Purnululu (the Bungle Bungle Range)

Purnululu, in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia, protects one of the country's strangest and most striking landscapes, the Bungle Bungle Range, a labyrinth of sandstone towers and domes shaped like beehives and banded in horizontal stripes of orange and grey-black, the dark bands a fragile crust of cyanobacteria, the orange iron-stained rock. Remarkably, this extraordinary formation was barely known to the wider world until the 1980s, though Aboriginal people had lived in the country for tens of thousands of years. Walking trails wind between the domes and into deep, cool gorges such as Cathedral Gorge, a vast natural amphitheatre, and Echidna Chasm, a slot so narrow the walls almost meet overhead. Because the park is so remote and the access road so rough, many visitors see the domes from the air on a scenic flight, which reveals the full scale of the banded maze spread below.

What you actually see

• The beehive domes - the orange-and-black striped sandstone towers of the range.
• Cathedral Gorge - the vast natural rock amphitheatre among the domes.
• Echidna Chasm - the extremely narrow slot canyon with walls almost meeting overhead.
• A scenic flight - the aerial view revealing the full banded maze from above.

When to go

April to September, the dry season, is the only practical time; the park closes in the wet season when the access track floods. Even in the dry the days are hot, so walks are best early. The low light of morning and late afternoon deepens the colours of the domes.

Honest expectations

This is genuinely remote and hard to reach: the access road is a long, rough four-wheel-drive track that ordinary cars cannot manage and that closes entirely in the wet season, so many people fly in or take a tour, and even the drive from the highway takes hours. There is little infrastructure beyond basic camping. The heat is serious. For those who cannot make the drive, a scenic flight is the alternative but adds cost.

Nearby

Kununurra and Lake Argyle are the regional bases; the wider Kimberley and the Gibb River Road lie to the west.