Off the beaten track and far away from the crowds, Karlamilyi National Park in East Pilbara is a truly remarkable destination to explore. John Beadle discovered a world of hidden secrets on this adventure.

Desert Queen Baths, Kalkan Kalkan Soak, Tjingkulatjatjarra Pool. Names of faraway places that stir the imagination. I have been fascinated with Karlamilyi (Rudall River) National Park for many, many years. Last year we finally got there.

Karlamilyi National Park is the largest national park in Western Australia and one of the largest in the world. Covering 1,283,706 hectares (12,837 square km), the park sits between the Great Sandy and Little Sandy Deserts and roughly between Marble Bar and the Canning Stock Route. If latitude and longitude is your thing, a meridian through Broome will pass through Karlamilyi and exit the south coast at Esperance, and the park is at the same latitude as Exmouth. I’ve explained this because virtually nobody knows where the park is.

Sand dunes dominate the desert areas in the eastern and southwestern parts of the park. They form parallel sand ridges 20-40 m high, 200 m to 6 km apart, and up to 40 km in length. Between the desert regions is a central rocky area shaped by ephemeral rivers and creeks, creating a myriad of escarpments, gorges and waterholes. Rain arrives from the north via decaying tropical low-pressure systems, but the park can stay dry for years. If you are lucky enough to see Karlamilyi after a couple of good wet seasons (and we were), it is truly spectacular.

Karlamilyi is rugged and remote. There are no facilities, the tracks are not maintained, and signage is minimal or non-existent. There is no fuel available within the park, and water supply is fickle. Needless to say, you need to be well prepared—a reliable and well-equipped 4WD is essential. I’ll leave the details of that to the many articles already penned in this magazine.

One thing to note: Karlamilyi is a tyre wrecker, especially if you venture off the main North-South access road into the far reaches of the park. The mulga tree (Acacia aneura) dominates the scrub, and this is a serious hardwood used to make tools such as boomerangs and digging sticks. Mulga is highly efficient at staking tyres. We carried two spare wheels and used both.

There are two main access routes into Karlamilyi. Most who enter from the south will use the Talawana Track via Newman and the Marble Bar Road. The Talawana services Parngurr Community and is a well-maintained unsealed road. We found most visitors to the park were from eastern states and had entered from the north via the Kiwikurra Road, Punmu and Telfer.

We started from our home in Broome and our intention was to access the park by a little-used third route: the western access to Karlamilyi via Christie Crossing, Bocrabee Hill and Hanging Rock. We didn’t make it—a story for another day. Instead we entered via the Talawana Track, after enjoying a few days in superb East Pilbara country around Skull Springs.

You quickly enter the national park after turning north off the Talawana Track, then a 50 km sandy track will bring you to the central “crossroads” of Karlamilyi. The track crosses the Rudall River and here you will find a plaque outlining the rich Aboriginal history of the area as well as European exploration of the area in 1896-97, when surveyor William Frederick Rudall (pronounced Roo-dal) led a party of men in search of George Jones and Charles Wells, the missing men from the Calvert Expedition. The Rudall River was named by Frank Hann after the surveyor.

From here you can travel further north or take rough tracks for adventurous exploration to the west or east. Be aware that after a good wet season, many of the east-west tracks are completely overgrown and indiscernible. Deep washouts and long stretches of soft sand are common. A reliable offline digital map set is essential for any of these side tracks. We used ExplorOz mapping and found it excellent.

We had no set itinerary in the park and allowed 17 days ex Broome for the trip. This allowed stays of three or four days at the best spots, and unforeseen route changes were easily managed. We could have stayed longer. Don’t rush it. We were completely self-sufficient for fuel, water and food for the whole trip. Best of all, we had no internet connection anywhere in the park, so you are truly off-grid, something that is becoming increasingly hard to do in our busy lives. We carry a satellite phone for emergencies and also find it invaluable for keeping in contact with family.

The park is a bird watcher’s paradise. Huge flocks of seed-eating species dominated our trip: zebra finches, budgerigars, and painted finches. Over 90 species of birds have been recorded in the park. Most are located around the river and creek systems. Many of the species reflect the more arid areas of Australia, including spinifex pigeons, peregrine and brown falcons. An assortment of honeyeaters also come to drink at the pools. The white-winged fairy-wren can also be seen, and in good seasons, crimson chats and button-quail can be spotted in the area.

Seventeen mammals have been recorded in the park, mainly small creatures such as the hairy-footed dunnart and the spinifex hopping mouse. Camels and dingoes can be found, but other larger mammals seem to have disappeared over time. We heard dingoes every night but didn’t see them. No doubt they could see us.

Highlights among the more well-known locations of Karlamilyi include:

Tjingkulatjatjarra Pool (or ‘Tjing Pool)  

Situated on the upper reaches of Rudall River (named Watrara Creek on maps). The secluded camp on the sandy bank of this long pool allows only one camp. Excellent for swimming, walking the surrounding escarpments and bird watching. We spent five days here and, in that time, only three vehicles popped down to see if the camp was free.

Curran Curran Water Hole

This large rock pool is a short walk from the very rough track heading into the western regions of Karlamilyi. In 2022 the track to Curran Curran was almost completely overgrown in parts, and offline digital mapping was essential for the numerous times we lost the track. On the way to CC Water Hole you will pass the rather appropriate “You Are Lost” sign.

The water hole was full and supported extraordinary bird life. The highlight was watching hundreds of spinifex pigeons slowly congregate on the rocky ramparts above us, looking like miniature soldiers ready to defend their water hole.  After watching us in silence for a long time, they gained confidence and formed long lines to walk and scramble their way down the steep rock walls to drink in the water hole. It was a mesmerising sight.

Our intention was to travel further west and reach Hanging Rock on the western border of Karlamilyi, but after pushing on from Curran Curran we eventually completely lost the track in the thick acacia scrub and had to turn back.

Desert Queen Baths

This is a series of pools linked in a deep gorge system in the central rocky area of Karlamilyi. Camping is excellent at the entrance to the pools. The upper pools, numbers five to eight, are the actual ‘Desert Queen Baths.’ These can only be negotiated by swimming across the very cold, black water. This gorge system is the equal of any in the Kimberley or Karijini, without the crowds.

Kalkan Kalkan Soak

To the east of the Rudall River Crossing, this area has numerous waterholes, rocky escarpments, and wide sandy stretches of riverbed for walking and exploring. Fantastic bird life once again. We couldn’t make it all the way to Kalkan Kalkan by vehicle due to deep washouts in the many creeks feeding the Rudall River, but there are many alternate camp spots. We accessed Kalkan Kalkan by foot along the riverbed.

Give yourself enough time in Karlamilyi to absorb the peace and solitude. Venture into the less travelled regions of this vast area. There are many undiscovered gems for the adventurous traveller. We found plenty that are best kept secret.

This adventure can be found in the 126th edition of Western 4W Driver at issuu.com