Katherine is a town in the Northern Territory in the northernmost part of Australia located on the Katherine River. It's just over three hours south of Darwin, the capital, and home to about 10,000 people.
We're currently living full-time in our campervan, a 2018 Mercedes Sprinter, and exploring Australia, with a plan of "driving the lap" (completing the entire perimeter of the country). I first visited Australia in 2019, following the classic backpacker route, mostly visiting big cities, staying in hostels and traveling by public transport. This time, with the freedom of our campervan, we're trying to hit the lesser known spots and go slower.
For thousands of years, the Jawoyn, Dagoman and Wardaman peoples lived on this land, long before any Europeans arrived.
The first European to visit the area was the explorer John Stuart in 1862, followed a decade later by the construction of the Katherine Telegraph Station which connected Adelaide with Darwin south to north across Australia. Gold was discovered in 1889 which grew the town with a railway station added in 1926. Peanut farm lands were offered to encourage immigrants, many of whom arrived from Russia. A complete railway track connecting Darwin with Adelaide from north to south across Australia via Katherine was completed in 2004.
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Useful Information for Katherine
Below is some useful information for preparing for your trip to Katherine. In all cases, please be sure to check with the relevant local authorities for the latest and accurate information.
Language: The official language of Australia is English. In Katherine, the traditional language of the Jawoyn, Dagoman and Wardaman peoples is Jawoyn, Dagoman and Wardaman, respectively.
→ Learn more about the language of the Jawoyn, Dagoman and Wardaman peoples.
Currency: The currency used in Australia is the Australian dollar, denoted as AUD $. I use a Wise account when I travel which allows me to have a single, free account with multiple currencies. I only have to pay once to convert my money in the app and then I can pay in AUD $!
→ Check the latest currency conversion between AUD $ and your local currency.
Data/WiFi: Before you arrive, I recommend purchasing an eSim on your phone so that you can access data the moment you land. eSims are much more convenient as it means you don't have to put a separate physical Sim into your phone. AirAlo offers great deals for eSims of various data sizes and time lengths with Optus.
→ Load an international eSim on your phone with AirAlo.
If you are visiting Australia long term, you might wish to put a physical Sim in your phone as AirAlo is geared more towards short term visitors on holiday. This way you can access a local phone plan. There are three main mobile phone network providers in Australia: Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. Telstra has the best coverage across the country whereas Optus and Vodafone are good within cities. I recommend Telstra as it means you have the best coverage while you travel around the country, especially in rural areas.
We travel with a Starlink in our campervan which enables us to have unlimited WiFi wherever we are, even in places without coverage.
Free WiFi is available through at the Katherine Visitor Centre.
Visa: All passport holders except New Zealand require a visa to visit Australia. All arrivals must fill out an Australian arrival card before landing.
→ Check which visa you need for Australia.
Time of year to visit: Australia can be visited all year-round. Katherine in the north of the Northern Territory gets very hot during the summer and faces a high risk of flash floods and cyclones. The best time to visit is from May to October.
Length of stay: We spent two days exploring Katherine and the surrounding area which we felt was enough to see the main highlights. While we did visit Nitmiluk National Park, that is one place I would have happily spent another day exploring.
How to Get to Katherine
By flight: Katherine is serviced by its own regional airport, the Katherine Tindal Airport, which makes it easy to reach if you're just visiting the town versus driving through on a roadtrip. Katherine is connected with Darwin three times a week with Air North, so if traveling from elsewhere, you could fly into Darwin and transfer to a smaller flight on to Katherine. It also has flights three times per week to Tennant Creek, the town at the intersection of the Stuart and Barkly Highways.
Katherine Tindal Airport is a 15-minute drive from town; there is no public transport available but there are some taxi companies in Katherine.
→ Rent a car at Katherine Tindal Airport.
By car: If you're driving around the country as we are in our campervan, then the easiest way to get to Katherine is with your own wheels. The most popular way of exploring Australia is by camping - whether with a motorhome, campervan, caravan or a roof tent on top of a car. This gives you the ultimate freedom of going as fast or as slow as you like.
You might want to start in Darwin as your base for renting a campervan to explore Australia.
→ Rent a campervan in Darwin with Apollo, Camplify or Indie.
By guided tour: There are many tour operators who run multi-day expeditions from Darwin including a visit to Katherine and the surrounding area, or between Broome and Darwin via Katherine.
→ Book a multi-day guided tour to Katherine from Darwin or Broome!
