Fitzroy Crossing - Places to See

Crossing Inn
Undoubtedly the town's most famous building is the old Crossing Inn (turn off the Highway near the roadhouse and continue down Forrest Street before turning right at Sandford Street - a dirt road) which, in spite of the fact that it is well distanced from the banks of the river, has still been the subject of numerous floods. In the wet the river has been known to rise over 10 metres and to spread out from its banks for a distance of up to 15 km.

The Crossing Inn was originally built by Joseph Blythe in the 1890s as a store and pub for passing stockmen, prospectors and bullock team drivers.

Old Fitzroy Crossing Towns
A few kilometres out of town (on the Geikie Gorge Road) is the old Fitzroy Crossing townsite which is now no more than a few disused buildings. Nearby is the old low level crossing of the river which, while serviceable in the 'dry', obviously had limited use in the wet season.

Geikie Gorge National Park
Fitzroy Crossing's premier attraction in Geikie Gorge National Park. Lying 18 km north east of the town it was named after Sir Archibald Geikie (a noted British geologist) by Edward Hardman who travelled through the Kimberley region in 1883.

Geikie Gorge, Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge are all part of an ancient 'barrier reef' which developed during the Devonian Period about 350 million years ago. It is estimated that the reef, which started to the east of Kununurra and swept around in a huge arc to the north of the Kimberleys before crossing the current land mass near Derby and becoming exposed to the south and north of Fitzroy Crossing, was 20 km wide and over 1000 km long. The waters of the Lennard and Fitzroy Rivers have cut through these ancient reefs exposing them and forming beautiful gorges.

Geikie Gorge abounds in wildlife which includes the harmless Johnson crocodile as well as Leichhardt's sawfish and Coach-whip stingrays whose saltwater ancestors swam up the Fitzroy River millions of years ago. The gorge has good camping facilities. Swimming and bushwalking are catered for.

Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge
It is 63 km to Tunnel Creek and 95 km to Windjana Gorge from the main Derby-Fitzroy Crossing Road. Tunnel Creek is a unique formation created by waters from the creek cutting a 750 metre tunnel through the ancient reef. The tunnel is 15 metres wide and up to 12 metres high and offers visitors an excellent opportunity to see the ancient 'barrier reef' from an ideal vantage point.

There is a 3.5 km walking trail at Windjana Gorge which allows visitors to experience the beauty of the gorge.