Gibb River Rd
Submitted: Tuesday, Sep 24, 2019 at 14:57
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lou_r
G'day all
Hoping someone out there can assist. We are planing a trip to the Kimberleys for next year and will be coming across from
Katherine . We want to see as much as possible preferably without doubling back ie: Bungle Bungles,
Lake Argyle, Mueller Ranges,
Fitzroy Crossing etc then across the GBRR to
Mitchell Falls. My question is, do any of you seasoned travellers out there have any suggestions for a route that wont see us backtracking too far?
Cheers
Lou
Reply By: Rangiephil - Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 at 09:38
Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 at 09:38
The
Mitchell Falls road can be a car breaker if not treated with respect.
I travelled there and back to the
camping area on King George? river a few years ago without incident in my 91RRC. However I took it slowly and stopped for photos.
At one stop a Nissan Patrol came up beside and asked if we were OK. A couple of Ks along there he was with all the wheel studs on a back wheel broken.
I felt my rear shocks at one stage and sizzled a finger. The corrugations were so big that the car would roll into them when stopped.LOL
The road from Drysdale station can be just as bad, and worse from the
Mitchell falls turnoff to
Kalumburu. There is no "planing speed" possible.
BUT both
places are worth the trip if only to hear the talk at the
Kalumburu Mission..
AnswerID:
627846
Follow Up By: Member - Neil T6 - Saturday, Sep 28, 2019 at 14:43
Saturday, Sep 28, 2019 at 14:43
"there he was with all the wheel studs on a back wheel broken."
That happened I think 3 times during my time in
Kununurra when I was employed as a mechanic there in 2000. From memory they were LandCruisers.
Mitchell Falls road, another good earner for the breakdown/ recovery trucks.
FollowupID:
902138
Reply By: Zippo - Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 at 11:16
Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 at 11:16
Depends on a couple of things. Are you looking at doing the GRR just so you can get to
Mitchell Falls, or in its own right? If it's only for MF then the above cautions should be noted.
Otherwise - and presuming your start/finish ISN'T
Darwin but your
Kimberley loop starts/finshes on the Stuart Hwy - I'd suggest the following:
Katherine -
Timber Creek -
Kununurra - (
Wyndham) - GRR.
(
Derby) -
Windjana Gorge -
Tunnel Creek - Fitzroy.
Halls Creek - Bungles -
Halls Creek - Top Springs (via Kalkarinji) to Dunmarra.
If you aren't diverting into
Derby, fuel (and relief) may be an issue but Bungles is the only backtrack in there.
If your loop starts/ends past Three Way, I'd personally reverse the above flow and do
the loop clockwise. Top Springs -Dunmarra is a pretty short "meh!" day on its own.
Depending on time/inclination/preferences,
Wyndham could be included.
AnswerID:
627850
Follow Up By: Member - McLaren3030 - Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 at 12:26
Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 at 12:26
Back in "04", we did the same as suggested by Zippo but with the following exceptions. From
Timber Creek, we headed south through
Gregory National Park via Bullita,
Humbert Track, Wickham Track, Wave
Hill, Buntine Highway then turned north onto Duncan Road up to
Kununurra, then the GRR including
Mitchell Falls &
Kalumburu.
After going into the "Bungles", we back tracked to
Halls Creek, then down the Tanami to Wolf Creek, back on the Tanami to
Alice Springs.
Macca.
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