The Kimberley region in the outback Western Australia is one of the most remote, wild and spectacular places in Australian outback. It is huge – it covers 423,000 sq km of Kimberley plateau from Kununurra in east to Broome in west, and it is full of excellent outback national parks, beautiful gorges and remote camping places. On this Kimberley page you find information about places to visit in the Kimberleys, and in the end of the page there is an Australian outback map, showing you the Kimberley region.
Broome Attractions and Broome Accommodation The biggest town in the area is Broome (pop 14,000) - a real Australian outback town with its world-famous Cable Beach, pearling history and modern pearl farms, Chinese and Japanese Cemeteries, Sun Pictures – the world’s oldest operating outdoor cinema, and the Staircase to the Moon phenomenon on the Town Beach between March and October. Broome accommodation include Broome’s Last Resort, Cable Beach Backpackers; and if you want to camp, there are the Roebuck Bay Caravan Park and Palm Grove Holiday Resort.
Kimberley Australia: Cable Beach Western Australia Red Sun Camels and Broome Camel Safaris take you to the famous camel rides along Broome's famous Cable Beach. Other activities are offered by the Pearl Luggers, Willie Creek Pearl Farm, Western Blue Sea Kayak, Outback Ballooning, LizArt Broome Tours, Astro Tours, and the Lurujarri Songcycle Heritage Dreaming Trail which takes you out of town to the Western Australia outback with Goolarabooloo Aboriginal People.
Cape Leveque Broome and Derby WA South of Broome is the Broome Bird Observatory where there is some good birdwatching, walking trails and a campground. North of Broome is Willie Creek (where the Willie Creek Pearl Farm tours go from Broome although with a 4WD you can drive here yourself), and Cape Leveque Broome with some stunning coastline, a shop and a camping ground at the Kooljaman at Cape Leveque. If you don’t want to drive here yourself, join a tour with Kimberley Wild Expeditions or Over the Top Adventure Tours. The road west - the long Great Northern Hwy is the main road through the Kimberley region. About 200km after Broome, there is the turnoff to Derby WA where there is the famous Boab Prison Tree, a boab tree so big that it was used as a prison, mainly for Aboriginal People. Derby is also the oldest town in the area, and if you stay over the night, you can stay at Spinifex Hotel, Derby Boab Inn and West Kimberley Lodge and Caravan Park.
National Parks in Central Kimberley Australia If you haven’t got a 4WD, you are best off to drive back to the main road and continue driving along the Great Northern Hwy towards Fritzroy Crossing WA, north of which is the Geikie Gorge National Park. If you have got a 4WD, you can venture into the smaller Gibb River Road east of Derby. If you only want to do a small backroads’ loop and get back to the Great Northern Hwy soon, turn right onto the Fairfield Leopold Downs Road where the Gibbs River Road turns north. Along that road are the beautiful Windjana Gorge National Park and Tunnel Creek National Park, and you’ll get back to the main road before Fritzroy Crossing.
National Parks in Northern Kimberley Australia If you want more adventures, keep going north along the Gibb River Road and you come to some great remote Western Australia outback spots in central Kimberley. You’ll first pass the King Leopold Ranges Conservation Park and turnoffs to Mt Hart Homestead, Silent Grove (with a campsite), Beverley Springs Homestead, Mt Barnett Roadhouse, Manning Gorge, Barnett River Gorge, Mt Elisabeth Station and Gibb River Homestead before you come to a crossroad where you can either turn right towards Kununurra (after Campbell Creek, Ellenbrae Station, Home Valley Homestead and Diggers Rests Station); or you can turn left onto Kalumburu Road and come to the northern Kimberley - some of the remotest places in Australia outback, where there is the King Edward River, Prince Regent Nature Reserve and the gorgeous Mitchell Waterfalls in Mitchell River National Park. There are camping grounds, fuel stops and small supplies’ shops along the road but if you need more detailed information about the area, check this great Kimberley Australia website, where you can also buy a cheap and excellent Kimberley e-book.
