Savannah Way

The Savannah Way is less a track than a way to cross the top of the continent. It runs some 3,700 km from Cairns on the Coral Sea to Broome on the Indian Ocean, stitching together tropical savannah, Gulf country, the Territory and the Kimberley. How hard it is depends entirely on which version you drive, and that is the key to planning it. ## Two roads in one Driven as a sealed touring route, most of the Savannah Way is a comfortable highway that almost any caravan can tow, which is why our headline rating sits at a gentle two out of five. Choose the adventurous line and it changes character completely. The unsealed Gulf sections and northern detours turn it into corrugated, remote, sometimes flooded driving that pushes the demand up to a four or five and calls for a 4WD and an off-road van. Decide which trip you want before you leave, because the two are very different journeys. ## The sealed touring line The bitumen spine takes in Undara's lava tubes, the Gulf town of Normanton and its Gulflander railway, Cloncurry, the Territory's Roper country and Katherine, then across to Kununurra and down to Broome. A standard van handles this comfortably in the dry. It makes a fine long-haul crossing and links straight into our [Savannah Way itinerary](/itineraries/savannah-way) and the wider [Big Lap](/itineraries/the-big-lap). ## The adventurous unsealed line For those chasing dirt, the Gulf Track through Burketown and Borroloola, the run out to Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) and Adels Grove, and spurs like the road to Kalumburu are where the real remoteness lives. These sections corrugate hard, cross floodways and sit a long way from help. Some detours cross Aboriginal land and need community permits, Kalumburu among them, so confirm current permit requirements rather than assuming access. ## Crocodiles, tides and the wet Right across the top this is estuarine crocodile country. Gulf rivers, the Roper and the Kimberley crossings all hold big salties, so keep clear of the water, never clean fish at the bank and heed every warning sign. The wet season from November to April floods the low country and closes the unsealed sections for months, so the full crossing is a dry-season trip, roughly May to October. ## Fuel, distance and being ready Even on the sealed route the gaps between fuel are long, and on the unsealed line they stretch further, so carry range and water for the biggest leg on your chosen path. Take recovery gear and a satellite communicator for the remote stretches. Check the road authorities in each state, Queensland's Transport and Main Roads, the Northern Territory road report and Main Roads WA, before you rely on any section being open. ## Building the crossing Because it spans three states and thousands of kilometres, the Savannah Way rewards a loose plan and plenty of time. Break it into legs, book ahead through the Gulf in peak season, and browse [national parks](/parks) for camps along the way. Whether you keep to the bitumen with the van or drop the pressures for the Gulf Track, it is one of the great east-to-west drives in the country.