4WD Kakadu & Koolpin Tour - Camping

Pick-up is at 8 to 8:30am from your accommodation in Darwin. You drive towards World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park, with a stop at the Australiana Bark Hut for a quick refreshment. Next is the tidal East Alligator River, where you might spot crocs and flying foxes, then Ubirr in the north of the park for some of the best rock art in northern Australia. Your guide explains the paintings and what they mean, and the climb to the top rewards you with 360 degree views over the Nardab floodplains and into Arnhem Land. Tonight you camp at an exclusive safari camp at Mardukal Billabong in the heart of Kakadu, with an open campfire, a cool drink and toasted marshmallows. Walking: about 3 km. Meals: lunch and dinner.

After breakfast it's a 4WD drive to Jim Jim Falls. A 1 km walk through the gorge, beneath sandstone cliffs up to 200 m high, leads to a plunge pool for a swim, or you can relax on the beach and take in the views. If access to Jim Jim Falls is closed you visit another of Kakadu's natural attractions instead: the Yurmikmik region of southern Kakadu, which includes Motor Car Falls and offers walks to waterfalls, swimming holes and panoramic viewpoints. A visit to the Warradjan Cultural Centre adds insight into the traditional owners of Kakadu through interactive displays and demonstrations. This evening you take a 2 hour sunset cruise on the famous Yellow Waters, with a good chance of seeing abundant birdlife and crocodiles in their natural habitat. You then return to the safari camp at Mardukal Billabong to relax around the campfire after dinner. Kakadu National Park has closed Jim Jim Falls for the 2026 dry season, so departures during this period visit the Yurmikmik region and Motor Car Falls instead. Walking: about 5 km. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After breakfast you head to Maguk (Barramundi Gorge). A 1 km hike through a paperbark forest, with some rock scrambling, leads to a plunge pool full of black bream and barramundi, a place like no other. The afternoon is spent at Gunlom Falls in the southern end of Kakadu, where a hike to the top is rewarded with a swim in the natural infinity pools and panoramic views of southern Kakadu. The bottom plunge pool and beach, made famous in the Crocodile Dundee movie, are a great place to relax and soak up the atmosphere. Tonight you camp at Gunlom Falls in tents and swags. Walking: about 5 km. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

You spend the whole day exploring Jarrangbarnmi (Koolpin Gorge), a special permit-access area recognised for its cultural and environmental sensitivity. Tours here run with the permission of the traditional owners. The walk up the gorge is a real wilderness walk that needs a good level of fitness, and it rewards you with some of the best rock pools, waterfalls and rock landscapes in the national park. This remote spot is limited to 40 people a day and is home to several endemic species of plants and animals. Tonight you camp at Gunlom Falls again, in tents and swags. Walking: 5 to 8 km. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

This morning you visit Old Goodparla Homestead, one of the first cattle stations in the Kakadu region before it became a national park, with many remnants still standing. Then it's Ikoymarrwa (Moline Rockhole), a spring-fed permit area that flows all year and is your last swim in Kakadu before the drive back to Darwin via the historic town of Pine Creek, arriving at about 5pm. Walking: about 2 km. Meals: breakfast and lunch. The itinerary can run in reverse at the guide's discretion, and it can change with seasonal or extreme weather, park road or attraction closures and the cultural commitments of the traditional owners. All tours must be reconfirmed 24 hours before travel.