# Road trips in Northern Territory

> 9 road trips and 61 hand-picked places in Northern Territory, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping.

Source: https://camping-spirit.com/roadtrips/northern-territory/

9 road trips and 61 hand-picked places in Northern Territory, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping.

## Road trips through Northern Territory

- [Darwin and Litchfield National Park](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-darwin-litchfield-loop/): Three relaxed days from Darwin's markets and waterfront to the swimming holes of Litchfield, with wildlife stops and a night in a national park campground.
- [Kakadu in four days](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-kakadu-four-days/): From Darwin through the Arnhem Highway wetlands to Ubirr, Nourlangie, Yellow Water and the waterfalls of southern Kakadu, ending at Pine Creek on the Stuart Highway.
- [Darwin to Alice Springs on the Stuart Highway](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-stuart-highway-darwin-alice/): About 1,500 km through the heart of the Northern Territory, from tropical Darwin via Katherine's gorges and outback pubs to the Devils Marbles and the Red Centre.
- [Red Centre loop: Alice Springs, Uluru and Kings Canyon](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-red-centre-alice-uluru/): A six-day loop south on the Stuart and Lasseter Highways to Uluru and Kata Tjuta, then Kings Canyon and back via the unsealed Mereenie Loop and Hermannsburg.
- [West MacDonnell Ranges from Alice Springs](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-west-macdonnell-drive/): A three-day out-and-back along Namatjira Drive through Tjoritja / West MacDonnell National Park, with gorges, waterholes and Hermannsburg's mission history.
- [Katherine, Nitmiluk and Mataranka](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-katherine-mataranka-never-never/): A three-day, fully sealed loop on the Stuart Highway: gorge cruises, hot springs, caves and thermal pools around Katherine and Mataranka, suitable for campervans.
- [The Explorer's Way: Port Augusta to Darwin](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-stuart-highway-explorers-way/): Australia's classic north-south drive on the Stuart Highway, about 2,800 km from the Flinders gateway to the tropical Top End, with underground opal towns, red desert and thermal pools.
- [Matilda and Barkly Highways: Longreach to Tennant Creek](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-matilda-highway-barkly-longreach-tennant-creek/): Queensland outback heritage and the Barkly Tableland: about 1,500 km across Mitchell-grass plains, with Longreach's museums, Winton, Mount Isa and long fuel gaps to the Stuart Highway.
- [The Savannah Way west: Broome to Katherine](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-savannah-way-broome-katherine/): About 1,600 km across the Kimberley and the northern savannah, from Broome's beaches to gorges, a meteorite crater, Lake Argyle and Katherine, with long gaps between fuel stops and seasonal road closures.

