Watarrka National Park is best known as the home of Kings Canyon – sheer red rock faces that soar above dense forests of palms, and shelter plants and native animals. Take your time to explore the Canyon and the surrounding George Gill Range.
The park and surrounding area is an outback adventure destination with walking trails, four-wheel drive tracks, quad bike and camel tours and accommodation options ranging from camping to resort-style rooms. It is much more than a day-trip destination – allow for a couple of nights to experience all there is to offer.
Kings Canyon is located about 300 km north east of Uluru and 450 km south west of Alice Springs. As the name suggests, it is a majestic destination with 100 m-high sandstone walls, walking trails, palm-filled crevices and views across the desert.
Explore on foot
Lace up your walking boots and explore – you'll be impressed by the scale and natural beauty of the region. The 6-km Rim Walk is a moderately challenging trail that takes in magnificent views of the Canyon rim, the weathered domes of 'The Lost City' and the 'Garden of Eden' - a sheltered valley with permanent waterholes and lush vegetation. The walk is suitable for fit, relatively experienced walkers.
For the less energetic, the shorter and easier Kings Creek Walk at the Canyon base leads you through lush ferns, cycads and eucalypts to a platform with views of the sheer canyon walls above.
Conservation area
Derived from an Aboriginal word referring to the umbrella bush that thrives here, Watarrka National Park is an important conservation area with rock holes and gorges providing refuge for more than 600 species of plants and many native animals. The Luritja Aboriginal people have called the Watarrka National Park area home for more than 20,000 years.
