Route 1 is sealed from Cairns to Normanton, then to Burketown its about half sealed/half pretty good dirt. From Burketown to Borroloola is all dirt road, in some places quite rough, not suitable for on road vans. From Borroloola to the Stuart Highway is single lane sealed, after that the road is all very good sealed road. If you want a sealed road travel from Normanton down to Cloncurry and then across the Barkly Hwy to the Stuart Highway.

From Katherine to Broome is all really good sealed road. The road to Normanton is single lane bitumen for a considerable distance so you need to get off onto the verges when meeting on coming traffic. The verges are very wide and when we came through they had been grading them so the transition on and off was quite smooth. We followed the sealed road via Cloncurry and Three ways then to Katherine.