About Donnelly River Village
A SPECIAL LITTLE PLACE IN THE FOREST…
Donnelly Village. To put it simply, it’s special.
A historic mill town nestled deep in the heart of Australia’s South West karri forests, it’s the perfect place for a unique escape from the hustles and hassles of modern life.
A short drive to Bridgetown, Nannup and Manjimup, and within an hour’s drive of the Margaret River Wine Region, the village is a great base from which to explore Australia’s South West.
Built in the 1950s for the Bunnings Brothers, the thirty-five workers cottages, boarding house and club overlook the original steam mill, school (now a bunk-house for Bibbulmun hikers and Munda Biddi bike trail adventurers), butcher shop (now a school-holidays screening theatre) and general store (now a cafe, social gathering place, and store for Donnelly guests).
The village has its own forest swimming lake, oval, tennis, basketball and beach-volley ball courts and an awesome 50m flying fox that’s a favourite with the kids.
The tame kangaroos, emus, possums, kookaburras, magpies, parrots, blue wren and other wildlife that wander through the village and visit cottages are one of Donnelly’s most memorable charms.
Our affordable self-contained cottages are perfect for couples, families and groups large and small looking for that special break. You can experience the quiet, detox from technology and explore and enjoy Donnelly and the surrounding region with your friends and family.
Simply serene, simply charming, simply great fun and value.
The Owner Group
We often get asked how a special place like Donnelly exists and who’s behind all this back-to-basics goodness?
Donnelly is collectively owned by a large group of community minded people and their families.
The group got together and pooled their resources in 2009 when the village came up for sale after 25 odd years of being run by two private owners.
Since then we’re constantly working to improve the facilities of the village without losing any of its authentic qualities, and each cottage displays the character of its new owners more and more.
We employ a great team of Donnelly staff and we leave the running of the village in their capable hands with a bit of input here and there.
As Donnelly custodians, our plan is to conserve the environment, wildlife and Mill Town heritage for future generations. We also aim to be sensibly sustainable and eco friendly in our approach.
Most importantly though, what we’re really about is sharing the magic of Donnelly with you, your friends and your family.
For us, spending time at Donnelly is about enrichment and enjoyment and remembering what’s important in life outside the daily grind, and we hope that’s the experience for all our guests.
We love our special little place in the forest and we think you’ll love it too.
Stayed here for a couple of nights for a friends wedding and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The cottage we were in was comfortable and quiet. The staff at the general store were helpful and friendly. Would not hesitate to come back and stay longer.
"My family and I have been staying at Donnelly River for years now and would still recommend it to everyone. It is a great place to get back to nature, no technology just relaxation in the forest. Between feeding the kangaroos, emus and birds to the beautiful walk trails or a short trip into the nearby country towns this place has it all for a perfect get away"
"We spent the weekend as a group here in August, 17 people all up and 11 were kids. Not a bored kid all weekend. This place is lovely. The houses are old but spacious and clean. The kids all hand fed and played with the animals all weekend, rode their push bikes, went on adventures and night time possum spotting. Gorgeous little fire pits for marshmallows out the back of each house, lovely wood fire in the homes with wood and fire lighters ready to go. Was a truly lovely escape from reality for the weekend with no tv or phone reception. Will be back"