Description
There is so much to see in the
Alice Springs region that you really need to plan your route carefully. With a 4WD you get the opportunity to avoid backtracking and can reach all the major and lesser known sites over a comfortable 1 week period. If you are a particularly keen walker, photographer or artist you would certainly want to allow 2 weeks or more. Most sites have various tracks to explore ranging from easy walks of just a few hundred metres to overnight hikes. There are countless opportunities for soaking up the surroundings on foot but if you are in a rush, excellent bitumen roads links all the major attractions to within a day's drive of
Alice Springs.
This route we describe here is 2WD accessible as it follows the bitumen Larapinta Drive out of
Alice Springs passing John Flynns Grave,
Simpsons Gap and
Standley Chasm, then swings east on the Namatjira Drive to
Ellery Creek Bighole,
Serpentine Gorge, Ochre Pits,
Ormiston Gorge,
Glen Helen Gorge. A good dirt road continues the trek to
Redbank Gorge, Gosse Bluff and
Hermannsburg with a 4WD only diversion to
Palm Valley.
2WD Accessible Sights (Walking tracks at all,
camping at most)
The walking in the West McDonnells is excellent with quite a few choices depending on your level of fitness or temperature of the day. Walking close to some of the rocks can get incredibly hot in middle of the day, yet there are some gorges better visited at midday when the sunlight shines directly on the rocks and lights up the sheer walls with intense red colours (such as
Standley Chasm).
Interactive Route Map
Loading
Base Map
Zoom & Scale
Customise
Upload
Currently only GPX files are supported
Cancel
West MacDonnell Ranges
From: Alice Springs
To: Palm Valley (Mpulungkinya)
Distance: 297.86 km
Direction: 251 °
Average Speed: 48.2 km/hr
Travel Time: 6 hours 10 mins
Using the Map
Our treks have a moving map facility, to take a virtual tour click on the Play button in the Moving map control (see Moving Map help)
Mouse Position:
Moving Map
Speed (5 secs)
Live Tracking
Auto Refresh (1 min, next 60 secs)
Permits
None
Things to See & Do
Preparation
Fuel Supplies & Usage
Usage is averaged from
TrekFuel (* specific to trek) submissions and calculated based on trek distance.
Best Time To Visit
Closest Climatic Station
Alice Springs Airport
Distance from Trek Mid Point 59.1km E
| | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| Mean Max. °C |
36.3 | 35.1 | 32.7 | 28.2 |
23.0 | 19.9 | 19.6 | 22.6 |
27.1 | 30.9 | 33.7 | 35.4 |
| Mean Min. °C |
21.4 | 20.8 | 17.5 | 12.6 |
8.3 | 5.1 | 4.0 | 6.0 |
10.2 | 14.8 | 17.9 | 20.2 |
| Mean Rain mm |
38.0 | 42.3 | 31.9 | 16.8 |
19.4 | 14.4 | 14.7 | 9.5 |
8.3 | 21.9 | 26.7 | 37.5 |
Best time to travel Ok time to travel Travel NOT recommended
Camp Sites & Accommodation
Ellery Creek Big Hole - NT
Ellery Creek Big Hole is located 88km west of Alice Springs or 43km east of Glen Helen. 2km north of the Highway. Beautiful clear, deep waters of Ellery Creek Big Hole. 150m swim to the other side where you can get out on a white sandy beach and walk a little further up the gorge. A nice walk from back of campsite throughout higher terrain and back along creek bed to main waterhole.
Driving Directions
| Alice Springs to Iwupataka (Jay Creek) |
41.65 km |
W |
255° |
45 min |
| Iwupataka (Jay Creek) to Namatjira Rd & Larapinta Dve |
5.9 km |
SW |
221° |
4 min |
| Namatjira Rd & Larapinta Dve to Hugh River, Namatjira Dve |
9.42 km |
W |
277° |
6 min |
| Hugh River, Namatjira Dve to Point Howard Lookout |
21.63 km |
W |
272° |
16 min |
| Point Howard Lookout to Ellery Creek Big Hole |
11.98 km |
W |
284° |
19 min |
| Ellery Creek Big Hole to Neil Hargrave Lookout |
18.37 km |
W |
281° |
17 min |
| Neil Hargrave Lookout to Ormiston Gorge and Pound |
30.48 km |
NW |
308° |
33 min |
| Ormiston Gorge and Pound to Finke River, Namatjira Dve |
9.48 km |
SW |
224° |
9 min |
| Finke River, Namatjira Dve to Glen Helen |
0.88 km |
S |
164° |
|
| Glen Helen to Glen Helen Gorge |
0.92 km |
S |
163° |
3 min |
| Glen Helen Gorge to Namatjira Dve, West MacDonnell NP Boundary |
20.51 km |
NW |
297° |
24 min |
| Namatjira Dve, West MacDonnell NP Boundary to Tylers Pass |
24.14 km |
SW |
244° |
24 min |
| Tylers Pass to Gosses Bluff |
21.54 km |
S |
197° |
31 min |
| Gosses Bluff to Gosses Bluff Meteorite Impact Crater |
0.3 km |
E |
91° |
1 min |
| Gosses Bluff Meteorite Impact Crater to Albert Namatjira's House |
56.18 km |
E |
107° |
1 hr 19 min |
| Albert Namatjira's House to Hermannsburg |
5.23 km |
E |
93° |
10 min |
| Hermannsburg to Larapinta Drive & Boggy Hole Access |
0.54 km |
SE |
123° |
|
| Larapinta Drive & Boggy Hole Access to Lower Mount Hermannsburg |
5.67 km |
SW |
224° |
10 min |
| Lower Mount Hermannsburg to Palm Valley (Mpulungkinya) |
13.03 km |
S |
185° |
33 min |
| Alice Springs to Palm Valley (Mpulungkinya) |
297.86 km |
|
|
6 hr 10 min |
Distance is GPS recorded driving distance (not straight line), Direction is straight line from start to end, Time is calculated from actual GPS driving data.