## Places worth the detour in Northern Territory

- [Wangi Falls](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-wangi-falls/): Twin cascades dropping into a big, rainforest-fringed plunge pool, the most visited spot in Litchfield National Park. Swimming is sometimes closed after rain or when crocodiles are found, so follow the signs and check park alerts first.
- [Ubirr](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-ubirr/): Rock shelters with Aboriginal paintings, some of them thousands of years old, and a short climb to a lookout over the Nadab floodplain, popular at sunset. Part of Kakadu National Park; a short walk, but go early or late in the heat.
- [Yellow Water Billabong](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-yellow-water/): A wetland on the South Alligator floodplain teeming with birds, buffalo and saltwater crocodiles. Dawn and late-afternoon boat cruises are the safest, best way to see it; they run all year but conditions change between wet and dry.
- [Gunlom Falls](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-gunlom-falls/): Stepped infinity pools on top of a rock wall with views over the southern Kakadu plains, reached by a steep walk, plus a pool at the base. Open in the dry season only; the gravel access road is closed when wet.
- [Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-nitmiluk-gorge/): A chain of thirteen sandstone gorges on the Katherine River, on Jawoyn land, explored by boat, canoe or on foot, with lookouts above. Water levels and crocodile checks govern swimming and paddling; cruises run mostly in the dry season.
- [Daly Waters Historic Pub](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-daly-waters-pub/): Said to be the Territory's oldest pub, covered inside with bras, banknotes, number plates and travellers' scribbles. It sits on the old Stuart Highway route and Qantas and Overland Telegraph history; many stop for a meal and the evening show.
- [Karlu Karlu / Devils Marbles](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-devils-marbles/): Rounded granite boulders, some balanced improbably, scattered across a plain, sacred to the Warumungu, Kaytetye, Alyawarre and Warlpiri people. Best at sunrise or sunset when the rock glows red. Stay on paths and do not climb on or move the rocks.
- [Ormiston Gorge](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-ormiston-gorge/): Steep walls of banded quartzite rise above a long waterhole lined with river red gums. The 7 km Ormiston Pound walk loops through the surrounding ranges; start early in summer. Often rated the most scenic gorge in the West MacDonnells.
- [Palm Valley](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-palm-valley/): A gorge in Finke Gorge National Park where a stand of red cabbage palms, found nowhere else, survives as a relic of a wetter age. Access is only by 4WD along the sandy Finke riverbed; high clearance and recovery gear are advisable.
- [Uluru](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-uluru/): The huge red sandstone monolith, sacred to the Anangu, who own the park. Climbing was permanently banned on 26 October 2019. Walk the 10.6 km base track, join a ranger talk or watch the colours change at sunrise and sunset from the viewing areas.
- [Kata Tjuta](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-kata-tjuta/): Thirty-six domed rock formations about 25 km west of Uluru, with the short Walpa Gorge walk and the longer Valley of the Winds loop. The longer loop closes in extreme heat, so go at dawn; the sunrise light on the domes is superb.
- [Karlu Karlu / Devils Marbles](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-karlu-karlu-devils-marbles/): Huge rounded granite boulders, many precariously balanced, scattered across a sacred Aboriginal landscape of the Kaytetye and Warumungu peoples. Sunrise and sunset colour the rocks red; camping is available in the reserve.
- [Mindil Beach Sunset Market](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-mindil-beach-market/): Darwin's best-known dry-season ritual: food stalls, crafts and live music on the dunes while the sun drops into the Timor Sea. It runs only on set evenings in the dry season, so check dates before you plan around it.
- [East Point Reserve](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-east-point-reserve/): A bushland and coastal reserve north of the city with wallabies grazing at dusk, mangrove boardwalks and Second World War gun emplacements. Good for a gentle first evening in Darwin; keep out of the water because of crocodiles and stingers.
- [Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-magnt-darwin/): The Territory's main museum, on the waterfront at Bullocky Point. Strong on Aboriginal art, Cyclone Tracy in 1974 and the mounted giant saltwater crocodile Sweetheart. A useful rainy-afternoon stop and a good primer for the road ahead.
- [Darwin WWII Oil Storage Tunnels](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-darwin-oil-tunnels/): Tunnels dug under the city centre in 1943 to store fuel for the war effort, now holding photos and wartime displays. Darwin was bombed repeatedly from February 1942, a chapter many visitors overlook. Cool and dry inside on a hot day.
- [Stokes Hill Wharf](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-stokes-hill-wharf/): A working wharf on Darwin Harbour with casual seafood eateries and a view over the water at dusk. Barramundi and prawns are the local order; the long jetty also makes a pleasant evening stroll when the heat eases.
- [Parap Village Market](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-parap-markets/): Darwin's Saturday-morning market, known for laksa, tropical fruit and Southeast Asian street food, with a local crowd rather than a tourist one. Go early before the heat builds, and bring a bag for fruit.
- [George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-botanic-gardens-darwin/): Shady tropical gardens with palms, orchids and a rainforest gully, a few minutes from the city centre. A cool break from the heat, and good for spotting birds and flying foxes among the trees.
- [Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-fogg-dam/): A wall across the Adelaide River floodplain where magpie geese, jacanas, egrets and sea eagles gather in huge numbers, especially late in the dry season. Saltwater crocodiles and pythons live here too; stay on the paths and off the water's edge.
- [Territory Wildlife Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-territory-wildlife-park/): A large bushland park near Berry Springs with walk-through aviaries, a nocturnal house and an aquarium tunnel, showing the Top End's wildlife safely. A good first look at crocodiles, birds and monsoon forest before heading into the wild.
