Travel: The Duncan Highway, WA to NT

By John Mack

The Duncan Highway, connecting Halls Creek, WA to the Victoria Highway just over the NT border, offers an interesting and less travelled route.

The highway travels through some wide open outback country through the East Kimberley and onto the Gregory and Keep River National Parks in the NT.

Rather than cruising directly up the Great Northern Highway route from Broome to Kununurra, which is a pleasant trip, it is worth considering this alternative route.

The road is a well maintained gravel surface and, while there are corrugations in a few places, much of the road is as good as or better than some sealed surfaces.

There are lots of opportunities for camping in genuine bush surroundings, often in beautiful gorges or close to water at the many creeks and waterholes along the route. The best time of year to travel this road is from April to September, generally known as ‘The Dry’ in the north.

The days during this time are warm and sunny, usually with an easterly breeze and the evenings are cool – brilliant weather for camping out.

Gold rush territory

Travelling east from Halls Creek the road passes the China Wall, a large outcropping quartz reef, typical of the surrounding gold country. Small nuggets are sometimes found here particularly after a rainstorm, so travelling children should keep their eyes peeled. Another few kilometres down the road there is a turnoff to Caroline Pool. This is only a very short drive off the road and offers a quiet spot for a picnic and a swim in the Elvira River.

Old Halls Creek was the hub of the 1886 gold rush that developed into a thriving town of more than 6000 people of all nationalities and 12 pubs. However, by the turn of the century it was in decline and today little remains other than the ruins of the mud-brick post office, the cemetery and the layout of some streets.

A small caravan park offers budget accommodation and meals. There are barbecue places along the creek line under tall shady trees and, after a good Wet season, it is a nice spot for a swim. Being only 15km from the new town it is worth a visit to just to soak up some of the history of the gold rush days.

The road continues eastwards twisting and turning through the hilly country and there are tracks leading off into the bush on both sides of the road. These are mostly made by locals in their search for the elusive yellow metal. Some individuals make a reasonable living, or at least a good second income, detecting for gold. Nuggets of up to 35 ounces have been found, but it is not easy money. You need the right equipment, a bagful of prospecting skills, tenacity and a bit of luck.

Palm Springs

Forty kilometres into your journey you will arrive at the mini oasis of Palm Springs, followed 3km later by Saw Pit Gorge. Situated on the Black Elvira River, both places offer recognised overnight camping, but there are no facilities other than rubbish bins. It’s a restful place and well worth a couple of days of exploring. Side tracks off the road into the gorge lead to other spots along the river, but these are strictly 4WD only.

Close by we found a small ‘one man and his dog’ sized mineral spring coming out of the range behind Saw Pit Gorge. This crystal clear little spring, tucked in under the canopy of trees at the end of a tight gully, was fed by water at least 10°C warmer than the main pool at the gorge.

Palm Springs began life as a Chinese market garden and store before the turn of the 19th century and the height of the gold rush days. Although the old building was still occupied until the early 1980s, now the graffiti-covered ruins are home to bats. The remnants of the gardens are still visible; bananas grow on the fertile black soil on the river bank and date palms are becoming an invasive pest.

Among the detritus of a century of change lies a long abandoned old Bedford truck like a sentinel at the entrance to the old store building.

Campsites and camels

Continuing up the Duncan Highway for a further 107km is Murella Gorge on Nicholson Station. The turnoff is unmarked, other than a 1080 poison bait sign, but if you cross Calico Creek you have gone about a kilometere too far.

After turning left off the highway the gorge is less than 1km away with a gate halfway along the track. This access road is a little bumpy in places and should not be attempted in RVs with low ground clearance; our Bushtracker cruised easily through.

There is a choice of campsites and nearly all of them have views of the creek, some requiring a more adventurous approach. The gorge has been formed by the Johnson River through millions of years of weathering and erosion and has steep banks in some sections. Deep pools are joined by gently flowing shallows and the birdlife is prolific, which makes for interesting walks along the banks on either side.

