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Alice Springs Desert Park, Larapinta Drive, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 0870
Email: alicesprings@wpsnt.com.au
Website: www.wpsnt.com.au
Northern Territory DINEATOUT 9069410 Phone Number: 61 08 8951 8748
Fax Number: 61 08 8955 1131

When you visit the Alice Springs Desert Park, make time for a meal at the Coolamon Café. Located within the park, the cafe offers a full dining experience set to the sounds of native birds and wildlife and with dramatic views of the West MacDonnell Ranges. Choose from a hot or cold buffet, sandwiches, wraps, pastries and cakes with great espresso coffee and teas, fresh juices and cool drinks. The air-conditioned cafe is licensed from 11.30am daily with a range of wine and beer available . A 'must see' for every visitor to the Red Centre, the Alice Springs Desert Park displays and explains the plants, animals and landscapes around Alice Springs, and their traditional use by Aboriginal people. A multi-award winning park and the first of its kind in the world. The Alice Springs Desert Park is a 10-minute drive from the centre of Alice Springs.

Hermannsburg Road, Hermannsburg, Northern Territory, 0872
Email: art@hermannsburgpotters.com.au
Website: www.hermannsburgpotters.com.au
Northern Territory GALMUSECOL 9068868 Phone Number: 61 08 8956 7414
Fax Number: 61 08 8956 7414

Visit the Hermannsburg Potters to see their renowned hand-built terracotta pots that are decorated with vibrant sculpted animals, landscapes, and bush tucker. The Hermannsburg Potters enjoy a national and international reputation for their unique pots that are decorated with ceramic underglazes. The lids support colourful sculpted animals, birds and bush tucker. The belly of the pot is painted with the striking landscapes of the area. The Hermannsburg Potters are also painting their designs onto canvas, with eye-catching results. You can see and purchase the work of the Hermannsburg Potters at the Kata Anga Tea Rooms and the Namatjira Gallery in the Hermannsburg Heritage Precinct. There is also a display at the Araluen Centre in Alice Springs. Visiting the Hermannsburg Potters is by appointment only.

Larapinta Drive, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 0870
Email: asdp@nt.gov.au
Website: www.alicespringsdesertpark.com.au
Northern Territory ZOOSNCAQU 9000531 Phone Number: 61 08 8951 8788
Fax Number: 61 08 8951 8720

Walk into a taste of the Central Australian desert at the Alice Springs Desert Park. A 'must see' for every visitor to the Red Centre, the Alice Springs Desert Park displays and explains the plants, animals and landscapes around Alice Springs, and their traditional use by Aboriginal people. Follow the easy walking trail through three recreated desert habitats to see the plants and animals that are typically found in them. Take a seat in the Nature Theatre to watch owls, wedge-tailed eagles and other birds of prey free flying to their handlers. See rare and endangered animals in the nocturnal house, many of which are nearly impossible to see in the wild. Find out about bush tucker, the use of plants and animals and the management of the desert by Aboriginal people. Or book for the evening Nocturnal Tour along the park's Mulga Walk to spotlight some of the region's most elusive animals. Visitors leave the park with a new understanding of Central Australian deserts as the rich and diverse habitats they are. A multi-award winning park and one of the world's finest nature parks, The Alice Springs Desert Park is a 10-minute drive from the centre of Alice Springs.

Pioneer Park, South Stuart Highway, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 0870
Email: info@alicespringsturfclub.org.au
Website: www.alicespringsturfclub.org.au
Northern Territory SPORTREC 9000572 Phone Number: 61 08 8952 4977
Fax Number: 61 08 8953 0426

Visit the Alice Springs Turf Club, located at Pioneer Park Alice Springs. Horse racing has been part of the pioneering history of Alice Springs and today, 133 years after the first race meeting was conducted, Pioneer Park Racecourse offers race meetings throughout the year. From April to May, the racecourse showcases Central Australian racing with the staging of the annual XXXX Gold Alice Springs Cup Carnival.

30 kilometres north of Alice Springs, on the Stuart Highway, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 0870
Website: www.nt.gov.au/transport/ntroads/roadside/restareas/tc2a/tropicofcapricorn.shtml
Northern Territory HISTHERITG 9000605 Phone Number: 61 08 8952 5800

The Tropic of Capricorn Marker, a Bicentennial community project, is set back 15 metres from the road, along the Stuart Highway 30 kilometres north of Alice Springs. In 1987 the local Alice Springs newspaper ran a competition for a design to replace the Tropic of Capricorn marker. The winning design was submitted by a local resident, it consists of a stylised globe of the world on top of a slanted pole around 6.5 metres high. A local artist was commissioned to carve the Capricorn Goats into either side of the cement base and the new marker was officially opened late 1988. Overnight camping for 24 hours only is permitted.

120 kilometres north of Alice Springs, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 0870
Website: www.nretas.nt.gov.au/national-parks-and-reserves/parks/find/nativegap
Northern Territory HISTHERITG 9000694 Phone Number: 61 08 8951 8250
Fax Number: 61 08 8951 8290

Native Gap Conservation Reserve is a sacred site to Arrernte and Anmatyerr Aboriginal people. It also stands as a memorial to the Overland Telegraph Line, which was constructed on the site in the late 19th century, and enabled communications between Adelaide and Darwin. The small roadside reserve is located 120 kilometres north of Alice Springs. The Reserve is at the intersection of several creation-time stories. The site's name in the Arrernte language is Arurlte Artwatye. Arurlte translates as 'the top of the shoulders across the neck', Artwatye is 'gap'. This name is probably inspired by the view of the profile of the 30 metre sandstone ridge that dominates the site. This ridge stands above the surrounding Burt Plain and protects an interesting variety of plant and animal species. Pull off the Stuart Highway and stop at the picnic area, which is shaded by Ironwood and Desert Bloodwood and habitat to the Short-beaked Echidna, and enjoy the views of the Hann Range. The Reserve is on the western side of the Stuart Highway. Access is via an unsealed service track to a nearby telecommunications tower on the Hann Range. The track within the Reserve forms a loop around the facilities area.