- [Adelaide River War Cemetery](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-adelaide-river-war-cemetery/): A quiet, well-kept Commonwealth cemetery beside the Stuart Highway holding the graves of Allied servicemen and civilians killed in the 1942 bombing of Darwin and in the Top End campaign. A moving, short stop on the way south.
- [Florence Falls](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-florence-falls/): Paired falls in a monsoon-forest gorge, seen from a lookout or by walking down steps to the swimming hole. The pool sits below a hundred-odd steps, so allow time for the climb back in the heat.
- [Buley Rockhole](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-buley-rockhole/): A string of small rock pools linked by tumbling cascades on Florence Creek, ideal for families and for lounging in the current. It gets busy by midday in the dry season; arrive early for a pool to yourself.
- [Florence Falls Campground](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-florence-falls-campground/): A national park campground within walking distance of Florence Falls and Buley Rockhole, so you can swim before the day-trippers arrive. Run by Parks and Wildlife NT; sites are limited, so book ahead in the dry season.
- [Cahill's Crossing](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-cahills-crossing/): A tidal causeway over the East Alligator River marking the border with Arnhem Land, notorious for saltwater crocodiles feeding at high tide. Watch from a safe distance; going beyond the crossing needs a permit from the Northern Land Council.
- [Burrungkuy (Nourlangie)](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-nourlangie-burrungkuy/): Sandstone outliers of the Arnhem escarpment with finely painted rock shelters, including the Anbangbang gallery, and a lookout across the floodplains. A well-signed circuit; the paintings are fragile, so stay on the walkways.
- [Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-warradjan-cultural-centre/): A museum shaped like a pig-nosed turtle, run with the Bininj people, explaining creation stories, seasons and law of the Kakadu region. Worth an hour before the Yellow Water cruise to understand what you are looking at.
- [Jim Jim Falls](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-jim-jim-falls/): A 150 m cascade at the head of a sheer gorge, flowing best early in the dry season and often reduced to a trickle later. The road needs a high-clearance 4WD and is open only in the dry season, so check Kakadu access updates.
- [Gunlom Campground](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-gunlom-campground/): A national park campground beneath the escarpment, a short walk from Gunlom's plunge pool. It is open only in the dry season and sites are limited; as in all Kakadu campgrounds, keep food packed and stay away from water at night.
- [Pine Creek Railway Precinct](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-pine-creek-railway/): The old railway station and yard in a gold-rush town on the Stuart Highway, with preserved rolling stock and a small museum. Pine Creek grew with the 1870s gold and the Overland Telegraph, and makes an easy half-hour fuel-and-history stop.
- [Edith Falls (Leliyn)](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-edith-falls/): A large, shaded plunge pool beneath a series of falls in the northwest of Nitmiluk National Park, with an easy walk to the upper pools. Good for swimming when signed safe; a pleasant detour of about 19 km each way off the Stuart Highway.
- [Cutta Cutta Caves Nature Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-cutta-cutta-caves/): A limestone cave system south of Katherine home to rare orange horseshoe bats, visited only on guided tours to protect the habitat. The caves are cool and humid inside, a welcome contrast to the dry season heat above ground.
- [Katherine Hot Springs](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-katherine-hot-springs/): Warm, clear pools along the Katherine River lined with paperbark and pandanus, a few minutes from the town centre. Pleasant for a soak in the late afternoon; check local notices, as water levels and crocodile surveys can limit access.
- [Mataranka Thermal Pool](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-mataranka-thermal-pool/): A thermal spring pool of roughly 34 °C in Elsey National Park, set among palms with the Waterhouse River nearby. A classic way to unwind on the long Stuart Highway drive; best early or late, when fewer people are there.
- [Bitter Springs](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-bitter-springs/): A thermal creek winding through palm and paperbark, where you drift downstream in a clear current. It is quieter and more natural than the main thermal pool; take a pool noodle or float and watch for slippery steps.
- [Three Ways and the Flynn Memorial](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-three-ways-flynn-memorial/): The junction where the Barkly Highway to Queensland leaves the Stuart Highway, 25 km north of Tennant Creek. A memorial here honours the Presbyterian minister John Flynn, founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A useful fuel and decision point.
- [Battery Hill Mining Centre](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-battery-hill-tennant/): A historic gold stamp battery site with underground mine tours and a regional museum, telling the story of Tennant Creek's 1930s gold rush. Underground tours are cool inside; check the schedule as it varies by season.
- [Wycliffe Well](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-wycliffe-well/): A roadhouse and caravan stop on the Stuart Highway that calls itself Australia's UFO capital, with alien murals, models and a long record of reported sightings. Light-hearted fun and a handy fuel stop on the long Tennant Creek to Alice Springs run.
- [Anmatjere Man and Woman statues](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-aileron-anmatjere-statues/): Two huge steel sculptures of an Anmatjere man and woman near the Aileron roadhouse on the Stuart Highway, an easy roadside photo stop about 135 km north of Alice Springs. Note the highway fuel gaps along this section.

## FAQs

**What are the best road trips in Northern Territory?**
Popular routes include Darwin and Litchfield National Park, Kakadu in four days, Darwin to Alice Springs on the Stuart Highway and Red Centre loop: Alice Springs, Uluru and Kings Canyon. CampingSpirit has 9 trip guides that pass through Northern Territory, each with a stop-by-stop itinerary and a route map.

**Which places in Northern Territory are worth a detour?**
Our editors recommend Wangi Falls, Ubirr, Yellow Water Billabong, Gunlom Falls, Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge and Daly Waters Historic Pub.