"We popped into Derby Visitor Centre to get our copy of the Gibb River and Kalumburu Roads Guide and also got a few great tips about the area!" Denise
This map of the Gibb River Road, produced by Derby Visitor Centre is a great planning tool for your Gibb River Road trip and part of the Gibb River and Kalumburu Roads Guide. Like Denise & Michael, you can pick up the guide in person from Derby or Kununurra Visitor Centres, or you can order a copy by post from from the Derby Visitor Centre here.
A summary of distances between key attractions is below the map.

For more from Denise & Michael's Gibb River Road trip, click here.
Key Distances and driving times - Gibb River Road
Leg |
Distance & approximate driving time |
Derby - Gibb River Road turnoff |
6km/5mins |
Gibb River Road turnoff – Windjana Gorge & Tunnel Creek turnoff |
118km/1hr 30mins |
Windjana Gorge & Tunnel Creek turnoff - Mt Hart Station turnoff |
65km/1hr |
Mt Hart Station turnoff - Mt Hart Station |
50km/ 1hr 30mins |
Mt Hart Station turnoff - Bell Gorge turnoff |
30km/40mins |
Bell Gorge turnoff - Silent Grove Campground |
29km/40mins |
Bell Gorge turnoff - Imitjii / Bell Gorge Wilderness Lodge |
8km/15mins |
Imitjii / Bell Gorge Wilderness Lodge - Galvans Gorge |
65km/1hr 10mins |
Galvans Gorge - Mt Barnett Roadhouse (Manning Gorge) |
14km/25mins |
Imitjii / Bell Gorge Wilderness Lodge - Mornington Wilderness Camp turnoff |
26km/40mins |
Mornington Wilderness Camp turnoff - Mornington Wilderness Camp |
88km/2hrs |
Mt Barnett Roadhouse (Manning Gorge) - Mt Elizabeth Station/Walcott Inlet turnoff |
36km/50mins |
Mt Elizabeth Station/Walcott Inlet turnoff - Mt Elizabeth Station |
30kms/45mins |
Mt Elizabeth Station/Walcott Inlet turnoff - Gibb River/Kalumburu Roads junction |
71km/1hr 40mins |
Gibb River/Kalumburu Roads junction - Ellenbrae Station |
64km/1hr 15mins |
Ellenbrae Station - Cockburn Range Lookout |
100km/1hr 15mins |
Cockburn Range Lookout - Home Valley Station |
13km/20mins |
Home Valley Station - Pentecost Crossing |
9km/15mins |
Pentecost Crossing – El Questro Station turnoff |
24km/40mins |
El Questro Station turnoff - El Questro Station |
16km/25mins |
El Questro Station - Emma Gorge Resort turnoff |
28km/40mins |
El Questro Station turnoff – Emma Gorge Resort |
10km/10mins |
Emma Gorge Resort - Great Northern Highway/Gibb River Rd turnoff |
23km/30mins |
The Great Northern Highway/GRR turnoff - Kununurra |
51km/1hr |
The Great Northern Highway/GRR turnoff - Wyndham |
49km/1hr |
Wyndham - Diggers Rest Station |
46km/1hr 10mins |
Wyndham - Kununurra |
106km/1hr 10mins |
Where to stay on the Gibb River Road
There's a surprising range of accommodation for travellers along the Gibb River Road, from campsites to station stays and glamping.
Read on to plan your trip, including details of the Gibb’s gorges, accommodation and camping along the way, tours, suggested itineraries and the practical details like maps, driving distances and fuel stops.
Explore the Gorges
The river gorges, cascading waterfalls and freshwater swimming holes along the Gibb are some of natures best, and a welcome reward after walking the bush tracks to get to them.
While walking the trails and exploring the waterfalls, keep an eye out for Aboriginal rock art sites under ledges and overhangs. These are important cultural sites, so please do not touch or disturb them.

Dalmanyi (Bell Gorge)
Possibly the most famous gorge along the Gibb River Road, Dalmanyi (Bell Gorge) is a tranquil horseshoe-shaped gorge with a cascading waterfall. Follow the 2km trail from the car park to the top of the waterfall, with a more difficult trail to the swimming hole at the base of the falls. Allow at least 2-3 hours for the walk plus time to explore, swim and enjoy the surrounds.

