Ayers Rock

Climbing Uluru has been closed since October 2019. The Anangu, the Aboriginal traditional owners of the land, had been requesting this since the 1980s; the climb crossed a sacred path associated with Dreamtime stories of the Mala (rufous hare-wallaby) and was considered deeply offensive by people for whom the rock is not a geological curiosity but a living landscape full of meaning. The closure matters for planning: the experience that most of the previous century’s visitors had is not available. What is available is better.

The Base Walk

The 10-kilometre circumnavigation of Uluru at ground level reveals textures, forms, rock art, waterholes, and detail that the climb masked. The rock changes character entirely as you walk around it: the south face has smooth curves and deep caves; the north has vertical corrugations; the west has a famous waterhole that fills after rain. Walk it at sunrise or sunset when the colour shifts through deep purple, red, orange, and pink; the light in late afternoon is specific and extraordinary.

Kata Tjuta

The 36 sandstone domes 53 kilometres west are less marketed than Uluru and at least as remarkable. The Valley of the Winds walk (7.4 kilometres) takes about three hours through narrow gorges between the domes with panoramic views from the high points. The Walpa Gorge walk (2.2 kilometres) is shorter and easier. Either reveals a landscape with no comparable in Australia.

Staying

The Yulara Resort Town (Ayers Rock Resort) 12 kilometres from the rock is the only accommodation base; it operates as an essentially monopoly service provider in a genuinely remote location. Longitude 131° is the luxury end (tented camps with direct Uluru views from around AUD 1,500 per person per night all-inclusive). The Desert Gardens Hotel and the campground are the more accessible options. Book ahead; this is not a place you rock up to.

When to Go

May through September: temperatures 15 to 25 degrees Celsius, manageable. October through April: temperatures regularly exceed 40 degrees and the rock and desert become genuinely harsh environments. June and July are the most comfortable months.