If you’ve never heard off the Gibb River Road, it’s a road that allows access to parts of Australia’s remote Kimberley region. It is a former cattle route between Wyndham and Derby but today its most common traveller is the tourist rather than cattle. The road itself is around 660km in length and is almost entirely gravel with the exception of asphalt at either end. At times the road gets very corrugated, and at the beginning and end of the dry season the road can have big washouts and many water crossings. It's a road which is on many people's bucket lists as it gives any traveller a great sense of achievement to say "I completed the Gibb River Road"!
The road gets its name from a government geologist Andrew Gibb Maitland, known to his friends as Gibb Maitland. He explored the area in 1901 as part of the Brockman Expedition. A river that follows nearby the Gibb River Road’s Kalumburu turn-off was named after him as well as the Gibb River Station.
Our Kimberley truck crossing the Pentecost River on the Gibb River Road
Typically, the best time to travel the Gibb River Road is early in the dry season, between April and September when the waterfalls are still flowing after the wet season. From December to March the Gibb River Road is cut-off due to the heavy wet season rains causing the rivers to rise and flood the roads.
The Gibb River Road allows access to some of the Kimberley’s most amazing gorges, rock formations, caves, aboriginal rock paintings, waterfalls and spectacular scenery. Today some of the Gibb River Road’s most popular gorges and attraction’s include Bell Gorge, Windjana Gorge, Tunnel Creek, Adcock Gorge, Galvan’s Gorge, Manning Gorge, Barnett River Gorge, Home Valley Station and El Questro Station to name a few.
Bell Gorge, King Leopold Conservation Park in the Kimberley
One of the best ways to see the Gibb River Road and the Kimberley region is to join one of our all-inclusive camping tours. We camp out in swags under the stars, cook great meals over the fire and hike into loads of gorges and other sights with like-minded travellers. To learn more about our tours and where we go check out our website or give me a call 0447 740 880. Thanks, Adam