Adcock Gorge
Adcock Gorge is a picturesque gorge and swimming spot on Mt House Station. A short walk from the carpark approximately 5km off the Gibb River Road leads you to a deep, shaded pool bordered by the walls of the gorge on three sides. This is a great detour for a swim while travelling to Manning Gorge to the east, or Iminitji to the west.

Galvans Gorge
Galvan’s Gorge is the most accessible gorge along the Gibb River Road. This is a popular and pretty swimming spot, with a small seasonal waterfall flowing into a horseshoe shaped pool. The trail is relatively flat and easy, following the path of a creek and ending at the waterhole opposite the waterfall.

Manning Gorge
With a large pool surrounded by high cliffs and seasonal waterfalls, Manning Gorge is one of the most beautiful swimming spots in the Kimberley. An adventurous 3km walk leads you to the top of the gorge, starting out by crossing the creek at the campground. This is also a great area to swim, with easy access and refreshing waters.

Emma Gorge
Situated in El Questro Wilderness Park, this is one of the most popular gorges on the Gibb. Walking from the resort reception area, the signposted trail takes you over some rocky terrain towards the wide and deep pool at the base of a droplet waterfall. Swim to the right of the pool to see if you can find the small thermal spring!
Tours that take you along the Gibb
Head off the beaten track with an experienced guide and like-minded fellow travellers, join a micro-group (6 travellers or fewer) or to take a private charter/tour.
Gibb River Road tours allow for a choice of accommodation, from fully accommodated, to participatory camping tours, where you pitch in to set up camp and prepare the evening meal, tours offering permanent campsites for some or all of your overnight stays, or tours allowing you to choose to upgrade your accommodation along the way.
The classic Kimberley 4WD itineraries can vary from 10 to 15 days, travelling through the Gibb River Road and onwards to take in all of the region's major attractions, such as the Purnululu National Park (the Bungles), and on some longer itineraries, the Punamii-Unpuu (Mitchell Falls).
National Parks along the Gibb
About the Gibb River Road
The route of the Gibb River Road crosses the traditional lands of many Kimberley peoples, including the Njikena, Bunuba, Ongkomi, Ngarinyin, Gedija, Worrorra and Wunumbal language groups. A rich indigenous culture has been practised throughout the area for many thousands of years, and the Gwion (Bradshaw) and Wandjina rock art traditions are features of the rock paintings in the region surrounding the Gibb River Road and Mitchell Plateau.
Once pastoralists moved across the Kimberley and established cattle stations, Aboriginal people were forcibly displaced from their traditional lands, working as stockmen and domestics on stations, and living and working in remote missions.
While the Gibb River Road as we know it today was constructed in the 1960’s, pastoralists had previously constructed two unsealed tracks linking Derby with Mt House station in the west, and Wyndham with Karunjie Station, Gibb River Station and Kalumburu in the east. Both tracks (known as the Mt House Road and Karunjie Track) were hand-hewn roadways wide enough for bullock wagons, and for drovers with their cattle herds.
These roads provided essential connections between the ports at Derby and Wyndham and outlying stations, but the going was rough – it could take over a week to travel with a supply wagon from Mt House to Derby.
The “Beef Roads Programme” was set up by the government in 1949 to provide funding for the construction of infrastructure to support the beef industry. The Gibb River Road was constructed as part of this programme, and under the supervision of Main Roads WA teams of surveyors, engineers and labourers set out on an arduous 3-year road-building project.
The Gibb River Road only partially follows the routes of the Mt House Road and Karunjie Track – with the benefit of explosives and heavy machinery, the road team were able to cut a new direct route through the Napier and Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges, and construct creek crossings. The first beef truck travelled the western section of the road in 1963, while works continued at the eastern end until 1967, completing the route of the Gibb River Road that we travel today.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s Aboriginal communities were established along the Gibb River Road, including Imintji, Kupingarri (Mt Barnett Station), Ngallagunda (Gibb River Station), Dodonun (east of Mt Elizabeth Station), Prap Prap (west of Doongan Station) and Kandiwal Community at the Mitchell Plateau.
Some of these communities are now involved in the tourism industry along the Gibb River Road and its surrounds, including operating tours, campsites, shops and roadhouses, and galleries featuring local artists.