Gibb River Road — Kununurra to El Questro via Pentecost River and Cockburn Range

Most drivers tackle the Gibb from west to east, so coming in from Kununurra puts you at the sharp end first. The Pentecost River crossing — roughly 50 kilometres from the Great Northern Highway — is the Kimberley’s most photographed ford and its most humbling. In the dry season it’s axle-deep, wide, and rocky-bottomed; after any unseasonal rain it becomes a crocodile-patrolled trap. Get that crossing wrong and you’re swimming for gear. Beyond it, the Cockburn Range rises like a rusted fortress — 300-metre sandstone walls glowing red at last light — and El Questro Wilderness Park sits in its shadow, a private station that charges an entry fee but delivers gorges, hot springs at Zebedee, and the Chamberlain River Gorge slot.

This eastern entry segment runs roughly 55 kilometres of corrugated dirt and rocky creek beds. A stock 4WD with high clearance handles it in dry conditions, but you need genuine 4WD for the Pentecost and any wet-season approach is roulette. Fuel up in Kununurra — there’s nothing reliable until El Questro station. The park charges an entry fee per person; book accommodation or camping well ahead in peak season (June–August). Cell service dies completely once you leave the highway. Carry a satellite communicator, two spares, and enough water for two days minimum. What you get out of it is the Kimberley at its most theatrical, with almost no effort to find it.