The story of this place
The Tjoritja / West MacDonnell National Park stretches 161 kilometres west of Alice Springs, protecting a landscape that the Arrernte people have called home for millennia. The ranges themselves are ancient—over 600 million years old—once as high as the Himalayas before erosion sculpted them into the dramatic ridges we see today. Standley Chasm (Angkerle Atwatye) is the park's most photographed feature: a narrow gap where the walls glow red at midday.
Simpsons Gap (Rungutjirpa) is where ghost gums stand white against red cliffs, and rare black-footed rock wallabies can be spotted at dusk. The Larapinta Trail, a 223-kilometre walking track, traverses the entire range, ranked as one of the world's top 20 trekking experiences. The park contains sacred sites, rock art galleries, and waterholes that have sustained life in this arid land for thousands of years. It's also one of the best places in Australia to see the night sky—far from light pollution, the Milky Way blazes overhead.