← Australian Outback Marathon·3 nights

Alice Springs and the West MacDonnell Ranges

The town in the middle of the continent, with the Flying Doctor base, a desert wildlife park and a chain of gorges and waterholes cutting through the ranges to the west.

Duration3 nights
TransitAbout 45 minutes by air from Ayers Rock Airport, or about 4.5 hours by car
DepartsYulara

After the Australian Outback Marathon: Alice Springs

The Route: Yulara → Alice Springs → West MacDonnell Ranges → Alice Springs Airport Logistics: Short flight from Ayers Rock Airport, or drive about 450 km on the Lasseter and Stuart Highways. A hire car is needed for the ranges. Marathon Month: July Duration: 3 nights

Yulara ──(approx. 4.5 hrs by car, Lasseter & Stuart Hwys / or approx. 45 mins by air)──> Alice Springs
                                                                                            │
                                   West MacDonnell Ranges ◄──(20 mins to 2 hrs by car)──────┤
                                                                                            │
                        Alice Springs Airport (ASP) ◄──(approx. 15 mins by car)──────────────┘

The Australian Outback Marathon ends on a Saturday in late July, and most packages hand runners back to the airport on Sunday or Monday. Alice Springs, 450 km north-east of Yulara, is the natural next stop for anyone with three more nights: a real town of about 25,000 people, with the country's most famous outback institutions and some of its best short walks within an hour's drive.

July in Alice Springs is peak season for good reason: days around 20°C, clear skies and cold nights, often below freezing. Winter is the only comfortable time for walking in the ranges. It is also the busiest time for accommodation, so book as soon as the marathon package is confirmed.

Flights from Ayers Rock Airport to Alice Springs take about 45 minutes, but are not daily; check schedules before planning. Driving takes about four and a half hours on sealed roads: east on the Lasseter Highway to Erldunda, then north on the Stuart Highway. A hire car is needed in Alice for the West MacDonnell Ranges, and one-way hire from Yulara is possible with a fee.

Night One: Alice Springs

Alice Springs sits on the Todd River, usually a dry, sandy bed, in a gap in the MacDonnell Ranges. Arrernte people call the place Mparntwe and have lived here for tens of thousands of years. The European town grew around a station on the Overland Telegraph Line, completed in 1872 to link Adelaide to Darwin and the undersea cable to Britain.

The first afternoon should stay flat. Todd Mall, the pedestrianised main street, has galleries selling work from Central Australia's Aboriginal art centres and is level and short. The Royal Flying Doctor Service base on Stuart Terrace tells the story of the aerial medical service that still covers the outback; the visit is indoors and seated for much of it. Check opening times and prices.

Night Two: The Desert and the Telegraph Station

The Alice Springs Desert Park, on the western edge of town, brings together the plants and animals of Central Australia's desert habitats along flat, sealed paths of about 1.6 km, with seats throughout. The nocturnal house shows bilbies and other small mammals rarely seen in the wild. Arrive for the free-flying birds of prey show, which runs in the morning; check times.

The Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve, 4 km north of the town centre, preserves the stone buildings of the original telegraph station beside the waterhole that gave the town its name. The paths around the buildings are flat. Guided tours run at set times.

Night Three: The West MacDonnell Ranges

The West MacDonnell Ranges run west from Alice in a series of parallel ridges cut by gorges, with permanent waterholes in several of them. The closest are the easiest. Simpsons Gap, 18 km from town, is reached by a short, flat walk from the car park to a gap in the ridge where black-footed rock wallabies sit on the boulders at dawn and dusk. Standley Chasm, on Aboriginal-owned land about 50 km west, is a narrow slot between walls of red quartzite reached by a rocky 1.2 km path; the walls glow at midday, when the sun is overhead, and there is an entry fee.

Ormiston Gorge, about 135 km from Alice, is the pick of the range: a short, mostly flat walk to a waterhole beneath towering red cliffs. The waterholes are cold enough in July to make anyone reconsider swimming, which is probably for the best.

Where to stay: Crowne Plaza Alice Springs Lasseters, beside the Todd River on Barrett Drive, has a pool and gardens for recovering legs. DoubleTree by Hilton Alice Springs, also on the river, is a short walk across it to the town centre.

Where to eat: Hanuman, at the DoubleTree, serves Thai and Indian dishes and is one of the town's longest-standing restaurants. Todd Mall and the streets around it have cafés for breakfast; book dinner in July, when the town is full.

Getting to Alice Springs Airport

Alice Springs Airport (ASP) is about 15 km south of the town centre, around 15 minutes by car, with direct flights to Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne and Sydney. Return hire cars at the terminal. On the way, the Stuart Highway passes through Heavitree Gap, the break in the ranges where the Todd River leaves the town.