Off the beaten track in the Red Centre

There’s never been a better time to get off the beaten track and discover the little-known secrets of the Red Centre from Alice Springs to Uluru.

Whether you’re keen to explore all that Alice Springs has to offer or venture further afield into the Red Centre’s arid desert, here are our hot tips for finding the hidden secrets of Ventral Australia.

Napwerte/Ewaninga Rock Carvings Conservation Reserve

Just a half hour drive from Alice Springs Airport are a collection of petroglyphs and rock engravings within Napwerte/Ewaninga Rock Carvings Conservation Reserve. A short walking trail loops around rock art sites where hundreds of symbols and motifs are carved into sandstone. The exact age of these petroglyphs is unknown but it’s thought that Arrernte people would spend extended periods of time here, carving stories and beliefs into soft sandstone surrounding the waterhole.

The site is a natural clay pan which traps water and rain runoff, making it traditionally a reliable source of food and water for the Arrernte people who would hunt animals lured by water and lush vegetation. It’s thought that these extended periods of hunting and gathering provided opportunity and time to document these stories etched into rock that we see today.

Arltunga Bush Pub & Eco Retreat

To reach Arltunga Bush Pub & Eco Retreat follow Ross Highway as you leave Alice Springs for approximately one hour, keeping the East MacDonnell Ranges on your left. The highway is bitumen until you turn onto Arltunga Road, which is unsealed and not recommended for 2WD vehicles. An alternative ‘off the beaten track’ route is via the Binns Track, a 4WD only route through some of the Territory’s most remote country. Binns Track starts at Mt Dare (South Australia) on the edge of Simpson Desert and ends at Timber Creek.

At Arltunga there’s a vast campground with shared bathroom facilities, camp kitchen with BBQ, fireplaces and plenty of unpowered sites amidst wide open spaces. Arltunga Historical Reserve was central Australia’s first European settlement and was once a bustling town of starry-eyed prospectors who were lured to the region during the 1880s gold rush. The remains of the town and its historical relics are preserved and protected within the Arltunga Historical Reserve. Walk amongst the ruins, which include residences, Post Office, Police Station and a gaol cell with its tiny barred window high in the stone wall. Spend time in the visitor centre where information, photographs and artefacts offer fascinating insight into this historic precinct.

Take a self-guided walk through Joker Gorge where stone buildings and relics from the Joker gold mine remain. The gorge contains a semi-permanent water source which attracts abundant wildlife such as Black-footed rock wallabies. Another walking trail passes through White Range, where Great Western Mine was one of the most productive gold mines in the area. Fossick for gold in the designated Fossicking Area (FA2) or take a dip in the clear waters of Paddys Rockhole which the Eastern Arrernte people know as Annurra ntinga, which is thought to be the basis for today’s Anglicised name of Arltunga.

Yeperenye / Emily and Jessie Gaps Nature Park

Yeperenye / Emily and Jessie Gaps Nature Park is a short drive from Alice Springs along Ross Highway, in the East MacDonnell Ranges. Both Emily Gap and Jessie Gap are significant cultural sites to Eastern Arrernte people, as they form part of a Song Line which winds its way through central Australia. Yeperenye is the Arrernte word for ‘caterpillar’, which references the Dreamtime story related to the MacDonnell Ranges

These gaps in the sandstone ranges have been carved by water and erosion over eons and are linked with each other by a 7km-long walking and mountain bike trail. Interpretative signage along the trail highlights flora and fauna to keep an eye out for, including blooming desert flowers and long-nosed dragons at ground level and whistling kites, brown falcons and honeyeaters overhead.

Emily Gap is a registered sacred site where a large rock painting can be easily viewed. Jessie Gap too has a rock art site, just a short walk from the riverbed.

Women’s Museum of Australia

Located in downtown Alice Springs and housed in Heritage-listed Old Alice Springs Gaol, the Women’s Museum of Australia celebrates Australian women and their achievements across history.

The museum has its roots in the National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame, founded by Molly Clark of Old Andaoa Station in 1993. Molly was motivated to establish a facility to celebrate outback women’s achievements after visiting the Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Queensland, realising that there was not an equivalent entity for women. The museum’s collection holds more than 2,500 objects collected from across central Australia. There’s also a digital HerStory archive which contains files on more than 1,500 influential women.

The museum is housed in exhibition halls adjacent to the former HM Gaol and Labour Prison which was decommissioned in 1996. Visitors may visit former men’s and women’s cell blocks which have been preserved, and offer insight into what life was like for inmates.

Central Australian Aviation Museum

The Central Australian Aviation Museum in Alice Springs rose from the ashes of a tragic suicidal flight known as the 1977 Connellan air disaster. Local’s came together in the aftermath of the tragedy to honour those who were killed and injured. Connellan Airways (Connair) was established by aviation pioneer EJ Connellan who operated aircraft for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) from Alice Springs’ first aerodrome.

Located in the original Connellan Airways Hangar, the museum has on show historic aircraft and aviation memorabilia including two early RFDS aircraft and the remains of the ‘Kookaburra’ which crashed in the Tanami Desert while searching for missing aviator Charles Kingsford Smith.

A section of the museum highlights the significant connection between aviation and isolated peoples of the Central Desert. Remote Aboriginal communities have long benefited from air connections which provide access to essential services, such as fly-in health clinics. Aboriginal artists often portray seemingly aerial perspectives of landscapes - a skill passed down through generations to remember important food or water resources. This intimate knowledge of the land is utilised during aerial search and rescue operations. Aboriginal tracking skills found success in locating the lost aircraft Kookaburra, which was forced to make an emergency landing in the Tanami Desert in the 1960s.

Camp out on country

Take the road less travelled in central Australia and learn its secrets from descendants of those who have walked this land for more than 60,000 years. Camp out in Tjoritja/West MacDonnell Ranges where 100% Finke River Culture & Adventure have established simple seasonal camps on traditional Aboriginal Homelands.

With easy access to the Larapinta Trail and daily hikes included in multi-day tours, camps are equipped with tents, bathroom facilities and a kitchen. Aboriginal-owned and managed, you’ll be fully immersed in Aboriginal culture as you visit sacred sites of the Western Arrernte people, escorted by traditional owners whose ancestors have passed down Dreamtime stories through thousands of years. Tours include a day trip to the town of Ntaria (Hermannsburg), home to famed artist Albert Namatjira along with a visit to Hermannsburg Historic Precinct. Wander amongst whitewashed buildings of the former Hermannsburg Missionary Society and purchase artworks at the Namatjira Gallery or nearby Hermannsburg Potters.

Maruku Arts at Yulara, Uluru

Just a short drive away from Uluru and Kata Tjuta National Park in Yulara town centre is a terrific opportunity to share in a Dot Painting Workshop with Maruku Art. Over a couple of hours you’ll not only learn about Aboriginal art forms, symbolism and traditional ways of life from a local Anangu artist, you’ll create your own piece of art to take home Assisted by an English speaking interpreter, an artist shares knowledge about symbols, motifs along with the ancient ways of the desert and the traditional Creation stories, known as Tjukurpa, which inform and inspire painting.

Maruku Arts offers cultural tours and workshops that allow travellers to connect with Anangu artists in a low key authentic format. Along with Dot Painting Experiences you could take a deep dive into Cave Art Tour and Cultural Walk at Uluru. Join a local guide on the Kuniya Walk and learn the Creation stories which are told in rock art etched onto cave walls at the base of Uluru.