Self drive 4wd hire information on the Gibb River Road
The Kimberley - Western Australia

Gibb River Road
Self drive along the Gibb River Road from Broome or Darwin has to be in a 4wd Wagon, 4wd camper etc if your hiring a self drive 4 wheel drive hire from either Broome in Western Australia or Darwin in Northern Territory.

Companies such as Australia4wheel Drive Rentals offer you a choice of 4wd Poptop Campers for 2 persons or a Landcruiser with a roof top tent that sleep 2 and a ground side annexe that sleeps 3 on mattresses. Yes these companies supply the bedding and cooking equipment most include it in their daily basic rental.

We recommend a minimum of 10 to 14 days to do a road trip from Darwin to broome on the Gibb River road. below are approximate distances to travel.

The Gibb River Road in Western Australia back in the old days was initially constructed as a beef road to transport cattle from the surrounding stations to the ports of Derby and Wyndham. It spans some six-hundred and seventy kilometres from Derby to the junction of the Great Northern Highway between Wyndham and Kununurra in Western Australia.

The Gibb River Road travels some six-hundred and seventy kilometre through the central Kimberley Plateau from King Sound at Derby to the Cambridge Gulf at Wyndham. The whole road is now the responsibility of Main Roads WA and improvements to creek crossings and jump ups are being made every year. The majority of the road surface is of dirt and gravel construction with only some floodways paved. The road can be very corrigated in sections and rough.

The Gibb River Road traditionally opens late April till early decemeber and then offically closes. A grader from Derby and another from Kununurra need to grade the road after each wet season which is traditionally speaking November till April. Often when you look at the Roads WA website. The offical Roads WA website states: Note that during the wet season (Nov-Apr) conditions change rapidly, caution must be exercised at all times. Floodways and creek crossings may rise and fall without notice.

In the wet season (this article was written 09.03.2016) WA Roads list numerous warnings - with examples as follows.
• Imintji - Mt Barnett - CLOSED TO ALL VEHICLES OVER 3T • Imintji Roadhouse and Store is currently closed until further notice - no fuel available
• Mt Barnett to Kalumburu turnoff - CLOSED TO ALL VEHICLES
• Kalumburu Turnoff - Pentecost River - CLOSED TO ALL VEHICLES
• Pentecost River - El Questro - CLOSED TO ALL VEHICLES OVER 3T
• El Questro - Great Northern Highway - OPEN TO ALL VEHICLES

When can I begin to travel on the Gibb River Road? A question asked most of the time. Now the weather pattern traditionally suggests may 1 but the road must be open safe and passable for 4wd hire companies in Darwin and Broome to let the 4wd hire go on the Gibb then. Passable means are the rivers like the Penecost and the Durrack low enough to cross. The hire 4wd car companies get a WA roads report every morning updating them.

ANother mention is mMotorists should be aware of fauna and wandering stock on and near all roads in the Kimberley Region. Drive with caution particularly in the hours between dusk and dawn.

We recommend the use of high clearance robust vehicles, preferably 4WD, for DRY season (May to October) travel. Towing of any type is not recommended. However, well constructed off road trailers may survive the often corrugated conditions in the DRY. Caravans are definitely NOT recommended. There are excellent 4wd and 4wd camper trailer packages available but heavily booked out for most of 2016 and even now in 2017.

Wet season (November to April) travel can be severely restricted by flooding and road closures as the countryside can become very waterlogged. Access to the gorges is very often not possible and, if travel occurs, is restricted to the Gibb River Road itself and not to the sidetracks into the gorges. A 4WD vehicle equipped with a snorkel is essential once the rains have started. Travellers in breach of official Road Closure and Road Restrictions are subject to fines.

So with the small window frame to travel each year we suggest your search for your 4wd camper rental as early as Septemeber the year before.

About the Kimberley
• The Kimberley region is Western Australia's most northern region. The region is rugged with numerous waterfalls, rivers and walking tracks. An adventurer's off-road haven vacationing holiday to explore. The Kimberley encompasses an area of 421,451 square kilometres (one-sixth of the state's total land area). The Kimberley coastline faces the Indian Ocean to the west and the Timor Sea to the north, while inland it is bordered by the Great Sandy Desert in the south and the Northern Territory in the east. Any Kimberley holiday should have include the Bungle Bungle Ranges.

The Kimberley in Australia is one of the last true wilderness areas on Earth, with rustic unique outback landscapes and landmarks billions of years in the making. Covering app 423,000 square kilometres in north Western Australia and with a population of less than 40,000 people, it’s here you’ll encounter some of the most extraordinary outback adventuresand folks in Australia. Discover ancient gorge country with hikes and trekking a must in planning your Kimberley vacation to enormous cattle stations, pristine coastline and sandy beaches, to one of the oldest cultures on the planet and the world’s only horizontal waterfalls.