Uluru to Kings Canyon

Hi Maggie,

Couldn't say exactly - but I would allow a day.

Cheers,

Pete

A straight forward sealed highway all the way round - flat terrain. Just get the map distance and divide by your own preferred cruising speed :-o). BTW - the rim walk (several hours) at Kings Canyon is fabulous on a nice day - the shorter valley walk is nothing by comparison.

Hi Maggie

It is all good roads, so if you don't want to sight see, only a few hours. We did it over two days. After leaving Kings Canyon resort in the morning following the rim walk previous day, we did the easy short walk into Kathleen Gorge, then having lunch a rest area not far from Lasseter Highway. We bush camped along the way to Yulara, in part to take a closer look at Mt Conner, also planning to minimise time in the Yulara CP. However it was very windy and dusty when we arrived a Yulara so no sight seeing that day anyway. My trip notes are in MyBlog here, and more in Australia So Much to See under travelogues for 2008.

Motherhen

Hi Maggie,
It's an easy enough drive, we took it a bit slow and enjoyed the scenery.

As mentioned above the rim walk at Kings Canyon is awesome, and well worth the effort. Take your time with it, it gets a bit strenuous here and there. We spent about 5 or 6 hrs walking it.

Have a look at Kings Creek Station, which is about 35 kms east of the Canyon, a family owned business that has an authentic outback feel to it. I can highly recommend their hospitality, I have nothing to do with them, just a happy customer.

Enjoy the trip!

Cheers

Brian

according to my Scangauge trip computer we did the 300kms in 3.8hrs at an average of 77kph. Max speed attained was 101kph.

Hi Maggie

Like all replies above, the road is a first class good run. Even though the Northern Territory has an open road speed limit of 130 kph, the Lasseter Highway has a maximum speed limit of 110 kph, so keep a close look at that and will only changes up to 130 kph once you start the Luritja Road.

The biggest concern out there are cattle and camels on the road and you would not want to hit one of those giant beasts. Another thing to keep an eye out for is for road kill, which acts like a magnet to our largest flight bird, the majestic wedge tailed eagle. These birds are not fast off the mark and will stay on the road kill until the last moment, but being slow to take off, many are struck and killed by cars travelling fast.

Where you stay will be your call, but we usually stay at Kings Creek Station. Once in the area, give yourself a minimum of 2 full days in the area, one taken up with the rim and creek walks and the other the other attractions in the area like Kathleen Springs and the general area.

Make sure that you go to all places on the rim walk, including the Garden of Eden.

If you do not want to back track, you can then continue your trip and take the Mereenie Loop with is a good drive, but dirt.

Here are a few pictures of what you can expect to see in the area.

Have a great time and drive safely.

Cheers

Stephen

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It took me 4hrs 30 mins towing a caravan to drive from Yulara camp grounds to Kings Canyon Resort. We sat on 80 kmph. That was in July 2010

Its a very good sealed road.

WBS

Thank you. I hope we have fantastic weather. All of our previous holidays, the weather gods have smiled on us, always had great weather, so am being totally optimistic for this trip. I thought the google map must be right, but I had read on a blog they did this trip in 2.5 hours. Thank you all for your advise and good wishes.
Maggie

As someone who has driven this road many, many times I would say allow a good 3 to 4 hours minimum for the drive.

The above comments re the rim walk are valid, though if you have enough time do the rim walk AND the creek bed walk, they are BOTH beautiful with many things to see.

By the way, with regards to the Cotteril look-out, it's not really worth the extra hour that it adds to the entire rim walk, and too many people walk right up to the edge, not realising that it's in MOST cases many metres undercut (which you see from the other side). Please, stay BACK from the edges until you get to the FAR side of the canyon.

If you've got any burning questions please message me. As a tour guide for this area I can probably give you a lot of information that no one else can.

Cheers,
Simon

PS. I'm currently in the throws of writing a do-it-yourself guidebook for the area.. so hopefully it'll all workout fine and be something worth releasing later in the year.