The new township of Halls Creek is small but has a continuous flow of tourist trade to keep it busy. It is mostly an Aboriginal settlement. Halls Creek
services a growing tourist trade in the area. There is a hotel, motel, caravan park, two roadhouses and several tours to the nearby Bungle Bungles and Wolfe Creek Crater. Halls Creek
Tourist Information Centre - Phone: (08) 9168 6262
In 1948 Halls Creek was moved to a different location. By 1954 the original Halls Creek was completely abondoned. So there are infact two Halls Creeks, the original location having only remnants of the original buildings, such as the
Post Office. There is also a Graveyard, Commemorative
Well and a modern restaurant at the
Old Halls Creek.
Halls Creek stands today along the route of the Great Northern Highway in the
Kimberley region. It is a small, predominantly Aboriginal settlement midway between
Kununurra (365 km) and
Derby (555 km). It
services the ever-increasing tourist trade with a hotel, motel, caravan park, two roadhouses and a number of tours to the Bungle Bungles and Wolfe Creek Crater. Travellers can take a very scenic drive NE from Halls Creek along the Great Northern Highway (bitumen) to
Kununurra to access the northern
Kimberley and the remote gorges and rivers. Heading west along the highway takes you to
Fitzroy Crossing and onto
Broome.
However, the original town (
Old Halls Creek) was located 15km away until 1954 when it was moved to its present site. Halls Creek was originally established as a gold mining town but once the gold was gone it was nothing more than a service centre for the surrounding pastoral holdings and the traffic which moved along the highway. The highway was re-routed to avoid winding through the hills around the old town and that coupled with the fact there was a lack of water at the old site were the reasons for the move. Travellers today can visit the site of the
Old Halls Creek settlement and find remnants of buildings, some street signs, the
ruins of the old mud brick
Post Office, a recently built
well to celebrate the discovery of gold in the area, a graveyard, and a modern restaurant.
The 15 km journey out to
Old Halls Creek on the Duncan Road passes the
China Wall and
Caroline Pool. Both a popular swimming spots and good
bush camping can be found nearby.
Take the 15 km journey out to
Old Halls Creek on the Duncan Road then to the
China Wall. 1.5 km off the road is a
limestone formation which rises from a creek up over a small
hill. It is a natural formation of white quartz which looks like a small version of the Great Wall of China. There is a stream below that is good for swimming.