Fitzroy Crossing WA and Halls Creek Western Australia If you skipped this remote area and continued driving along the Great Northern Highway, in Fitzroy Crossing WA there is a supermarket and the Fitzroy Crossing Tourist Bureau, and you can stay at Tarunda Caravan Park, Fitzroy River Lodge Motel Hotel & Caravan Park, or Crossing Inn Pub. East along the Great Northern Hwy is Halls Creek Western Australia, where there is a turnoff south to Old Halls Creek and China Wall, an interesting place in Australia outback if you are into geology, with a 6m quarts vein that extends for 16km. You can camp at Sawpit Gorge, or back in town you can stay at the Old Halls Creek Lodge, Halls Creek Caravan Park or Kimberley Hotel.
Bungle Bungle Range and Eastern Kimberley Australia Further north along the Great Northern Hwy is the turnoff to Bungle Bungle Range in Purnululu National Park – one of the greatest national parks in Australia, but so remote it was only discovered by Europeans in 1980s. It is an amazing eroded sandstone range with beautiful gorges such as Picaninny, and chasms as Echidna Chasm. It’s one of the remotest national parks in Kimberley Australia and a great place to bushwalk and watch the rich wildlife including 130 species of birds. But it takes a bit of walking so if you haven’t got the time, you can take a flight with Alligator Airways or Slingair Heliwork from Warmun (Turkey Creek), I once did the helicopters and it’s an experience you’re not going to forget in a hurry. Warmun is north of the turnoff to the Purnululu national park on the Great Northern Highway, where there is also an art gallery and a roadhouse where you can get fuel and eat a camel or crocodile hamburger.
El Questro Cattle Station and Activities around El Questro North from Warmun (Turkey Creek) is a crossroad where you can either turn left to El Questro Cattle Station; take a side-trip north to Wyndham, or turn east to Kununurra. El Questro Cattle Station is a huge private wildlife park with top-class accommodation. Wyndham in the Cambridge Gulf is the northernmost town in the Kimberley Australia. The Big Crocodile statue at the town entrance talks for itself – Wyndham is right in the middle of crocodile country so a swim in the ocean is the last thing you want to do. There is the Five Rivers Lookout where you have good views of the area; and the Grotto Waterfall 35km southeast of the town. South of Wyndham there is a turnoff into the eastern entrance of the remote Gibb River Road mentioned above.
Kununurra Western Australia Hotels If you drive back south and turn left onto the Victoria Hwy, you come to Kununurra, the biggest town in Kimberley after Broome. Here you have the KununurraTourist Bureau, Lake Kununurra popular with picnickers and boaters, and Waringarri Arts where you can buy Aboriginal art and learn about the history of Kununurra. Just outside the town is the Mirima National Park with two short walks to beautiful gorges. Some cheap hotels in Kununurra are Kununurra Backpackers, Kimberley Croc Backpackers or Ivanhoe Village Caravan Park.
Lake Argyle Boating - Argyle Lake Australia Seventy kilometres south of Kununurra is Lake Argyle – a man-made lake with beautiful deep-blue water with red rocks around it. It is fun to go boating on Australia’s largest body of fresh water – Argyle Expeditions and Lake Argyle Tours & Cruises can take you here from Kununurra.
Kimberley Australia: Tours to Kimberley Plateau If you don't want to drive yourself and think a tour is a good idea, check out Wilderness 4WD Adventures, Adventure Wild, Easyrider Adventure Travel and Adventure Tours but if I was looking for a tour I'd go for Dreamtime Adventures where you won't only discover the Western Australia outback but also have a unique opportunity to be taken to an Aboriginal community by its own people.
Here's an Australian outback map, showing you the map of Kimberley Australia. I have tagged the places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.
NOTE: This website is written in British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all correct in the language used in Australia.
