Wolf & I Co. Blog | Adventures Of The Wolf Pack

If you’ve never heard of this remote 660km stretch of (mostly) dirt road don’t be alarmed. It’s located in the far north west of Western Australia and has not been attempted by many largely due to its remoteness and it’s reputation for pot holes and corrugations.

With more and more of us attempting the infamous lap of Australia, the word is out about the epic adventures people are experiencing. From Derby to Kununurra or vice versa, the amazing waterfalls, gorges, dog friendly camping and aboriginal rock art is second to none.

Luckily for Winston, his Mum & Dad made sure he was along for the journey along the Gibb River Road. Winston’s mum Georgia has shared their experience with us so you can make plans to hit The Gibb for yourself!

Winston getting prepared for his 4wd adventure across The Gibb River Road!

Prior to attempting The Gibb, we heard lots of bad things about the road and whilst it wasn’t smooth rolling it was a lot better than expected.

We did some research to figure out the best dog friendly accommodation along the way. Like most travellers we use WikiCamps and the Travel Australia with Dogs Facebook page are life savers for finding dog friendly stays.

We set off from East to West, with our first stop being El Questro Wilderness Park. El Questro offers everything from hikes, fishing, waterfalls, gorges, dining, camping, swimming holes, accommodation, horse riding and so much more. El Questro was nothing short of fabulous! The camping area itself is dog friendly with large camp kitchens and great facilities like cafes and all the staff are so lovely! There’s also a bar and restaurant at El Questro that dogs can dine at.

Dogs can experience many of the amazing waterfalls along with you on your trip to The Gibb

Originally we thought we would have had to do a lot of the Gorges at El Questro separately as dogs aren’t allowed, but a lovely couple who work for the park offered to take him on their day off so we were able to do Zebedee Springs and El Questro Gorge. The same happened when we went to do Emma Gorge, so we definitely think it’s always worth asking at reception for assistance with dog sitting but obviously don’t rely on this method as they may not be available.

Many of the working cattle stations on The Gibb offer camping and are dog friendly

Located on Balanggarra Country is Home Valley Station, another dog friendly station with grassy sites, hot showers and flushing toilets. This Station has a swimming pool and a bar but unfortunately a lot of the hikes weren’t open and they prefer for dogs not to do them anyway. We also found out there is a free camp on the other side of the Pentecost River as well and in hindsight we should have stayed there, but overall it was a good overnight stay.

Our next stop was Ellenbrae, which is a station of over 1 million acres in the Kimberly and we loved it! It’s located on the Gibb River Road in Durack. They are very dog friendly, Winnie was allowed at their two private swimming holes and was even allowed to accompany us at their sunset Baths in the Bush session. He also joined us for their famous Scones in the Homestead Garden. Can’t recommend this station enough. We definitely recommend Ellenbrae scones!

Winston getting a first hand look at the Baths in the Bush experience at Ellenbrae Station

Mount Elizabeth Station is an amazing working cattle station featuring gorges, Aboriginal rock art, waterfalls and epic landscapes. The Station also offers meals and we wish we could have experienced it but we didn’t book ahead so we missed out. We only went to two gorges out of three, one my partner went to by himself as there was baiting signs in that particular area, and it only ended up being a small waterhole. The staff also let us know that they recently baited at the station so just a note to be careful with your pups.

The other was Warla Gorge (also known as Hann River Gorge) which was amazing! It’s about 19km from the Mount Elizabeth Station Homestead. We were there by ourselves for most of the time and Winston had a ball splashing around chasing sticks, definitely recommend this gorge! There is also another gorge on this property that is meant to be spectacular but we we didn’t have a lot of time so we missed it.

Winston cooling off with a swim in one of the many dog friendly swimming holes on The Gibb

We also made the 3km hike in to Manning Gorge. It has a beautiful waterfall and swimming hole but dogs can’t do the Manning Gorge hike so we did that one separately. The good news is that they are allowed in the creek at the campsite which was beautiful for a splash and a run.

From Manning Gorge our plan was to camp up at the free camp, March fly Glenn but first stopping at Galvans Gorge and Adcock Gorge. Both of these spots were amazing!

Galvans Gorge was really accessible and such a pretty swimming spot. Funnily enough there was a rope swing set up and Winston had a great time swimming across and trying to save everyone as they jumped in off the rope swing.

Adcock Gorge was beautiful and much quieter. Only a short drive in off the Gibb this Gorge had a deep green pool for swimming and a waterfall to shower under. You can climb the rock ledges all around the waterfall so it was perfect for our little explorer, and it was quite big, so great for a big swim to tire him out. March fly Glenn was a good little overnight free camp.

Winston having a ball at the dog friendly gorges on The Gibb River Road

That concluded our Gibb journey as we headed to Derby afterwards. The only thing we felt like we missed out on was Bells Gorge and Mitchell Falls. We were satisfied with all the things we did get to see anyway!

With so much amazing scenery it’s hard to pick a stand out as everything was so beautiful but the variety of gorges and waterholes at El Questro were amazing and we had a great experience with staff wanting to look after Winston while we were there. Ellenbrae was another stand out as the staff were super accommodating to people travelling with dogs and Winston could swim at their private waterholes and join us for the sunset baths. For us, the trip was all about the waterfalls, the only other standout would be the friendly staff at the stations.

Something to note though, we actually found all the campsites way busier than expected, there were so many families and people travelling. We felt a lot safer than we thought we would and although there weren’t a lot of people travelling with dogs, we definitely got to say hi to a few.

Beautiful scenery and dog friendly adventures await in Western Australia

We had been travelling Australia with Winston for nearly three months prior to this adventure so he is used to life on the road, but before travelling our main goals were to teach him ‘leave it’ and ‘out’ in case he was to pick up something he shouldn’t and obviously good recall training.

We were concerned about crocs and baiting but we always had him on a dog leash and were careful where we took him swimming. The dog dangers are crocs, baits and also be wary of not only paralysis ticks but brown ticks and snakes too.

If you needed something for your dog, the closest towns are Derby and Kununurra. They are still quite remote towns so definitely be prepared and have everything you need with you, a doggy first aid kit is essential too.

The best time to travel The Gibb is in the dry season which is April- September. Overall our adventure on The Gibb River Road was about two weeks, you could definitely take longer though, especially if you are doing it without a dog.

The Gibb is definitely do-able with a dog! As any dog owner would already know you just have to be willing to do some things separately. Also, always being cautious of snakes, baits and crocs, but we didn’t see one!

Winston just chillin' after a big day of dog friendly adventure!

Overall a great trip, Winnie gives it five paws!

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Don't forget to grab all you need for your pups next adventure right here.