Western Australia is a third of the continent with the population of a mid-sized city. Distances here are not an inconvenience to be planned around — they are the trip. A "short" drive out of Perth is six hours.
Western Australia covers about 2.5 million square kilometres and splits into three driving regions that share almost nothing. The south-west corner, within about 400 km of Perth, is temperate, green in winter, densely served and easy: Margaret River, the karri forests around Pemberton, the south coast to Albany and Esperance. North of Geraldton the country turns arid and the Coral Coast corridor runs 1,250 km to Exmouth on good sealed road with services spaced roughly every 150 to 200 km. North again, the Pilbara and the Kimberley are remote, hot, and governed entirely by the wet season.
The numbers set the pace. Perth to Kalbarri is about 570 km. Perth to Exmouth is 1,250 km, which is two long days or three comfortable ones. Perth to Broome is roughly 2,240 km — three to four days of solid driving with nothing much between Carnarvon and Port Hedland. Perth to Adelaide across the Nullarbor is about 2,700 km. None of these are technically difficult drives. All of them punish poor fuel planning.
Mobile coverage is the other constant. Outside the towns, expect no signal at all across large sections of the North West Coastal Highway, the Eyre Highway and everything in the Kimberley away from Broome, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek and Kununurra. A satellite messenger is standard equipment for anything north of Carnarvon or off the sealed road.
Cervantes, Kalbarri, Shark Bay, Carnarvon and Ningaloo Reef, all on one sealed corridor. The detour into Denham and Monkey Mia is 260 km return off the highway and deserves a full day rather than a lunch stop. Ten days one way; two weeks if you are driving back rather than flying out.
Down through Margaret River and the Cape to Cape coast, inland to the karri forest at Pemberton, then east along the south coast to Denmark and Albany. Wettest between June and August; the forests are at their best in spring.
Unsealed, heavily corrugated and high-clearance four-wheel drive only, with river crossings that stay impassable well into the dry season. Two spare tyres, recovery gear and a satellite messenger are the minimum. Confirm the road status with the shire before leaving Derby.
Gorge country in the Hamersley Range, reached via the Great Northern Highway or the coastal route through Carnarvon. Nights in July regularly drop near freezing; December to February is far too hot for gorge walking. Park roads inside Karijini are gravel and rough in sections.
Four long driving days at absolute minimum, and six is more humane. Fuel spacing rather than total distance sets each day's plan. Quarantine controls apply at the border and inspect fresh produce; the 90 Mile Straight is exactly what it sounds like.
Eight hours south-east of Perth for white sand and granite headlands. The park campground at Lucky Bay is small and books out through school holidays. Wind off the Southern Ocean is a bigger factor than temperature.
Deep, narrow iron-ore gorges with a mix of easy rim walks and genuinely technical descents that are graded and signposted by class. The park has no fuel and limited water; the nearest towns are Tom Price and Newman. Roads within the park are unsealed and corrugate quickly.
Fringing reef within swimming distance of the beach at several points along the park's coast. Campgrounds are small, unpowered and booked through the state park service, often months ahead for the winter season. The access road from Exmouth is sealed.
The banded domes of the Bungle Bungles, reached by a 53 km unsealed track from the Great Northern Highway that takes about two hours each way and requires high clearance. The park closes for the wet season and reopens once the track is assessed, usually around April.
Two distinct sections: the coastal cliffs immediately south of town, all sealed and easily reached, and the inland Murchison River gorges with the skywalk and Nature's Window. Inland summer temperatures make the gorge walks unsuitable from December to February.
| To | Distance | Driving time | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Margaret River | 270 km | 3 h | The easy weekend out of Perth |
| Albany | 420 km | 4 h 30 m | Direct via the Albany Highway |
| Esperance | 720 km | 8 h | Long day; split it at Hyden or Ravensthorpe |
| Kalbarri | 570 km | 6 h 15 m | First real stop on the Coral Coast |
| Denham (Shark Bay) | 830 km | 9 h | Includes the 130 km run in from the highway |
| Exmouth | 1,250 km | 13 h 30 m | Two long days or three sensible ones |
| Karijini (Dales) | 1,420 km | 16 h | Last fuel at Tom Price or Auski |
| Broome | 2,240 km | 24 h | Three to four days; many people fly instead |
The north runs on the same dry-season logic as the Northern Territory: May to September for the Kimberley and the Pilbara, with April and October as marginal shoulder months depending on how the wet finished. The Gibb River Road and the Purnululu access track do not simply become uncomfortable in the wet — they close, and the closures are enforced.
The Coral Coast has a longer usable window, roughly April to October. July and August are the peak months, when the winter travelling crowd is heaviest and Ningaloo campgrounds are hardest to get. September and early October are quieter and still comfortable, though the wind picks up.
The south-west inverts again. Its best months are spring, roughly September to November, when the wildflowers are out through the Wheatbelt and the karri forest is green, and again in March and April before the winter rain sets in. June to August in the south-west is cold and genuinely wet — not a reason to stay away, but a reason to book a roof rather than a tent.
Western Australian national parks charge a vehicle entry fee at the more visited parks, and a holiday pass covering multiple parks over a set number of days is usually the better value for a long trip. Camping inside parks is separate again and is booked through the state park service; the Cape Range campgrounds in particular are released on a schedule and are gone within minutes for peak winter dates. Check current fees and booking-release dates with the Western Australian park service before you travel.
Free and low-cost overnight stops are common along the North West Coastal Highway and the Eyre Highway, and station stays — camping on working pastoral properties — are a genuinely useful option through the Gascoyne and the Kimberley. They are usually unpowered, sometimes have no water, and almost never have phone coverage.
Towing north of Carnarvon is normal and well catered for on the sealed highways. Towing a conventional caravan on the Gibb River Road, into Purnululu, or on the Karijini park roads is not — sustained corrugations destroy suspension, crack chassis welds and shake fittings apart, and recovery from those roads is slow and expensive. Check what the manufacturer rates the van for before you assume otherwise, and see our outback packing guide for what to carry.
People plan Perth to Exmouth as a drive with stops. It works far better as three bases with driving between them: Kalbarri, Denham and Exmouth, two or three nights each. The corridor's appeal is what happens when you stop moving — the reef, the gorges, the coast — and a fortnight spent covering ground gets you very little of it.