The access road into Purnululu is the first proper filter of the whole Kimberley leg. Fifty-three kilometres of corrugated, rocky, unsealed track, and it took us the better part of two hours in the Prado with the van in tow — deflated, in low range for the creek crossings, James white-knuckling the door handle like it was a rollercoaster. It’s not a road you drift into by accident, and that’s exactly the point. Everyone who makes it through wanted to be there.
What It Is
The striped beehive domes of Purnululu are the kind of landscape that doesn’t look real until you’re standing in front of it — ancient sandstone banded orange and black, striped by different rates of weathering on cyanobacteria-darkened layers, worn over millions of years into rounded towers that genuinely look like nothing else in the country. World Heritage listed, and it earns it without trying.
Kurrajong Campground sits a short walk from the domes and is well-managed for how remote it is — flush toilets, cold showers, no generators after dark. That last rule turned out to be one of our favourite things about the place. The nights here are properly, completely quiet, in a way you forget campgrounds can be.
Cathedral Gorge
This is the walk you come for — 5km return, working your way through narrowing passages between the domes until you reach a domed cavern with a shallow seasonal pool and acoustics that make you want to test out your singing voice (we did; it was a mistake, but a fun one). Start at dawn. The open sections between the domes turn brutal in direct afternoon sun, and you want to be back at camp for lunch, not stuck out there at midday.
Fires aren’t permitted anywhere in the park — bring a gas stove, non-negotiable. Piccaninny Gorge is the serious full-day option for anyone properly prepared; we didn’t attempt it with the kids this trip, but it’s on the list for next time.
Gear Notes: What Earned Its Keep
No fires means your evening cooking setup is doing all the work. Our compact integrated stove system boiled water for coffee and dinner in about three minutes flat every night here — genuinely one of the best pieces of kit in the van, and the kind of thing you don’t appreciate until you’re somewhere it’s the only option.
For the corrugated run in, we’d also point you at a decent set of ratchet tie-down straps for anything loose in the back — awning poles, the gas bottle, anything that can walk itself around over 53km of washboard. Cheap cam straps rattle themselves loose; proper ratchet ones haven’t budged once.
Practical Info
Location: Kurrajong Campground, Purnululu National Park, East Kimberley Access: 4WD required — high clearance essential, allow 2 hours for the access road Sites: ~50 unpowered Facilities: Flush toilets, cold showers, no powered sites, generator-free at night Fires: Not permitted — stoves only Nearest town: Turkey Creek/Warmun (53km) for fuel and basics; Kununurra (300km) for everything else — stock up before the turnoff Do: Start Cathedral Gorge at dawn; consider the helicopter flight if the budget allows
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We came from Lake Argyle. Next: El Questro, and Zebedee Springs at opening time.