Bungle Bungle Range — Purnululu Australia
The Bungle Bungle Range in Purnululu National Park in the East Kimberley — sandstone beehive domes of extraordinary form, their orange and black banding (produced by alternating layers of silica and dark cyanobacteria in specific moisture-retaining bands) creating a landscape of completely alien character in the Kimberley's ancient landscape. The range's forms (domes of 100–300 metres, their surfaces encrusted with the black and orange layer cake pattern) are accessible only by 4WD from the Turkey Creek road and helicopter flights from Kununurra, and the Echidna Chasm (a slot canyon that the Bungle Bungles' erosion pattern creates as a 200-metre-deep, 1-metre-wide fissure) and Cathedral Gorge (a natural amphitheatre with a 30-metre echo-dome ceiling) provide the finest interior encounters. The range's formation over 350 million years and the Gija Aboriginal people's 40,000-year continuous relationship with the landscape creates an encounter with geological and human time simultaneously.
About this spectacle
Standing among the Bungle Bungle domes is one of the most visually arresting experiences in Australia. The sandstone beehive towers — rising 100 to 300 metres — are wrapped in alternating bands of deep orange silica and jet-black cyanobacteria that give each dome its distinctive layered skin, like something layered by an unhuman hand over geological time. At dawn, low-angled light amplifies the colour contrast, throwing the rounded forms into sharp relief against red Kimberley sky. Inside Echidna Chasm, you squeeze through a slot barely a metre wide while walls soar 200 metres overhead, the rock faces glowing amber and rust. Cathedral Gorge opens suddenly into a vast natural amphitheatre beneath a 30-metre domed ceiling where sound bounces and the silence between your own footsteps feels enormous. The landscape is arid, ancient, and still — wind, bird calls, and the crunch of gravel underfoot are the dominant sounds. No crowds spoil the scale; the remoteness is itself part of the encounter.
When to go
Apr — Sep
Getting there
Nearest airport: KNX. Nearest city: Kununurra.
Booking options
Goyova doesn't process bookings directly. When you tap "Plan this trip" in the app, you'll see options from our partner providers — accommodation, tours, transport — with affiliate links where applicable. See our affiliate disclosure for details.
More like this.
Returns Jan 2027 Abisko Aurora Sky Station
Sweden
Off-season Actun Tunichil Muknal — Cayo Belize
San Ignacio, Cayo District, BZ
Peak season Aekingerzand
NL