The Gibb River Road is one of those infamous tracks, set in the remote Kimberley in far north Western Australia. Known to many as the caravan graveyard. With its relentless corrugations, loose gravel, sharp rocks and numerous water crossings. Many caravans don’t make it out without some damage. However, this is all part of the adventure, navigating the 660km of the outback dirt road. The land in this area dates back some 380 million years, with its stunning landscapes, fresh water gorges, remote camping spots with the beautiful night skies and the wildlife. This is exactly why we bought the car and caravan we did to explore these vast lands.
The start of the Gibb River Road
We chose to go in an East to West direction. We feel that was the better option, as we got the worst section out of the way early on. From leaving The Great Northern Highway to the Pentecost it’s bitumen, unless you take any side tracks to Emma Gorge or El Questro. Once off the Gibb, it turns into dusty tracks and water crossings to reach the sites.
Pulling over to let a road train pass
El Questro
El Questro is a sprawling 700,000 acres in the East Kimberley. With so much to offer, great hikes, deep gorges, waterfalls, rainforests, stunning ranges and hot springs, you have to visit El Questro. We opted not to stay within El Questro, as the camping rates are quite expensive. So we opted to camp down at the Pentecost River. This is a free camp, with nice big spaces and not crammed in like sardines at peak rates.
Emma gorge
We spent 2 days exploring the highlights of El Questro. The first afternoon we did Emma Gorge. It’s a solid hike…. It’s a 5.2km return hike. This is a distance we could normally knock off in less than a hour at a decent pace. However it took us 2 1/4 hours. The first part of the hike is a flat trail, then it starts to increase in intensity. Towards the end, it’s a rock scramble. Pulling yourself up boulders to reach the next level. We saw all agilities attempting the hike, so it can be done by most. However just remember, it’s not a sprint, take your time and enjoy the hike. Emma Gorge is spectacular, set within a towering gorge with a fresh waterhole at the end making the hike well worth the trek in.
Emma Gorge
Zebedee hot springs and pigeon hole lookout
The following day we headed into the main area of El Questro. We visited Zebedee Hot Springs and Pigeon Hole Lookout. We didn’t realise that that Zebedee Hot Springs closes at midday. So we didn’t really have time to emerge ourselves into the springs, plus they were pretty crowed still. So hot tip, get there early so you can find your little spot of serenity. However we did the walk in and saw what the springs had to offer. From there we headed out to pigeon hole lookout. The track out here has a couple of water crossings, corrugations, steep accents as you climb the range, but the views at the end are definitely worth it.
Pigeon Hole lookout
Zebedee Hot Springs
The Pentecost River
The Pentecost River crossing is worth a mention just because….. it’s the widest water crossing on the Gibb, it’s home to numerous salt water crocodiles and for any fishermen out there, it’s a great spot to catch Barramundi. We camped here for the night before heading across the river. It’s a good spot to watch the cars passing across, so you can plan your best track to navigate the crossing. During the dry season, the river isn’t too high but still has a decent flow.
There’s also wild cows that roam near the Pentecost, we say wild but they probably belong to El Questro, but they were getting around the camps and the river.
The Troopy crossing the Pentecost
The cows meandering as croc bait….
Home Valley station
Home Valley isn’t too far once you cross the Pentecost, but we’d heard such great things about this place we decided to stay for the night. There’s great facilities on the station, even an on site restaurant. The footy was on so we decided to grab a chicken schnitzel and a beer and watch the footy. The camping area is a case of park where you like. It’s all unpowered sites, but you can top up your water tanks and they have full working showers and toilets.
Entry to Home Valley
Chicken Schnitzel at Home Valley
Ellenbrae station
Next stop was Ellenbrae. This is a bigger station than home Valley. However they don’t have the on site restaurant like Home Valley. However their lure to get people in is the freshly baked scones they do each day and we’ve got to say, they are well worth the stop. Again, like majority of stops along the Gibb, Ellenbrae offers unpowered sites, but allows water top up. There are multiple areas within Ellenbrae to camp. Some of the sections were closed, so I think they must monitor bookings and open up accordingly. Ellenbrae also have beautiful showers, the one that we used was a watering can, with water cascading down. They have full working amenities for showers and loos.
Ellenbrae Homestead
Watercan shower
The Gibb River
The Gibb River rest area probably has to be one of our favourites along the entire trail. Literally sat on the Gibb River. Here there are no amenities so you have to be completely self contained. We got a great camp spot along the river. The river also covers the road too, so it cascades from the higher side of the river across the road, to the lower section. It’s a great spot for a swim in the water. It’s such a peaceful spot to camp. We’re not sure if people aren’t aware of it, but there weren’t too many people there the night we were.
