Great Northern Highway
Photo: Dick & Durstig, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Great Northern Highway (GNH) crosses Western Australia from Perth in the south to Wyndham on the north coast. It's a sealed all-weather road stretching 3200 km.
The first half of the Great Northern Highway up to Port Hedland travels inland through the desert, meaning there's little in the way of attractions. Coupled with heavy freight traffic, most visitors opt instead for the North West Coastal Highway (a part of Highway 1), which is about 100 km longer but has many more points of interest. Beyond Port Hedland, the GNH is your only choice.
UnderstandEarly Europeans in the north of Australia only had short stretches of dirt road linking their farms and towns to harbours, where steamers would call for goods and passengers.
PrepareAllow a week for the full route, and that's with a minimum of sight-seeing stop-offs. The buses can do it in three days but they run through the night with fresh drivers at regular intervals.
Get inThe airports at Newman, Port Hedland, Broome and Kununurra all have daily connections to Perth.
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Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Great Northern Highway" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Dick & Durstig, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons