The Red Centre

The Red Centre Way is the classic loop out of Alice Springs: west along the Larapinta and Namatjira drives into Tjoritja/West MacDonnell National Park, south to Watarrka and the Kings Canyon rim, on to Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa, and back up the Stuart Highway. Tourism NT rates the full circuit at 1,334 km and recommends six days — enough that no single leg eats a whole morning.

The West MacDonnells are the part travellers underestimate. Simpsons Gap and Standley Chasm sit close enough to Alice for a first afternoon, while Ellery Creek Big Hole, Ormiston Gorge and Glen Helen are proper swimming country — permanent waterholes in a landscape that reads as bone dry from the road. The water is cold year round, which is the point in September.

Kings Canyon earns its own day. The Rim Walk climbs steeply for the first twenty minutes and then delivers three hours along 100-metre sandstone walls and down into the Garden of Eden; rangers close it from 9am when the forecast tops 36°C, so this is a start-at-dawn walk, not an after-lunch one. Kings Creek Walk along the canyon floor is the gentler alternative and still worth the stop.

At Uluṟu, give yourself both ends of the day. Sunrise at Talinguṟu Nyakunytjaku and sunset from the viewing area bookend a base walk that is flatter and longer than people expect — 10 km, best done early. Kata Tjuṯa is a separate half-day: the Valley of the Winds walk is the better of the two trails and closes above 36°C as well. Start at the Cultural Centre, where the Anangu account of the place is told first-hand.

This is a desert drive, and the seasons run opposite to the Top End: April to September is the comfortable window, with cold nights and clear skies. Fuel stops are far apart — Glen Helen, Kings Canyon, Curtin Springs and Erldunda are the ones to plan around — and phone coverage disappears for long stretches. Carry more water than seems reasonable and tell someone your plan.

The main loop is sealed the whole way if you take the Luritja Road rather than the Mereenie Loop, which is unsealed and needs a permit. The CamperMate map below has the campsites, waterholes, walks and bookable tours along the sealed route — add the ones you like to build your own version of the drive.