Ancient rock art is renowned over the world as significant historical etchings in time. Painted or engraved out in the country, these rock art works are carved into caves, gorges rock faces and more by the people of the past using pigments like ochre, charcoal and various clays to create paint.
The pigments applied on to these rock faces have proven a winning combination lasting the test of time as some of the oldest forms of art in the world with some dating more than 60,000 years ago.
Rock art can be found in the North West of Australia across the Kimberley and Pilbara with millions of these examples of these wonders to be found. Here are some of the locations you can find ancient rock art in the North West.
Jump on a tour with Munurru Rock Art Tours. Image: Tourism Western Australia
Venture out to the Mitchell Plateau, the home of wilderness adventures complete with rainforests, cascading falls, and the location of spectacular rock art sites. Either book a tour with a local guide, or explore the region yourself.
The Traditional Owners of Ngauwudu (Mitchell Plateau) are the Wunambal Gaamera people, and they manage the surrounding country (as well as the Munurru campground) with the local Uunguu rangers. Book a tour with Munurru Guided Rock Art Tours to discover what life is like out in the bush, learn their cultural stories and visit the rock art sites nearby.
More sites can also be found when journeying out to the famous Mitchell Falls.
Did you know the Gyorn Gyorn paintings are older than the Egyptian pyramids? Five times older in fact!
If you’re looking for famous rock art sites in the North West, then you would have heard of the Gyorn Gyorn paintings. Dating back to over 60,000 years ago, the Gyorn Gyorn paintings are among some of the earliest paintings ever discovered. These paintings can be found in the Mitchell Plateau in North West Kimberley, spread out over 50,000 square kilometres through the outback.
Find the 100,000 Gyorn Gyorn art sites in the Kimberley wilderness by jumping on a local indigenous tour, where your guide will reveal insights into history and stories of the world’s oldest living legend.
The rock caves and rock faces along the Gibb River Road is a treasure trove of ancient rock art waiting to be discovered. Examples of these mysterious and spiritual paintings can be found when hiking out on bush tracks out to the gorges like Manning Gorge.
Rock art found in Murujuga National Park. Image: Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation
Murujuga National Park is a stunning national park with a diverse landscape made up of cliffs, valleys, mangroves and mudflats. Keep an eye out for the variety of wildlife that live within this national park, and over one million petroglyphs that can be found on the rock faces of Murujuga.
Murujuga National Park, along with the diverse collection of rock art in the park, is owned by the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation which represents the five traditional owner groups of the area. These are the Ngarluma, Yindjibarndi, Yaburara, Mardudhunera and Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo peoples.
Stand before these mind-blowing images painted more than 40,000 years ago that depict human images, extinct animals like the Thylaceines, as well as modern animals, birds and fish. Imbued with deep cultural meaning to the Aboriginal people, these drawings are a direct link to the stories and history of their people.
Murujuga National Park was added to Australia’s World Heritage Tentative List in 2020, which will lead to the unique cultural, spiritual and archaeological values of the area internationally recognised.
A great way to experience Aboriginal art is to visit the many Aboriginal Art Centres across the North West. That way you can visit and meet some of the artists of the region, while also supporting the local artist community like painters, printmakers, wood carvers, boab engravers, sculptors and textile artists.
Established in the late 1970s in Miriwoong country at Kununurra, the vibrant creative space was the first wholly Aboriginal owned art centre established in the Kimberley and is one of the oldest continuously operating art centres in Australia.
Visit to view the exhibitions at the gallery by unique Aboriginal artists. Today the arts centre supports more than 100 artists and provides pathways for the economic independence of the artists and their communities.
Based in the Gibb River Road in Derby, the Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Cultural Centre is a creative hub for the Worrorra, Ngarinyin and Wunumbal tribes, who make up the Mowanjum community outside Derby, Western Australia.
The centre hosts exhibitions, workshops and community projects, as well as the annual Mowanjum Festival, one of Australia’s longest running indigenous cultural festivals. Featuring exhibits of significant objects from the Mowanjum Collection, as well as multimedia projections and touchscreens, the museum is an immersive and interactive experience.
When visiting country, ensure you have the right visitor permits for the area you’re planning to visit. Visitors who are travelling on a private vessel or aircraft are also required to have the correct visitor pass or permit.
Visitors to Wunambal Gaambera Country, which includes Ngauwudu (Mitchell Plateau), must purchase an Uunguu Visitor Pass (from $45pp). This fee provides travellers with Traditional Owner permission to visit approved Visitor Locations, including Mitchell Falls.
Please treat the rock art sites you visit in the Kimberley with respect. These sites are sacred and are of utmost important to the Aboriginal people of the region, and are of significant historical importance. Keep to the marked walkways and take nothing from these sites but memories. If in a confined space at a rock art site, please take particular care not to wear a backpack, bag or carry any solid item such as a camera tripod or walking stick that may brush against a painting.
Stay at Broome Caravan Park or Hidden Valley Kununurra Caravan Park when visiting the North West. Perfectly located in the Kimberley to explore the region, the caravan parks are a great place to base yourself for the wilderness adventure of a lifetime!
