Four Nights in the Bungle Bungles: Walks & Gorges
- Adventure Lifestyle
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
We gave ourselves four nights in the World Heritage listed Purnululu National Park with one goal: to see just about everything the park has to offer on foot. The trick, we reckoned, was timing. Early mornings, late evenings, and the quiet windows when everyone else was back at camp. And one morning, well before light, for something we did not want to share with anyone. So the next four days came down to one simple question. Was it all worth it?
Getting to the Bungle Bungles (Purnululu)
There is only one way into the Bungle Bungles, and that is the Spring Creek Track. Rough, slow, and a track that has well and truly earned its reputation. We aired down, took it as it came, and made our way in, splitting our stay across two campgrounds: two nights at Kurrajong in the north, then two at Walardi in the south.
Echidna Chasm
Our first stop was Echidna Chasm, and we timed it for late in the day. The temperature dropped the moment we stepped inside, and the low light made the whole place feel wonderfully moody. Better still, we had it to ourselves. The chasm narrows and narrows as you go, the walls closing in overhead until there is just the tiniest gap of sky above you, and every time we thought we had reached the end it kept going.
If you are planning your own visit, our honest take is that it does not much matter what time of day you come. Echidna Chasm is going to be stunning either way. The middle of the day lights up the walls, and early morning brings the cool air and a different feel, so you really cannot go wrong.
Mini Palms Gorge
The next morning we were up early for Mini Palms Gorge, and once again we were the first ones through. It is signed as a class five walk, though we would put it closer to a class four ourselves, but that is always subjective and depends entirely on your own physical ability. There is no crazy climbing and the distances are not huge.
The walk builds beautifully. The rock walls are enormous, and we reckoned they stood at least twice the height of Carawine Gorge back in the Pilbara. The conglomerate hillsides are genuinely hard to make sense of, and then the gorge tightens up and the palms appear. The viewing platform at the end is a touch frustrating, since a few rocks sit right where you want to look, but the gorge itself is spectacular. We can highly recommend it. As we always say, photos and video never quite do these places justice, so it is one you have to see with your own eyes.
Kungkalanayi Lookout
That afternoon, once the heat had backed off, we headed up to Kungkalanayi Lookout. It is a short one, around 500 metres return, and easy enough to do in thongs if you wanted to. We parked up with a couple of beers and some snacks and watched the sun go down over the range, the rolling hills and the visitor centre laid out below. A cracking way to end the day.
Homestead Valley
On our final morning at Kurrajong we set off a little earlier than usual for the Homestead Valley hike, around 4.4 kilometres return. This one has more of a traverse across open country, so it is a bit more exposed than the gorge walks, but the first kilometre is easy going and well built up with handrails and trail. The valley opens out at the end into a series of little valleys and crazy little mountains, with eagles circling overhead. Well worth the walk.
Moving south to Walardi
After two nights at Kurrajong we shifted south to Walardi. That evening we tried the sunset lookout near camp. The trees had well and truly won, and it was possibly the worst sunset vantage point we have ever visited. Not a range in sight. We had a laugh, cracked a beer, and vowed to find somewhere better the following afternoon.
Whip Snake Gorge
The drive down to the Piccaninny car park the next morning gave us our first proper glimpses of the domes, distracting enough that we very nearly drove off the road a few times. From there we set off on Whip Snake Gorge, at 8.4 kilometres return one of the longest walks in the park. We started around eight, which was a touch later than we would have liked, so a word to the wise: the overwhelming majority of this walk has no shade, so head off nice and early and carry plenty of water.
The gorge just keeps getting better the further in you go. The river rock has worn away into smooth pools full of little fish, the valley opens up, and there is a waterfall at the head that would be something to see with water flowing.
The walk itself is pretty flat and not too difficult, an easy class four, with only the last 500 metres asking a bit more of you.
Piccaninny Creek Lookout and the Domes
After a lazy afternoon back at camp we returned to the hub of the walks. First up was the Piccaninny Creek Lookout, a short detour of around 600 metres off the main track that we nearly did not bother with, and we were very glad we did. At only three kilometres return it is an easy walk, but it drops you right inside the domes, and it felt completely different to everything else we had done. If you have the time, we would say it is well worth adding on.
From there we walked the Domes Trail as the sun dropped. It went quiet and moody, no one else around, and there is something special about wandering through a World Heritage listed landscape with the place entirely to yourself. These walks are at their best early morning or late afternoon, when there is still enough light to catch the detail in the rock while the domes glow behind. Down in the gorge it turned cold and humid, which was lovely after a day in the sun.
We finished the evening at a far better sunset spot than the night before, which was not a high bar to clear.
Cathedral Gorge at sunrise
For our last morning we saved what turned out to be the best of the lot. We were up at five, made a coffee, and headed out to reach Cathedral Gorge for sunrise. The plan had been to get in while it was still dark and watch it light up, but the sun beat us to it and it was brighter than we expected, so file that one under lessons learned.
It hardly mattered. We had the whole place to ourselves for a solid hour, not another living soul around, just a few birds. The huge undercut amphitheatre, the still green pool, the quiet. Absolute magic, and we did not rush a moment of it.
Was it all worth it?
Four nights, both ends of the park, and a whole lot of walking. If you are coming through this part of the world, do not skip Purnululu. Our recommendation is to do the north first and then come down to the south, and to get out early whenever you can. Arguably we saved the best for last at Cathedral Gorge, and having it to ourselves at first light made every early start worth it. You can watch the full episode below 👇🏼
Karleah & Paul, Adventure Lifestyle
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