Camping is permitted for three days in a stretch, but there are no facilities and firewood is scarce. As always in station country, leave the gate as you find it – which is usually closed and be very careful with your fires.

Continuing in a north-easterly direction for 20km you will arrive at Nicholson Station where the Duncan and Buntine Highways meet. The Buntine continues north-east into the Northern Territory and is the southern access to the Gregory National Park and a short cut to the Stuart Highway that runs up the centre of the NT. The Duncan turns north through undulating station country where squadrons of bright green budgerigars dash about and camels mix with the cattle lurking in the shade of the scrub.

Soon, on the western side of the road, you will see the escarpment that delineates the Purnululu (Bungle Bungle) National Park. It was interesting to reflect that over there, only some 25km away, the tourists were almost queuing to visit the famous park and we had not seen another vehicle all day.

Our next stop, just for the afternoon and night, was at the Negri River just north of Mistake Creek Community. There is camping areas on both sides of the river but no facilities other than abundant wood and good water.

The camping area on the western side of the north bank is just being developed, and although it does not yet have water views there are huge slabs of smooth water-worn sandstone that lead right down to the water. These provide an easy stroll and a grandstand seat for the late afternoon refreshments while you watch the sun set over the water. Brolgas called nearby and lots of fish plopping noises signalled the evening feeding session.

Border security

Our final stop on the Duncan Highway was at Behn River only 65km from the Victoria Highway. There are a number of camping areas on the eastern side of the creek and we were able to park overlooking the water about 500m away from the road.

The resident Brahman stud bull sauntered right through our camp each day when he came down for a drink but otherwise ignored us, much to the relief of my wife and the dogs. The latter slunk off under the van to hide in case they were called on to defend their territory.

The flies at this spot were pretty rabid but interestingly they seemed to prefer the back of the shirt rather than buzzing around your head, maybe they were NT flies that had yet to develop their full potential!

After leaving Murella Gorge we were never sure which State we were in. We did pass several signs saying ‘NT/WA Border’, but they did not state which side was which. We knew the highway terminated on the NT side of the border and we prepared our remaining fruit and vegetables we were carrying in order to the pass quarantine checkpoint.

Many people assume that no fruit, vegetables, honey or flowers are allowed into WA. This is not strictly true. We carried our excess potatoes through, peeled and with all eyes removed. Pumpkins have to be peeled and deseeded, onions peeled but carrots only topped and tailed. Fruit like apples would have to be de-cored and peeled but we elected to cook ours and we also cooked our remaining tomatoes.

No honey or flowers will get through; even sealed jars of honey are not acceptable. The dogs enjoyed a high energy breakfast as they polished off the last of the honey with their morning munchies.

When we reached the quarantine checkpoint at the border, the police were also in attendance checking vehicles, registration and licence details. It is not uncommon for other services such as the Customs and Immigration Department to also run spot checks at the border so you need to be aware that you are not carrying anything you shouldn’t. On one occasion when I went through the checkpoint they had a sniffer dog on duty checking cars and trucks.

The Duncan Highway ends when it joins the Victoria Highway 15km from the WA border and quarantine checkpoint. This it seems a great place to start another journey and there are many opportunities.

Turn west and you will shortly come to the Keep National Park on the north side of the road. If you travel on through the WA border and take the first left you will embark on a very pretty 30km drive to Lake Argyle, or continue to Kununurra, the gateway to the East Kimberley region. Turn west and head into the Gregory National Park, the Victoria River and Katherine.

Taking the Duncan Highway route from Halls Creek to Kununurra is 500km, adding 130km onto the trip you would have had going straight up the Great Northern Highway. If you have the time to spend a few days and explore, it can be a very pleasant and enjoyable trip.

Duncan Highway facts

The Duncan Highway is a 500km journey from Halls Creek in WA to the Victoria Highway just over the NT Border.

The best time of the year to travel this road is from April to September, generally known as “The Dry” in the north.

Tourist information: