Katherine to Mataranka: The Top End's Big Names in Peak Season

3 days ago

6 min read

Katherine Gorge, Edith Falls, Bitter Springs and Mataranka are about as well known as the Northern Territory gets. They are signposted, sealed all the way, and in July they are busy. That is a long way from the middle-of-nowhere stuff we usually go looking for, and for a while it felt like the wrong sort of episode for us.

But this stretch of the Stuart Highway is one almost everybody drives at some point, and July is when most people do it. So we gave it a proper go and tried to answer two questions. Are these places still worth it when you are sharing them, and is there anywhere quiet left if you are willing to work for it?

Nitmiluk and the Baruwei Lookout Walk

We started at Nitmiluk, or Katherine Gorge as most people know it. Thirteen gorges cut into sandstone by the Katherine River, half an hour out of Katherine on a sealed road.

There are plenty of ways to see it. Boat cruises, canoe hire, helicopter flights, and multi-day hikes out to remote camps, some of which you can only reach by canoe. We had none of our overnight gear or the inflatable kayak with us, so those went on the list for next time.

What we did do was the Baruwei Lookout Walk. It is 1.8 kilometres return and it goes straight up onto the escarpment from near the Nitmiluk Centre. It is graded moderate and the first section is steep, but it flattens out and the views start well before the top.

The view from Baruwei Lookout in Nitmiluk National Park, looking down on the Katherine River as it winds through woodland, with a rocky bluff on the right and low ranges on the horizon. — *The view from the Baruwei Lookout, with 17 Mile Valley running out beyond the river.*

From the lookout you get the river running out below you and 17 Mile Valley beyond it. Standing up there you can also read the last wet season in the country below. The small trees along the bottom are all pushed flat in the same direction, which gives you a fair idea of how high the water was during the floods earlier in the year.

Katherine Gorge from above, sheer sandstone walls dropping to the Katherine River with a boat on the water far below. — *Thirteen gorges cut into sandstone by the Katherine River. This is the western end of the system.*

A network of longer walks and mountain bike trails branches off from the top. Most of them are a serious commitment compared with the lookout walk, so check what you are signing up for before you head off.

Edith Rail Campground

Rather than push on, we pulled into Edith Rail Campground, a free camp just off the Edith Falls turn-off, so we could be at the falls first thing.

It is not a quiet camp in the strictest sense. You get highway noise and train noise, so if either of those keeps you awake, keep driving. Most people set up in the big open area near the top. We took one of the side tracks down towards the river instead and found a spot tucked away on our own. You could still see vehicles in the distance, but nobody was close, which was all we wanted.

Karleah picked up a head cold overnight, which set the tone for the next couple of days.

Leliyn (Edith Falls): three pools, two you can swim

Leliyn, better known as Edith Falls, sits 60 kilometres north of Katherine off the Stuart Highway. There is a kiosk, a drive-in campground, toilets and showers, and the lower plunge pool is a short walk from the car park.

The lower plunge pool at Leliyn (Edith Falls), a wide stretch of calm water leading to a small waterfall between tall orange gorge walls, with pandanus in the foreground. — *The lower plunge pool, a short walk from the car park and seriously cold*

The water was crystal clear and properly cold. There is only one sensible way into water like that, which is to stop thinking about it and get in. It was a refreshing swim, and a brief one.

From the bottom pool the track climbs, and it climbs quickly. It is rocky and undulating with a steep start, but it is a good walk and the views open up fast. The full loop is 2.6 kilometres. If you only want to see the upper falls you can do about two kilometres return, and from the top it is roughly a kilometre back down to the car park.

The upper and middle pools at Leliyn (Edith Falls) seen from above, water dropping in two tiers through red and dark rock into a deep pool surrounded by green hills. — *The upper and middle pools from the track*

There are three pools here and it is worth knowing which is which before you go. The lower plunge pool and the upper pool are both open for swimming. The middle pool is not, and the signage is clear about that.

The upper pool is the one to linger at. With food, water and sunscreen you could easily spend a whole day up there, and plenty of people do exactly that.

Karleah in the water at the upper pool at Leliyn (Edith Falls), smiling towards the camera, with the waterfall spilling over rock behind her and Paul climbing on the rocks to the right. — *Second swim of the morning, at the top of the falls.*

Bitter Springs

We set up at Jalmurark Campground in Elsey National Park, near Mataranka, and got up early for Bitter Springs.

The walk in is lovely, all palms and moving water. The spring pumps out an enormous volume every day and the water holds a steady 34 degrees year round, which makes it a completely different proposition to the cold plunge pools at Edith Falls.

Worth knowing before you get in: there is a crocodile trap at Bitter Springs. Ours was empty, which you can read whichever way you like. It is a designated swimming area and it is monitored, but it is a reminder of where you are.

Half above and half below the waterline at Bitter Springs, a swimmer diving through clear blue water over bright green weed, with palms, paperbarks and the entry steps above the surface. — *Bitter Springs above and below the water*

We spent a couple of hours floating, drifting down and getting out to walk back up, which is how everybody does it. Then back to camp for a late breakfast.

Mataranka Thermal Pool

Here is the most useful thing we worked out all trip, and we worked it out the hard way.

Do not do Bitter Springs first.

They are both thermal pools in the same national park and they are both worth seeing, but Bitter Springs is a much bigger, more open, more interesting spot. Go there first and Mataranka Thermal Pool feels like a smaller, slightly cooler version of something you have already done. Do them the other way round and you get a build rather than a fade.

We went to the thermal pool late in the afternoon, gambling that people would drift back to camp for happy hour and dinner. Going by the car park, we were still none the wiser about when the quiet time actually is. It was busy, so no photos!

It is a much smaller pool than Bitter Springs and it holds a similar number of people in a fraction of the space. In fairness to it, at Bitter Springs people are constantly floating down and walking back, so only half the crowd is in the water at any one time. At Mataranka everybody is in the pool at once.

We had driven out, so we got in anyway.

Mataranka Falls: the one we had to ourselves

Our last morning at Mataranka came in grey, overcast and colder than the days before it, which is not what you expect in July.

Mataranka Falls, on the Roper River, is roughly eight kilometres return from Jalmurark Campground. Our own reading came in a little over that at about 4.2 kilometres each way. It is graded easy and follows the river the whole way.

You do not go far before the first payoff. About a hundred metres from the crossing there is a set of rapids loud enough that we had been hearing it from camp without being able to work out where it was coming from.

From there the track climbs above the river and stays high for a stretch. It is a long way down and the water below is clear enough to see straight into, which makes it a very good spot for watching for crocodiles. There is no swimming anywhere in the Roper, and after looking down into it you will not want to.

A wide, shallow cascade spilling over a limestone ledge at Mataranka Falls, with pandanus and paperbarks lining the far bank. — *The tufa dams at Mataranka Falls. Calcium carbonate builds up on the rock bars and the river spills over*

The country along the way is the best part of the walk. Limestone worn into shapes by the water, enormous paperbarks, and almost no noise at all. No roads, no vehicles, nobody else.

That last part is the whole point. Somebody left this place a one-star review because you have to walk four kilometres to get to it. That is not a flaw. That is the entry fee, and it is the reason we had the falls entirely to ourselves.

Paul and Karleah sitting on limestone rocks beside the cascades at Mataranka Falls, with a still green pool reflecting paperbarks behind them. — *Picnic breakfast spot, and worth every one of the four kilometres.*

We ate a picnic breakfast sitting in the middle of the falls, which after four days of sharing everything else felt like a small luxury.

So, are they worth it in peak season?

Yes, and they are popular for a reason.

What we came away with is that timing helps but it is not the whole answer. An early start at Bitter Springs bought us a quiet swim. The same trick at Mataranka Thermal Pool in the late afternoon bought us very little. The only thing that reliably worked was distance on foot.

Four kilometres of walking did more for our solitude than any amount of clever scheduling, and it is a filter most people will not pass through. If you want these places to yourself in the middle of the dry season, that is the price.

We only scratched the surface here. Katherine Gorge alone has boat rides, canoe hire and overnight hikes we did not get near. It is an outdoor lover's playground and we saw the popular end of it.

Next time we're back to business as usual and heading remote again, catch you then!