The NT’s Red Centre is one of the best family road trips in the country, and the drive itself is half the fun. Following the Red Centre Way from Alice Springs to Uluru, through the West MacDonnell Ranges and Kings Canyon, takes you through some of the most extraordinary landscape in Australia, with plenty to keep the kids interested along the way.
Start with a couple of hours at the Alice Springs Desert Park, the birds of prey display and the nocturnal house full of bilbies are always a hit with kids. From there, head out to Simpsons Gap for a walk through the gorge, or come back after dark with torches for a spot of bat watching. If you’re basing yourselves in Alice Springs for a night or two, Discovery Parks Alice Springs has a waterpark and pools that are worth building an afternoon around.
The next stretch is all swimsuits and sneakers. Stop at Standley Chasm for an easy 20 minute walk and a bite to eat at the café, then continue on to Ellery Creek Big Hole, Serpentine Gorge and Ormiston Gorge for some of the best swimming holes in the Territory. There are campgrounds in the area if you want to stay longer, or continue on to Kings Canyon.
Credit: Tourism NT
The drive to Kings Canyon has a few worthwhile stops of its own, including Tnorala (Gosse Bluff), a massive crater formed by a comet more than 130 million years ago. Discovery Parks Kings Canyon is close to the national park entrance if you’re stopping overnight. Once you arrive, take a break from the road and stretch your legs.
The full rim walk takes around three hours, but if that’s a big ask for little legs, the shorter Kings Creek walk into the canyon floor is an easy alternative. For something different, quad bike tours, camel rides and helicopter flights are all on offer here too.
It’s a longer drive to Ayers Rock Resort, around four hours, so break it up with a stop along the way at Curtin Springs, where kids can meet the resident emu that wanders through like it owns the place. Ayers Rock Resort at Yulara has its own campground with powered and unpowered sites, and there’s also camping at Curtin Springs if you want to split the drive over two nights.
Once you’re there, Uluru delivers on every level for families. A sunrise or sunset camel safari is always a crowd pleaser, and guided walks around the base do a great job of explaining the cultural significance of the landscape in a way kids can connect with. Look out for free activities too, including Indigenous storytelling, dot painting workshops and cultural performances, along with family astronomy tours after dark under some of the clearest skies you’ll see anywhere.
Round the trip out with a guided bush tucker and reptile experience with a local Aboriginal guide, a great way to finish with the kids tasting traditional foods and getting up close to some of the desert’s wildlife.
This route is well set up for families, with plenty of places to pull over, stretch your legs and let the kids swim off some energy along the way. Before you set off, it’s worth sorting your fuel budget using the NT fuel cost planner, punch in your route and vehicle type for an estimate, with live pricing checks through MyFuel NT. One less thing to think about with the kids in the back seat.
For caravan parks and towing-friendly stops along the Red Centre Way, Caravanning NT is a great place to start planning your route.
This article is inspired by Tourism NT’s guide to a Red Centre road trip the whole family will enjoy.
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