By train: The Ghan is a multi-day train journey operated twice per week by Journeys Beyond connecting Adelaide in the far south with Darwin, bisecting Australia down its middle, with a stop in Katherine.
By coach: Greyhound runs long distance coaches around Australia including all the way up to Katherine.
Driving on the Stuart Highway
How to Get Around Katherine
By car: The easiest and safest way of getting around is by car so you can park wherever you like and explore. This also means you can get out of the town to Nitmiluk National Park as well as the other spots I have recommended in this guide.
By guided tour: There are a number of guided tours available in Katherine, your only alternative if you don't have a vehicle, including helicopter flights, boat trips down Katherine Gorge and Aboriginal art workshops.
Where to Stay Near Katherine
Hotel: Not traveling by campervan? Driving in a car? Whatever your reason for needing a place to stay, there are some great accommodation options in Katherine.
→ Check out places to stay to suit your budget and accommodation type.
Camping: We are driving "the lap" around Australia, exploring the country in our campervan. As with the rest of Australia, the Northern Territory permits freedom camping on designated sites. These sites can vary greatly; some offer a variety of facilities such as toilets, trash bins, picnic tables, outdoor cooking stations and others have none of this and might simply be a pull-out on the side of the road.
The best way to find legal freedom camping spots is to use an app. We use Wikicamps Australia, a cheap app that has every single amenity listed (both free and paid) that you might need on the road. This includes things like where to fill up fresh water, where to dump grey water, where to empty toilets, where to stay, gas stations, information points and also has suggestions for things to do as you go.
→ Download the Wikicamps Australia app.
Just before arriving in Katherine, we camped at Mathison Campsite after crossing the border into the Northern Territory from Kununurra. It's only about an hour before Katherine located in a parking bay just off the side of the highway. There are covered picnic tables, toilets and bins for you to use.
About 40 minutes north of Katherine, we camped at the Wagiman Rest Area. It's a little difficult to spot, as the road is a bit hidden, tucked behind a grassy hill just off the side of the highway. This is the exact location of the campsite, located behind the hill so drive slowly on approach and keep your eyes out to the right if driving south or left if driving north! There are no amenities here so you'll need to be fully self-contained to stay.
Best Things to Do Near Katherine
We drove through Katherine twice, once on our way from Western Australia headed north to Darwin and then again on our way back down from Darwin towards Alice Springs and Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park. Here is everything we did around the Katherine area on both our visits:
Float in Katherine Hot Springs
Right in Katherine there are natural thermal hot springs on the edge of the Katherine River. The temperature sits at around 25°C so more warm than hot, but still lovely and totally free to enjoy.
Due to risk of floods and the presence of crocodiles, you can only swim in the hot springs from April to October.
Take in the view from Baruwei Lookout
This lookout point is up a short set of stairs overlooking the famous Katherine Gorge in Nitmiluk National Park. Boat tours on the river through the gorges are very popular here and the lookout provides a great panoramic overview.
→ Book a boat tour through Katherine Gorge.
Nitmiluk National Park incurs park entry fees (or you can visit if you hold an NT Annual Parks Visitor Pass).
Swim in Edith Falls
Edith Falls is a popular swimming hole about 60km north of Katherine in Nitmiluk National Park. There is a lower pool just a few minutes walk from the parking lot as well as an upper pool which requires a short, steep hike up. Unfortunately, when we visited, it was closed due to recent crocodile sightings, but it's a beautiful and much-loved spot!
There is also a popular paid campground next to the falls as well as a kiosk with food and drinks available for purchase. There are toilets, showers and picnic tables for use.
Nitmiluk National Park incurs park entry fees (or you can visit if you hold an NT Annual Parks Visitor Pass).
Have a meal at the Daly Waters Pub
This one is kind of far away from Katherine (about a three-hour drive south) but for the purposes of my blog and our "lap" roadtrip of Australia, Katherine is the closest major town to Daly Waters Pub!
Daly Waters Pub is an iconic outback pub with incredible decor straight from the 1930s. We grabbed dinner here and just so happened to be visiting at the same weekend as the annual Day Waters Rodeo, so stuck around to watch some classic rodeo events in the big field next door! Truly one of the most unique experiences we had in all of Australia.
There is also camping available for a stop over as you drive along the Stuart Highway.
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Hi! I’m Jana, a Dutch-German-British-Canadian with a dream of seeing every country in the world. I am a storyteller, photographer and adventurer passionate about documenting and sharing my travels.
