West MacDonnell National Park (Tjoritja)includes Ormiston Gorge, Ellery Creek Bighole and Glen Helen Gorge | Uluru camping tours Red Centre in Australia

Swimming in the West MacDonnell National Park:
Swimming is permitted at Ellery Creek Big Hole, Redbank Gorge, Ormiston Gorge and Glen Helen Gorge.
You should be aware that most swimming holes are very cold. Long exposure, even during summer, can lead to hypothermia.

How to get there:
From Alice Springs, access the Tjoritja / West MacDonnell National Park's many visitor areas along Larapinta Drive and Namatjira Drive. From Watarrka National Park (Kings Canyon) access the park on the unsealed Red Centre Way (Mereenie Loop). You need a permit to access this road.

Ormiston Gorge: Tjoritja / West MacDonnell National Park
Ormiston Gorge is a great place for a swim, or to see the towering walls of the gorge and pound, local plants and wildlife. Located 135km west of Alice Springs in the Tjoritja / West MacDonnell National Park, it is accessible by sealed roads and is the trailhead for sections nine and 10 of the Larapinta Trail. The gorge has a waterhole that is there year round and is great for swimming, especially in warmer months. It is located just 500m from the visitor centre and is estimated to be up to 14m deep at its southern end. The five minute Waterhole Walk, which has wheelchair access to the end of the paved path, and the 20 minute one way Ghost Gum Lookout Walk are the most popular with visitors. Another way to explore the area is by walking the Ormiston Pound Walk, which is a three to four hour circuit that follows the rocky slope into the flat expanse of the pound and back along the gorge by the main waterhole. The area has an interesting range of native plants and animals including a number of relict plant species from Central Australia's tropical past. The park is also an important fauna refuge, with the rediscovery of the Central rock-rat in 1997.

 

Ellery Creek Big Hole
Enjoy a picnic overlooking the red cliffs, swim in the waterhole and sandy creek of this important geological site. Ellery Creek Big Hole is a spectacular waterhole in the mighty Ellery Creek which cuts through a gorge in the West MacDonnell Ranges. Thousands of years of massive floods have carved out this beautiful waterhole and unlocked some amazing geology. Visitors to Ellery Creek Big Hole will be rewarded with excellent recreational opportunities - walking, swimming, picnicking and camping just to name a few.

Rainbow Valley Conservation Reserve
Rainbow Valley has scenic sandstone bluffs and cliffs that are a photographer's delight. These are most impressive in the soft light of the morning or afternoon around sunset. At these times the sandstone bands change from ochre red to orange and purple.

Chambers Pillar Historical Reserve

The 50m high sandstone pillar is the main feature of the Chambers Pillar Historical Reserve. The pillar is impressive and towers over the plains below. It's best seen at sunset when it reflects the light to bring out the strong red and orange colours. Explore the reserve on foot and don't forget your camera. The local Aboriginal people believe that the pillar is the gecko ancestor Itirkawara.

 

N'Dhala Gorge Nature Park

N’Dhala Gorge is a cultural treasure with 6,000 individual petroglyphs, or rock carvings, found in 438 engraved sites along the main gorge and 240 engraved sites in the side gorge. It is suggested that engraving occurred over two time periods. The first was around 10,000 years ago and the second started about 3,000 years ago.

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