Float on your back in the Ormiston Gorge waterhole to take in the beauty of the red cliffs and the timelessness of this wild place. Bring your camera to capture the reflection of the cliffs and trees in the tranquil water. The gorge is an important habitat for native wildlife, including reptiles, dingoes, rock-wallabies, wedge-tailed eagles and populations of two marsupials thought to have disappeared from Central Australia.
Two great walks start at Ormiston Gorge. Take the shorter, 20-minute Ghost Gum Walk to a viewing platform to look out over the waterhole and across the gorge. A 3 to 4 hour return hike leads into the Ormiston Pound. Ormiston Pound is an incredible display of the geological forces that shaped Central Australia and is completely surrounded by mountains. This vast valley, covered in the muted greys of spinifex grass and strewn with granite, resembles an enormous crater. Head back along the path through the gorge for a striking view of the waterhole. The Ormiston Gorge to Finke River section of the Larapinta Trail is the shortest section of the 223-kilometre (140-mile) hike and is suitable for most hikers.
The Pound walk goes through the habitat of the nocturnal central rock rat, which was thought to be extinct for 50 years until it was rediscovered here. Small mouse-looking long-tailed dunnarts were also rare here for a time, but their numbers are building up again. If you miss these marsupials in the wild, you can see both creatures at the Alice Springs Desert Park.
Ormiston Gorge is 135 kilometres (85 miles) west of Alice Springs. Stop in at the Visitor Centre just before the turn-off to Ormiston Gorge. Here you’ll find information about the walks and wildlife at Ormiston Gorge and Ormiston Pound, as well as tea and coffee. The Pound walk starts from and returns to the Visitor Centre.
The roads to Ormiston Gorge are sealed and are accessible even without a four-wheel drive. Bring camping gear to stay overnight at the Ormiston Gorge campsite.