Who said the Gibb is not 5 star camping???
The Gibb River Road is one of those iconic 4wd trips. It’s tough. It’ll damage your car. It’s dusty. It’s not for the faint hearted.
But is it? Really?
Yes, it’s dusty. Very dusty. I had to keep my windows up and turn on the air con, which I don’t really like doing. I like driving with the windows open but I got sick of constantly winding the window up and down because I don’t have electric windows.
Yes, it’s highly corrugated in places. It’ll rattle your back teeth and shake things loose on your car. If you don’t pack things in properly it’ll break jars, bottles, even cans. I’ve heard of it rattling fridges and ovens out of position in caravans.
But it’s not all like that. Some of it is smooth, easy road. Slow down, reduce your tyre pressure, and drive to the conditions.
And there are water crossings. Mostly floodways, but there’s also the Pentecost. People panic about crossing the Pentecost. It’s quite wide, and can be fairly deep early in the season, but has a firm bottom so you’re unlikely to get stuck. I’ve crossed the Pentecost at night.
It’s also stunningly beautiful. With some of the most gorgeous scenery you’ll see anywhere. Stunning gorges and swimming holes that are only accessible via the Gibb.
I don’t go 4wding or travel roads like this for the road itself. I do it because it’s the only way to get to see and experience the things I want to see and experience. I put up with the road because I have to,
I took me 23 days to get across the Gibb from Derby to Kununurra, and I could, probably should, have taken longer. It’s 660km from Derby to Kununnurra, and I detoured up to Drysdale and Mitchell Falls and into stations, gorges, and along 4wd tracks. So just over 1,200k in total.
You can free camp all along the Gibb River Road, but I did a combination of national parks, stations, and free camping beside rivers, always in my roof top tent. Camping spots ranged from very basic (ie no facilities) to what I’d say were 5 star. You can stay at the stations without doing all the extras, like helicopter flights, that I did.
All the places below had toilets, showers, and laundries. Except Mitchell Falls which just had toilets. They all had fire pits for campfires, and a million stars to look at each night.
If you want to, you can do the Gibb in style.
Mount Hart
The camping at Mount Hart is right next to a gorgeous, lily fringed swimming hole. It’s a 10-15 minute walk to a bar that serves cocktails has live music, good food, and a big communal campfire.
Plus there are helicopter flights out to Twin Flame Falls, a remote waterfall where they serve you with a champagne picnic. Which, of course, I did.
The day after my helicopter flight I wandered out to Matthew Gorge where a short walk along the creek brought me to multiple gorgeous waterholes where I could swim or sit under small waterfalls completely undisturbed. I even got to skinny dip
Barnett Station/Manning Gorge
The camp ground at Barnett Station is very sandy and dusty. So much so I decided not to do any washing there.
BUT, it is right next to a stunning creek, with a lovely sandy beach where you can while away the hours lying in the sun or shade, reading, swimming, or playing on the rope swing.
Or you can swim across the creek, walk 2.5k to another waterfall and swimming hole, with sandy beaches and lovely quiet places where you can swim undisturbed. Even skinny dip.
There’s also a shop at Mount Barnett where I topped up with fresh vegetables, and even got fresh limes for my cocktails!
Mount Elizabeth Station
A fabulous grassy beer garden, top restaurant, casual eatery, burger bar, and decent wine. As well as one of my favourite gorges on the Gibb.
I’d gone out along the ‘extreme’ 4wding track to get to Wunumurra Gorge, so I decided on the way out of the station I’d take a detour into Warla Gorge for a look before I left. It was so beautiful I stayed all day, then headed back to the station for another night’s camping. Small waterfalls and cascades, sandy bottom and beach, deeper pools, and beautiful walks along the creek. If you walk a little way along the creek you can find private waterholes where you can skinny dip undisturbed.
The communal campfires in the campground were the best I had on the Gibb.
