Itinerary for West Macdonnell Ranges
Submitted: Monday, Apr 19, 2004 at 20:12
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Alfred
Can anyone help with my travels to the
West Macdonnell Ranges?
I will be leaving
Alice Springs 1st July 2004 and heading west along Namatjira Dr to
Tylers Pass, then south to
Hermannsburg Dr. Then east to
Hermannsburg and on to
Palm Valley.
What are the must see attractions and walks to do in the area?
How much time/days should I allow from Alice to
Palm Valley?
Where to
camp along this route?
Any info would be much appreciated.
Thanks heaps,
Alfred(SmithfieldNSW)
Reply By: fourplayfull - Tuesday, Apr 20, 2004 at 00:12
Tuesday, Apr 20, 2004 at 00:12
Hi Alfred ,
Well IMHO it is an absolute must to travel the Finke
Gorge NP , camping a night or two overlooking the pelicans fihing at night right on
Boggy Hole. If you are adventurous and have high clearance explore the Glen of Palms near the same
gorge . I visited this area in August 2002 so
check track details first in Alice - enjoy your trip!
AnswerID:
55073
Reply By: Davoe - Tuesday, Apr 20, 2004 at 13:01
Tuesday, Apr 20, 2004 at 13:01
heaps of info available on this area I did it this time last year but was rushed. from
alice springs there are several gorges heading west including ellery creek ormastin
gorge serpentine gorge. I think most of them allow camping certainly ellery creek does and is a good place to stop. if you are fit you can climb mt sonder which is the highest point in the area.
Palm valley has excellent campgrounds after which the track becomes very rough for the last 4k to
palm valley. i didnt have time for boggey hole as my plan was to take the road southfrom boggey hole but was closed as per previos threads. The tourist beureu in alice has some excellent mags and maps of all ares with fact sheets describing all must see areas. As for how long it all depends I did it in a couple of days but that was totally insufficient and the minimum time would be more like 4days also dont forget east macs as that ares is rich in scenery and history
AnswerID:
55128
Reply By: DrewT - Tuesday, Apr 20, 2004 at 14:01
Tuesday, Apr 20, 2004 at 14:01
Hi Alfred. I'm off to the Alice area for 9 days in early Jul too. My rough itinerary is:
1: Quadbiking at Undoolya station & then on to look at
Trephina Gorge &
John Hayes
Rockhole (both Eastern MacDonnell range)
2 & 3: West MacDonnells (see a couple out of:
Standley Chasm, Ellery Ck,
Serpentine Gorge, Ormiston
Gorge)
4 & 5:
Palm Valley
6 & 7:
Boggy hole track &
Kings Canyon
8 & 9: Uluru / Olgas
Way too quick but thats all the time I have!
Got a lot of good info off this exploroz site (trip planning pages, asked questions in this
forum etc)
also some good info avail via
http://www.nt.gov.au/ntg/attracts.shtml (& some facts sheets for each attraction listed therein). only fact sheet not provided was the one for
Boggy hole track which Parks & Wildlife can email/fax you separately (ph them on 08 89518250). The facts sheets also don't tell you about costs of camping & i had to get this all over the phone from them.
Good maps are the Hema Desert series (NC & SC) or their Hema Red Centre (although i know there are a number of other good ones avail). Am also taking the Henbury & Hermansburg 1:250k topo maps for the
boggy hole track but i'm assured it isn't that hard to navigate.
if you find any good info/rough maps on the walks to do in
Palm Valley then let me know (drew.thornton@txu.com.au) as the fact sheet doesn't tell you much
have a great trip
AnswerID:
55135
Reply By: Alfred - Wednesday, Apr 21, 2004 at 08:55
Wednesday, Apr 21, 2004 at 08:55
Thanks guys for your replys.
Prior to heading west from Alice my plans had included a day trip to the East Macdonnells to see
Trephina Gorge. My itinerary from
Palm Valley had included a night at
Boggy Hole, next night at
Kings Canyon, then two nights at
Yulara to visit Uluru and Olgas.
The area in question for advice is west of Alice up to
Palm Valley.
From the previous replies its all helped me to fine tune my itinerary.
Thanks again guys.
Alfred(SmithfieldNSW)
AnswerID:
55261
Reply By: Barney - Wednesday, Apr 21, 2004 at 09:41
Wednesday, Apr 21, 2004 at 09:41
Alfred,
My 2c? - try
Redbank gorge for a look-see - it's quite different to the others, tho you can't
camp there, or rather you can but wouldn't want to when compared to Ormiston.
It's also a nice walk alonghte riverbed for about 30mins to get to it, after all that driving... :-)
Enjoy....
Barney
AnswerID:
55268
Reply By: cloughie - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 22:24
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 22:24
Just returned.
Ormistin
Gorge fantastic for both camping and
views with a large, full
waterhole for swimming.
Campground offers
toilets, showers etc for $5 per night. BBQ's are free. Run by NT
ranger. A must stay/see. All others do not measure up in comparison.
AnswerID:
56093