As I recall my time in Oz in 2019, my favourite hike was the one to Whip Snake Gorge in Purnululu National Park, otherwise known as the Bungle Bungle.
I would thoroughly recommend this wonderful hike, but it isn’t exactly easily accessible. Purnululu National Park is tucked away in the northeastern corner of Western Australia, a really long way from everywhere.
The Kimberley is the least visited part of Australia, full of 4 wheel drive roads that are inaccessible for parts of the year due to flooding. On some of the roads in this region you will always have sections where your vehicle will need a snorkel to enable you to drive through deep water, others like the road to the Bungles is dry in the height of winter, like when I travelled there in August.
I considered driving to the Bungles from Darwin, but a drive of over 1000km which would take over 12 hours was not appealing. Instead I flew to Kununurra and rented a 4 wheel drive vehicle from there specifically to drive into Purnululu National Park.
It takes just under 3 hours to drive from Kununurra to the turn off for the Bungles, on a well maintained tarmac road where you can maintain a normal speed of around 100 kilometres an hour.
Then I reached the road to the Bungles. It was a 4WD only road and you have to drive for quite a distance on it before you even get to the boundary of the National Park itself. The Visitor Centre is 53km along the road. I didn’t know what the road to the Bungles would be like, but I had already driven a large section of the Oodnadatta Track in South Australis, so I didn’t think it could be any worse than that, which had been in really bad condition. And actually, it didn’t seem quite as bad. I didn’t seem to be sliding on the gravel like I had been on the Oodnadatta Track in the sections where it was really corrugated. I could keep up a steady 40 kilometres per hour which I was happy with because this road, unlike the Oodnadatta Track, was not a straight road. There were lots of twists and turns and ups and downs on this road, I could tell where the water crossings would be at the end of the wet season. But it took me less than 2 hours to drive it, so I was happy with that.
I stayed at the Bungle Bungle Wilderness Lodge. In my next post I’ll go into detail about it and some of my other experiences in Purnululu National Park, but for this post I’m just going to concentrate on detailing my favourite hike.
I had managed to do the other things I wanted to do in the Bungles so far, so I could concentrate on hiking for the whole day with no time constraints other than making sure I got my hiking done before it was dark.
I set off to the southern part of the park to walk to Piccaninny Gorge lookout, the Window and maybe Whip Snake Gorge. The entire return hike to Whip Snake Gorge is 10km and will take half a day. I had initially intended to do all three hikes, but I wasn’t sure once I started, it was very hot and I didn’t know whether I had the energy in this heat.
The southern part of Purnululu National Park is where you find the famous black and orange striped beehive domes that the park is famed for. The walk along Piccaninny Creek takes you deeper into these domes and further away from the crowds. The further you walk, the less people you see.
First of all I did the turn off for Piccaninny Gorge which is close to the start of the hike. I knew from experience that if I didn’t do it on the way out, chances were on the way back I would feel too tired and miss it. Always do the diversions on the way out. A couple of German tourists who were with a group rather than self-driving were going to the Window first and then changed their minds and decided to do the Piccaninny lookout first instead as they were on a time limit. I passed the bloke who had been walking into the mini palms gorge as I had been walking out the day before. His name was Joe and he said he was doing the hike to Whip Snake Gorge today.
It was a fabulous view from the Piccaninny lookout over the beehive domes, but I only stayed there for a few minutes and then moved on. It’s a good place to be at sunset, but then you have to walk back in the dark, so I contented myself with the view in the morning.
I headed back to Piccaninny Creek. You can walk a huge distance along Piccaninny Creek on an overnight hike, but you need a permit to go any further than the Whip Snake Gorge turn off. I wasn’t interested in doing this hike, I was contented with a half day hike where I could see the famous domes without the crowds, but didn’t have to camp out overnight. I had also seen the extent of the domes from the air, so this would be enough for me.
At the start of the Creek you’re mostly walking along flat rocks and some sand. On some of the rocks you have to be careful as in some places they are separated and there’s a huge gap between them with a long drop down to the creek bed. In most cases the rocks are locked together so you don’t have to worry too much. As you get further along the Creek, the flat rocks are much less frequent and you’re crunching along a creek bed full of gravel, or rather very large stones which are difficult to walk on. It’s very hard going on the legs and you have to watch where you’re walking all the time because it’s so uneven. So I didn’t have any compulsion to do the full hike along Piccaninny Creek.
I did really enjoy hopping over the huge gaps in the rock, which had obviously been caused by water erosion. The creek floods in the wet season and flash floods are common, so it’s not surprising the rock had eroded and you get huge holes in the creek bed. I found it fascinating, the scenery at ground level was as amazing for me as the rock and domes above. This was another reason I loved this hike so much, even if it did make for a more challenging walk.
The next turn off you can do along Piccaninny Creek is the Window, which was exactly what the name suggested, a large hole in one of the rocks that looked like a window. You really shouldn’t miss this short detour, I loved it there. Joe was at the Window when I arrived and he asked if I’d like a photo and persuaded me to climb into the Window, he said it wasn’t that difficult. I was pleased I took his advice because he got a couple of fabulous photos of me in the Window.
