gate to the tourism industry.

"Life back at home is getting quite busy and my roles there have changed a bit. I always thought I would set out to do trekking until they finished school, and my second child finishes school next year so that has gone to plan," Ms Hawkins said.

"I feel I need to be home more often, more office and admin and day to day running of the station and some stock work when I can manage to get out of the office."

Ms Hawkins said bookings for 2024 were filling up fast, with limited spots available.

"Next year is almost fully booked up. It has filled quite fast which is nice. As soon as word got out that it was the last year, bookings were snatched up quite quickly," she said.

"I will certainly miss a few aspects of it. I'll miss all the people and meeting women my own age. On a station I find the crew are much younger than myself so it was nice to speak to like-minded people and meet new people.

"I'll miss being up there. I enjoy being up there and exploring all of the different parts of waterholes and rock faces and just having a little time out in a beautiful part of the country that is quite inaccessible to anyone else."