Drysdale River Station in Western Australia

About the Kimberley
• The Kimberley in Australia is one of the last true wilderness areas on Earth, with rustic unique outback landscapes and landmarks billions of years in the making. Covering app 423,000 square kilometres in north Western Australia and with a population of less than 40,000 people, it’s here you’ll encounter some of the most extraordinary outback adventuresand folks in Australia. Discover ancient gorge country with hikes and trekking a must in planning your Kimberley vacation to enormous cattle stations, pristine coastline and sandy beaches, to one of the oldest cultures on the planet and the world’s only horizontal waterfalls.

About Drysdale River Station

Location:
On the Gibb River / Kalumburu Road, North Kimberley, Western Australia. Just 59kms North of the junction and only 1 km off the Kalumburu Road.

About Drysdale River Station Nearest Towns:
East: Kununurra 360 km and West: Derby 470 km.
• Regretfully, we are unable to forecast when the road will open; this is not our decision. Due to working 7 days a week we seldom drive the road ourselves, so are simply unable to help you with current road condition reports.
• If you wish to find out more or current information about the Road Conditions of the Kalumburu Road or the Mitchell Plateau track ( Port Warrender Road ) please visit the Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley (SWEK) site [ http://www.swek.wa.gov.au ] and download their Road Condition Report.
• If this does not answer your question please use the SWEK contact page http://www.swek.wa.gov.au/about_us/contact_us.html or phone SWEK on (08) 9168 4100. If you want info on the Gibb River Road instead, see the relevant item on our Links page.

About Drysdale River Station Trading Post Period and Times:
In general terms, we are open for business during Australia's northern 'dry' season.
The road to us is impassable and therefore officially closed during the summer 'wet' season; sorry but we do not open until the road is legally gazetted as open, by SWEK*.

The following guide may assist in your planning, but please contact us for confirmation.
Camping - check in, 8am to 8pm, April to November*
Fuel & small shop - 8am to 5pm, April to November*
Room Accommodation - 1st May to 30th September*
All meals - 1st May to 30th September*
Beer Garden and Bar- 1st May to 30th September*
Scenic Flights - Normally 1st May to approx 1st September*

*These are our intended trading dates, each year - road and/or weather status can alter them at times, with little notice.

Drysdale River Station
Office hours, Western Australian time please, daily between 8 am and 5 pm.
Phone (08) 91 614 326 Fax (08) 91 614 201

A quick list of what they offer:
•Shop, small general store.
•Fuel, diesel and unleaded. (sorry no gas)
•Accommodation
•Riverside Camp area, beside a lovely big waterhole on the Drysdale.
•Homestead Camp area, with top class ablution facilities.
•Licensed Dining room offers evening meals and breakfast.
• The beer garden offers burgers & snacks, 11 am to 2 pm daily.
•Licensed bar •Tyre repairs (normally available until September)
• Scenic airplane flights to the Mitchell Falls, Prince Regent River and magnificent coastline. Approx May to September on demand
• Free Caravan and Trailer storage (on the basis "all care - no responsibility")

Drysdale River Station - Camping there:
Camping (no advance bookings taken; we have plenty of camp space) We have two campgrounds; one at the Homestead and the other is 5km away on the banks of the Drysdale River (details below).

The HOMESTEAD
PLEASE NOTE: We don't take advance camping bookings at all, for either camp.The reason is because so many people like or need to alter the pre-planned progress of their trip. Then due to a lack of mobile coverage or public phones we found they were unable to tell us of this alteration in their plans. We had people turning up days early, days late and not at all; the booking system was a disaster! Payment for either camp area can be made at the shop 8 am to 5 pm daily and at the Homestead bar / reception during the evening hours of 5 pm to 8.30 pm daily. Check in and registration is essential, prior to setting up camp.

This camp area offers hot showers and toilets in a great ablution block. There is also a coin operated laundry and plenty of clothes lines. We do have a small number of powered sites available on a first in, first served basis; no advance bookings are taken. The general camping area is large and provides plenty of space. Its an easy short stroll to the bar and the Homestead Restaurant.

MINERS POOL (No Advance Bookings Taken)
You are welcome at no charge to day visit or picnic and swim on the way past but all campers are required to register at the homestead, prior to camping.

This large camp area is 5km from the Homestead and situated on the banks of the Drysdale River, overlooking the pool. It is an open area with slashed native grass, trees for shade, easy access to the water and basic pit toilets.

Please TAKE YOUR RUBBISH WITH YOU, to the nearest rubbish dump-point (*see below). This is very important as dingo's and crows immediately break open and spread any bags of rubbish left behind. Please do not put your rubbish down the pit toilets; this is not the place for it ! *A rubbish tip is now available directly across the road from Drysdale's main entrance gate. Another dump point is at the junction of the Gibb River and Kalumburu Roads. It is also essential that you TOTALLY extinguish your camp fire on departure.
© source | courtesy of www.drysdaleriver.com.au