MacDonnell Ranges Attractions

Seen from above, the steep-sided parallel ridges and deeply indented valleys look like a series of waves with furrows between them.

The sparse arid vegetation on the hills allows their contours and the varied colors of the rock to be clearly seen. The charm of the landscape lies in the contrast between the sharply outlined chasms and gorges, carved out by the force of water in the remote past, and the blue of the sky.

John McDouall Stuart, the first white man to travel through the center of Australia in 1860, named the hills after the then governor of South Australia, Richard MacDonnell. His route, however, did not take him through the Heavitree Gap to the south of Alice Springs, where the Todd River, the Stuart Highway and the Ghan railroad now run; instead he followed the course of the Hugh River, which flows through the Chewing Range (50km west of Alice Springs) in what is now known as Stuart Pass.

The Aranda people call their territory Altijra, the 'eternal land'.

The visitor center in Simpsons Gap National Park, 24km west of Alice Springs, has informative material on the Macdonnell Ranges.