Love this place. Second July school holidays in a row. Amazing variety of adventures, good facilities and great support and advice from the team. Yes the road in is hard (lost a tyre pressure two on the way out for the second year in a row) but that just makes it feel more remote and hard earned. Driving around the challenging tracks is great fun. The opportunity to camp absolutely anywhere is fantastic.
The road into Lorella Springs is only 31km long and took 45 minutes. It is the worst stretch of road between Darwin and Cape Crawford. Unfortunately that and the amenities tainted the experience for me, considering what you pay to stay there.
Very basic amenities-makeshift corrugated iron showers and toilets, shared by men and women with huge unplugged holes all over them. I was not at all comfortable and chose not to use the shower. The water was only hot if someone had fired up the wood heater. All a little too careless. There were barely any provisions available-shop almost empty, which was not an issue for us but I imagine some struggled. The hot spring near reception area was very warm and I really enjoyed it and the socialising, as it got crowded around 3-5 every day ( prob because people were using it as a substitute for their normal shower because of the poor amenities.) Happy hour was fun. The helicopter 1/2 trip was good. The 4WD tracks were demanding, and to get to some of the highlights of the station, took a reasonable walk after driving there. I felt it all a bit over-rated. We found staff lovely and very helpful. But Outback doesn't have to mean lacking in properly private shower and toilet cubicles, particularly in this day and age. One set of mixed amenities offered only shower curtains for doors. Not on for safety of youth and children. If they put a bit more effort in I would totally rate it as a worthwhile visit.
Located 127 Kilometres from Cape Crawford, Lorella Springs offers basic camp spots with access to showers (water can be warm, if you bring wood and light the boiler) and toilets in camp areas close to the homestead. Further away it's full on bush camping.
Some good walks, but tracks are rough and not exceptionally well marked.
It's worth the trip on the rough, corrugated roads.
We heard about Lorella Springs while chatting with other travelers on the Savannah Way. Our plan was to drop in for a night and visit the Lost City the next day. Well! 5 nights later after exploring Lorella Springs and camping out in the wilderness some nights, camping by the homestead and bathing in the warm springs, we reluctantly dragged ourselves out to see the Lost City (which is amazing).
Staff were welcoming and helpful, food was great, limited supplies and diesel available and a beautiful wilderness full of adventure and wildflowers to explore. Tracks 4WD and not for the feint hearted but fabulous.
