The Savannah Way: Cairns to the Kimberley

The great tropical crossing from the Coral Sea to Broome, through the Gulf Savannah and Katherine. There is a fully sealed way through and an adventurous mostly-unsealed way — we lay out both. ## The route, leg by leg ### Leg 1: Cairns to the Gulf Cairns → Normanton / Karumba · roughly 700 km · 4–5 nights Undara lava tubes, Cobbold Gorge, barra fishing at Karumba. ### Leg 2: The Gulf Track (adventurous) Normanton → Borroloola · roughly 900 km · 4–6 nights Hells Gate, unsealed sections, remote. Off-road van or camper territory. ### Leg 3: Into the Territory Borroloola → Katherine · roughly 750 km · 3–4 nights Roper Bar, then Katherine (Nitmiluk) Gorge and the hot springs. ### Leg 4: Katherine to the Kimberley Katherine → Kununurra · roughly 520 km · 2–3 nights Victoria River, the WA border and quarantine, Lake Argyle. ### Leg 5: The Kimberley finish Kununurra → Broome · roughly 1,050 km · 1–2 weeks nights Gibb River Road for the equipped; the Great Northern Highway for everyone else. ## Planning notes Total distance is around 3,700 km and we would allow about 21 days to do it without living in the driver’s seat. Best months: May–Oct (dry season). Distances and timings here are a starting point — how long you actually take depends on how often you find a spot you do not want to leave.