Related Travel Journals
Gary Junction Road
The Gary Junction Road (also called the Kintore Road, Desert Road or WA Border Access Road) is now a major outback highway providing an essential link between Alice Springs and many Aboriginal commun
First trip to the Red Centre (via Strzelecki, Bir
A report to let you know that I have returned safely from my Great Red Centre Adventure! I had a great time even though some things didn't go quite as planned. I saw so much and realised how much mo
The West MacDonnell Range
Ormiston Gorge is one of the most popular places in the West MacDonnells. Let us take you to some of the lesser know sights as well.
Innamincka and beyond - 6 weeks away from home
We left Tamworth bound for the National gathering at Innamincka on Saturday 5th July 2008. Drove along the blacktop to Bourke and stayed there the night. Off next morning to Olive Downs via Waanaring
Related Pages
Hay River
Suitable only to 4WDers with a strong sense of adventure and experience in remote desert travel. This track is largely unmarked and good map-reading skills are essential.
[Feature Story]
The Tanami Track
The Tanami Track is essentially a great short-cut linking the Red Centre to the Kimberley. Although once a notorious 4WD track, it is now a graded dirt highway.
Plenty Highway
Part of the "Outback Way", the Plenty Highway is the most direct route from central Queensland across to Alice Springs in central Australia.
Trek Search
ExplorOz Trek Notes are detailed, factual reviews of destinations in Australia to which you can plan a self-drive camping trip.
Outback Way
Linking Laverton in WA to Winton in QLD, the Outback Way was coined to promote the development of a 'third strategic link' across Australia, and is fast becoming one of the most iconic outback tourism and
Owen Springs Reserve
An easy short trek out of Alice Springs with good bush camping and a historic value of early European explorers to Central Australia.
Old Andado Track
The Old Andado Track traverses fascinating terrain that includes mountain ranges, rocky gibber plains, desert sand dunes and floodplains in the Red Centre just south of Alice Springs.
Finke to Uluru via Old Gunbarrel
An alternative route to access the wonderful Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park, this trip from Finke east of the Stuart Highway takes in the Lambert Centre - the planimetric gravitational centre of Australi
Chambers Pillar
Chambers Pillar is a natural sandstone formation used by our famous early explorers as a navigational point. You can still read their signatures and inscriptions carved into the rock.
Boggy Hole
Finke Gorge is located within the Finke Gorge NP south of the West MacDonnell Ranges in the Alice Springs region. The most popular attraction is Boggy Hole, a permanent billabong of the Finke River.
Simpson Desert via Geosurveys Hill
From the stone workings of our ancient aboriginal past to the routes undertaken for the old oil exploration surveys, this very remote one-way trek starting at Mount Dare to Birdsville is for experienced de
Trek Feedback
Recommended Reading for West MacDonnell Ranges
Great Desert Tracks of Australia NC
This map is just one of the set of 6 maps comprising the Great Desert Tracks Map Pack. This particular map covers the Tanami Track, Red Centre, Gary Junction Road and Sandy Blight Junction Track and includes Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Warbuton, Halls Creek, Finke.
Alice Springs to Uluru
Some of the most unusual landforms in the world can be found in Central Australia. Much of this area has only been accessible to visitors for about 30 yrs and some roads and facilities are well suited to the modern adventurer.The Gunbarrel Hwy is also shown although travel permits are required.
Natmap Digital Maps 2008
NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 is the next generation of Geoscience Australia's popular NATMAP Raster 1:250 000 scale topographic digital maps.
NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 are exact digital copies of Geoscience Australia's NATMAP topographic maps. They cover the whole of Australia at 1:250 000 scale, and are current to 2006.
SF5313 Hermannsburg
This 1:250K topographic paper map covers an area about 150km from east to west and 110km from north to south (1.5 degrees longitude by 1 degree latitude). The map contains natural and constructed features including road and rail infrastructure, vegetation, hydrography, contours (interval 50m), localities and some administrative boundaries.
Australia Aus Tour DVD
A must have for the long distance explorer. Here, Memory-Map teams up with Hema to bring you their acclaimed 4WD and regional maps together with 13 interactive Map Guides.The Map-Guides provide great information on each region, bushwalking, campsites and 4x4 tracks with text and photos.
Red Centre - Alice Springs to Uluru
This map outlines all sealed and unsealed roads, four-wheel drive tracks and roads requiring permit access. Camping sites, accommodation, fuel supplies, emergency services and local attractions are all marked and National Park and Aboriginal land boundaries are clearly outlined.
The Plenty and Sandover Highways
The Plenty & Sandover Highways allow the most direct access from Alice Springs to Boulia, Mt Isa and other parts of western Queensland.
Alice Springs - Oodnadatta
This map will help you to safely experience the adventure of exploration and the wonder of the outback with both detailed information and GPS readings.
4WD Flinders Ranges & Gammon Ranges
- 4WD Flinders Ranges and Gammon Ranges, South Australia, Australia
- Detailed map coverage of Flinders Ranges & Gammon Ranges, including Arkaroola and Brachina Gorge
- Descriptions of the 4WD route to follow, specific directions, latitiude and longitude co-ordinates and distances
- Editorial on "The Best of" for each route, planning and preparation before you leave and regi
