Cape Leveque or Mitchell Falls

G'day Litlbait, if you still intend to do the GRR then give the Falls a miss and do CL. You still get a length of lousy road but at least it;s soon over with and if coming from the east after the GRR & you take the short cut from Bedunburra across to the Dampier Peninsula Cape Leveque Rd you'll dodge all the horrible bit anyway & it's 100km shorter.

Many options on the peninsula and whereas the falls can comfortably be done in and out in 2 days the peninsula is ideally suited for a much longer stay as there is plenty to see, the fishing can be excellent, and the scenery is spectacular.

I did both on my last trip last year and in hindsight I could have spent longer up at the DP and skipped the falls completely.

Cheers and enjoy

Dunc.

They are both worthy of a visit, however if you can only do one I would go to Cape Leveque, absolutely spectacular scenery but minimum of three days needed to get a good feel for the place.

Agree with above choice of CL over MF - due to its uniqueness. You won't ever see another place quite like it. I've been there a couple of times now, and it still ranks in my top few places in Australia to see.

Cost may be a determining factor but you can take a fixed wing flight from Drysdale River Station that takes in the Mitchell Plateau and a lot more. I concur with others that CL is the better choice when road conditions are considered. Nevertheless the Mitchell Plateau is stunning and if it is a once in a lifetime opportunity the cost may be considered worthwhile.
Ask at Drysdale when you get there and they will be able to give you accurate details of the road conditions in MF.
Safe travels and enjoy this beautiful part of the world.

Ken

If you can, drive to CL but then take a flight from Drysdale River over the falls. No rough road, better view of the whole area and no constant chopper noise and dust while on the ground. One on the ground near the campsite, one in the air and the other at the falls dropping off/picking up.
That's my plan for the upcoming season as when last at Mitchell F. my legs were bad and I couldn't walk it anyway and at 100 bucks for the 6min flight I thought the longer one from the station was worth saving for.
AlanH.

I will buck the trend..... :)
If it was one or the other, I would choose the Mitchell Falls. It is not just the falls themselves that you visit, but the Mitchell Plateau which gives a vastly different perspective of the Kimberley from anything else you would have seen and a chance to see some of the astounding art.

As a compromise for CL, drive just 25km off the bitumen to James Price Point north of Broome. And that is free camping..... :)

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

After doing both last year I'd do Mitchell first - however I'd have to say that the best part of doing the Kimberly was riding in a V8 supercar in Darwin.

You can see that there are various views here so its better to know what the attractions are and then decide based on your own values.

I was disappointed with the upper Cape Leveque ,crowded and with little 4wding however more places to go out for dinner and do commercial tours
Worth noting that first 100 odd km is dirt/dusty and then road to top turns to bitumen. (Not into fishing - but for some this is an attraction.)

Mitchells was good because you could leave campers etc at Drysdale (no cost)and drive up to Mitchells (staying overnight).
We found road wasn't to bad but had lots of corrugations which mostly affected those who drove to fast or were half hearted in dropping pressures.
No water crossings were deeper than top of wheels also.

We did both Mitchell Falls and Cap Leveque back in 2013. Again I will go against the trend and recommend MF as a slight preference. The road is in was very corrugated but the key to NOT damaging your car and campertrailer is to lower the tyre pressures and reduce your speed. Many people decide that doing 100km/h with normal road pressures is the way to fly over the corrugations. Not so! They end up with damaged vehicles. We took our Tvan and camped in the generator area. We then took the helicopter flight out, about 20 minutes, and then took all day to walk and swim back.
We stayed at Kooljaman at Cape Leveque at the beginning of September. You do need to book well ahaed. Fabulous place right on the tip. We did not have time to check out any of the other camping sites mentioned here.
The road to the Cape was about 100km of dirt and then once you reach the indigenous area it is very good bitumen. Excellent Telstra phone coverage as well.
If you have the chance do both but remember those tyre pressures. They really do make a difference.

We also did both. Not an easy answer because they are both special but totally different experiences, nothing to compare!
Or you can skip both and spend a night at the Horizontal Falls. Sorry for the flippent remark, but just illustrating the fact that these two are hard to compare and it depends on your personal choices.

If you want to experience a slightly different facet of the Kimberley, and happy to walk approx 2 hours in, by all means to the Mitchell; especially if you do not plan to go that way in a while.

Or if you have in mind a compete change in scenery, want to see sunrises and sunsets and do a spot of beach fishing then go CL.

Also bear in mind you can easily do CL from Broome if you plan to visit Broome in the short future, not so easy to 'hop up" to Mitchell.

Personal and depending on your circumstances.