The Gibb River
crossing the Gibb
Manning Gorge
Our next stop for a couple of nights was Manning Gorge Campground at Mt Barnett Roadhouse. To get to the roadhouse you have to cross the Barnett River. By this point we’d crossed multiple river crossings, however this one took us by surprise. She’s a deep crossing. The water came up deeper than we’d anticipated, water got into the footwell of the caravan. On the upside, it gave the chassis of the car and caravan a rinse. Manning gorge campground is a large camp. With a mix of shaded sites and open sites, something for everyone. From here you can visit Galvans Gorge and Manning Gorge
Galvans Gorge
This campsite is where you can do the hike out to manning gorge. The 5.6km return hike is a fairly moderate walk. The Walk actually starts off with a swim across manning river. There are plastic half barrels to transport your day pack across with you, or pop a small child in to.
Manning River
Once across, the walk is up and down ravines, with some fairly steep rugged sections. The hike gets progressively tougher as you near the end, with quite sheer descents to the plateau below before reaching the water. However once there, it’s worth every last step. It’s a grade 4 hike and doable for most, if you take your time navigating the terrain. Once at the water there are numerous pools to explore and rocks to clamber over, you can even climb to the top of the waterfall. Another tip is don’t leave it too late in the day to head out as you don’t want to be heading back in the dark, given the terrain and swim back.
Manning Gorge
Bell Gorge
We stayed at Imintji Campground to visit Bell Gorge. It’s a 29km drive from the campground down an off track. Again, there is well signposted trail to navigate to reach the gorge. It’s not as hard as the manning gorge hike so easy for most people. You reach the top of the falls first where there is a swimming hole to cool off in, or you can descend down the side of the waterfall to reach the lower body of water which is a solid grade 5.
Bells Gorge
Imintji Campground is a lovely medium sized camping spot, run by the local aboriginal community. Offering lovely roomy camp sites and clean ablutions. Feels like a little bit of paradise after numerous dusty camp spots.
The night sky at Imintji Campground
Lennard River
We based ourselves at Lennard River to explore Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek. We got the el presidente spot when we arrived. Literally parked up on the river bank overlooking the Lennard river and bridge. There was space for us and another small van. So many people tried to join our spot but if you had a big rig set up it wasn’t happening.
Prime camp spot at Lennard River
Both Windjana Gorge and Tunnel creek are a decent drive from Lennard River, Windjana is the closest of the two, which is a 30 minute drive. Tunnel Creek is a 90 minute drive. The roads are heavily corrugated making the distance longer to travel.
Windjana Gorge is a beautiful wide gorge with multiple freshwater crocodiles basking in the water and along the banks. There’s a walk you can do along the side of the water, it’s only 1.9km return walk. You can emerge yourself in the stunning scenery, the gorge is 360 million years old. This part of the Gibb was once at the sea bottom and the gorge walls contain nautiloid fossils
The basking fresh water crocodiles
Beautiful Evening at Lennard River
Tunnel Creek is another spectacular place to visit. Again, something’s worth visiting aren’t always east to get to. Once you’ve entered the park entrance, it’s a short walk down to the tunnel. The tunnel is quite the climb to get into. You have to scramble over large boulders and then drop into water on the other side. Over millennia, water has carved a tunnel some 20 meters high and 15 meters wide. Once in the water it’s a short swim to the other side. You’re not in the water alone, there are freshwater crocodiles in there too, however they’re not interested in you. Once at the other side the tunnel opens up into a cathedral style cavern. You can then walk through the tunnel until you reach the opening.
Tunnel Creek Swim
Birdwood Downs Station
Our final stop along the Gibb was Birdwood Downs Station. A beautiful stop after the dusty roads of the Gibb. It’s a working cattle station run in conjunction with Mount Elizabeth station also along the Gibb. We had so much laundry to do, all our bedding and clothes had that rusty red tone that the north west of Australia is famous for. After a mammoth afternoon of laundry we headed over to the camp fire. Birdwood downs put “nights” on each evening offering up tasty treats of food. The night we were there it was hot dog night, it was lovely to sit around the campfire exchanging stories of the Gibb and offering advice to those who are just about to start it in a west to east direction.
Good to be back on the bitumen….. Even with a rogue cow
This downloadable travel itinerary was great for us to refer to. You can download to any device. Gives you valuable information about what to expect plus distances between points of interest and camping spots. https://www.visitkununurra.com/explore/gibb-river-road