Joe was going to walk to Whip Snake Gorge after that and I decided that I would too. It was hot, but what was I going to do for the rest of the day? This is what I’d come to the Bungles for.
Most people don’t hike to Whip Snake Gorge. It’s just too far. You need a permit to hike Piccaninny Creek and it is an overnight hike, so most people just do the first lookout, a few more adventurous ones walk to the Window and then turn round, so there are relatively few tourists that hike the full 5km to reach Whip Snake Gorge. In one way it’s a shame, it’s a lovely hike and a beautiful peaceful place. In another way it’s wonderful, because it means it’s usually empty and you have it all to yourself.
I don’t think that will change. Unlike the top of Gunlom Falls in Kakadu where they are making the path easier, there’s no way of doing anything to Whip Snake Gorge. You can’t make it any shorter than it already is, you have to follow the dry creek to the turn off, so you can’t do anything with the hiking trail, so it is likely to remain a hike that few tourists who visit the Bungles will complete. However, after I’d made all the effort to drive to the Bungles and the fact was, I would probably never return, it seemed sensible to do all the hikes I possibly could.
The path to the gorge was fine, a bit up and down and part of it walking along another dry creek. The characteristic domes were there without the crowds of the domes hike and hike to Cathedral Gorge. Once we got to the end of the gorge, it was quiet, peaceful and empty.
The gorge walls tower above you and so this is one place where you do get some shade and it’s a bit cooler. The hike along Piccaninny Creek has no shade and even in August when I was here, in the middle of the Australian winter, during the day it was very hot.
I ended up walking with Joe for a good bit of the hike and then we took a few photos and sat in the gorge for a while enjoying the peace and quiet. He set off before me, I took a few extra minutes to rest, enjoying the gorge and the beehive domes as I headed back to Piccaninny Creek, but we ended up catching each other up again and walking all the way back to the car park together. It was a very enjoyable day.
Joe and I chatted about the hikes in the park. We’d both done them all, but Joe said he didn’t think many people were serious hikers like us. I didn’t actually think I was that much of a serious hiker, I only did day hikes, not long distance overnight hikes, but since most people seemed to walk the bare minimum, in comparison I suppose I am a serious hiker. I liked doing some of the hikes, and I was certainly keen to do less popular ones so that I didn’t meet a lot of people. In the Bungles there weren’t generally huge groups because the road into the park couldn’t accommodate big coaches, but even a group of 20 was too many for me. But you didn’t have to walk very far before you had the whole place to yourself, because even the tour groups didn’t generally walk that far.
I was so pleased I decided to do the hike. In the National Park visitor centre, the lady there had told me that the Mini Palms Gorge often turned out to be people’s favourite walk in the National Park. Not mine. Mine was definitely Whip Snake Gorge. It wasn’t so much Whip Snake Gorge itself that I loved so much. It was the whole hike along Piccaninny Creek, to the lookout and then the Window and along the creek bed with the huge holes in the rock that you had to hop over. There was no defined trail along the creek, you just find your own route and have to make sure you don’t get trapped where the gap is too big to jump across. It all added to the excitement.
My recommendation is if you make the effort to go to Purnululu National Park, because it is an effort to get there, and especially if you’re not doing the overnight hike along Piccaninny Creek, definitely make sure you set aside a half day to do the 10km return hike into Whip Snake Gorge. You get to experience walking along the creek, the fabulous detours to the lookout and the Window and the peaceful gorge itself. It’s very rewarding and hopefully you’ll love it just as much as I did.
I travelled to Purnululu National Park in August 2019.
The Whip Snake Gorge hike is in the southern part of Purnululu National Park. If you hike all the way into the gorge along Piccaninny Creek, the distance is 10km return from the car park and will take about half a day.
It takes approximately 5 hours to drive from Kununurra to the Purnululu National Park entrance. Approximately 3 hours is on the main tarmac road from Kununurra, the last 2 hours or so is on the 4WD road to the park entrance. You must have a high clearance 4WD vehicle to drive on this road.
Entrance fee to Purnululu National Park for vehicles payable at the Visitor Centre is currently $13AUD.
I stayed in the Bungle Bungle Wilderness Lodge run by APT. I stayed in a superior tented cabin with ensuite facilities. A 3 night package of bed, breakfast and evening meal was $342AUD per night (approximately £185 per night). This was a discounted rate available for a stay of 3 nights or more. I booked directly with APT.
An excellent practical guide for the Kimberley Region is available from Kimberley Australia written by Birgit Bradtke. There is a free mini guide, but I also purchased the more in depth online guide that gives you all the information you need to self-drive to Purnululu National Park.
I rented my 4WD car from Thrifty at Kununurra Airport. A 4 day rental cost $760AUD (approximately £420).
I flew to Kununurra from Darwin with Air North. The flight takes one hour. I paid £100 for my outbound flight and £145 for my return flight. I booked my flights with Budget Air.
Read about the rest of my time in Purnululu National Park
Read my other posts about my time in Kakadu National Park in Australia