207 kilometres along the Larapinta Trail, starting from the Alice Springs Telegraph Station, West Macdonnell Ranges, Northern Territory, 0870
Website: www.nretas.nt.gov.au/national-parks-and-reserves/parks/walks/larapinta
Northern Territory SCENDRVWLK 9104239 Phone Number: 61 08 8951 8250
Fax Number: 61 08 8951 8290

Rocky Bar Gap is a shady spot favoured by walkers of the Larapinta Trail. Located along Section 11 of the 223-kilometre Larapinta Trail, it is a good place to take a break or camp for the night. The trail to Rocky Bar Gap descends from Hilltop Lookout on the northern side then winds across low spinifex hills and mulga woodland and knobbly black rock before arriving at the shady gap. The trail passes south through Rocky Bar Gap then heads west along the foot of Mt Sonder. At various points along the way you may see distinctive knobbly black rock, which is part of a fossil soil and the remains of an iron oxide capping formed on the land surface millions of year ago when the climate in this area was tropical. Camping is permitted, but there is no vehicle access to this site. Section 11 of the Larapinta Trail is graded as hard - a rough and narrow track with some steep and/or long climbs and descents, suitable for fit people with previous bushwalking experience.

Chambers Pillar Road, off Old South Road, 160 kilometres south of Alice Springs, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 0870
Website: www.nretas.nt.gov.au/national-parks-and-reserves/parks/find/chamberspillar
Northern Territory NATATTRACT 9000626 Phone Number: 61 08 8951 8250
Fax Number: 61 08 8951 8290

Chambers Pillar is a spectacular solitary column towering 50 metres above the Simpson Desert plain, located 160km from Alice Springs. Explore the reserve on foot, and don't forget your camera. Chambers Pillar was formed from sandstone deposited and worn down over 350 million years. It was an important landmark guiding the region's earliest pioneers on their way from Adelaide to Alice Springs. John MacDouall Stuart first recorded the pillar in 1860 and named it after James Chambers, one of his South Australian sponsors. The local Aboriginal people believe that the pillar is the Gecko ancestor Itirkawara. Banished for taking a wife from the wrong skin group, he retreated into the desert. When they stop to rest they turned into prominent rocky formations - Itirkawara into the Pillar, and the woman into Castle Rock 500m to the north-east. Follow one of the marked walking tracks to the viewing platform or past the prominent features of Chambers Pillar. Photographers should time their visit for either sunrise or sunset when the Pillar glows as the rays of the sun strike its face. Access is via four-wheel drive tracks. Camping is permitted (fees apply), and guided Ranger talks are held May to September.

140 kilometres north east of Alice Springs, on the Plenty Highway, Gemtree, Northern Territory, 0872
Email: gemtree@gemtree.com.au
Website: www.gemtree.com.au
Northern Territory ENTERTAIN 9000767 Phone Number: 61 08 8956 9855
Fax Number: 61 08 8956 9860

Gemtree, a quiet bush caravan park, 140 kilometres from Alice Springs on the Plenty Highway, is located at the Gateway to the Central Australian gemfields. The billabong, at the entry to the park, attracts a wide variety of birdlife and the 100 hectare property has a popular 3.5 kilometre nature trail along which many plant species have been identified. A coloured guide booklet to describe the plants and birds seen along the way can be borrowed at reception. The gemroom displays a selection of exquisite jewellery and local gems and minerals. During the season (1st March to 31st October) a resident gemcutter turns fossickers' finds into sparkling gems. Fossicking tours leave at 8.30am daily to the gemfields but for those with time restraints, buckets of garnet bearing gravel can be purchased to fossick through at the park. Mud maps are provided for scenic four-wheel drive tracks in the beautiful Harts Ranges and East MacDonnells and guided tagalong tours are available, when numbers permit, covering the history of local pastoralists, miners and Aborigines. Tasty weekend dinners cooked in 'Kate's Campoven Kitchen' and served to lantern-lit tables are followed by light entertainment, proving a popular addition along with Devonshire afternoon teas.

off the Tanami Road, 77 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs, West Macdonnell Ranges, Northern Territory, 0870
Website: www.nretas.nt.gov.au/national-parks-and-reserves/parks/walks/larapinta
Northern Territory SCENDRVWLK 9104235 Phone Number: 61 08 8951 8250
Fax Number: 61 08 8951 8290

Jay Creek flows into a permanent waterhole in the West MacDonnell Ranges, west of Alice Springs. Jay Creek is also at the Trailhead for Sections 2 and 3 of the Larapinta Trail, a 223 kilometre trek through the ranges. The creek flows through a rugged gorge, at the southern end of which is a deep permanent pool known as Fish Hole.
Vehicle access to Jay Creek is by four-wheel drive and camping is permitted for Larapinta Trail walkers only. The walk to Jay Creek (Section 2) starts in Simpsons Gap and takes you along a high ridgeline with great views of the surrounding ranges. Look out for euros (wallaby) taking shelter in the overhanging boulders. You pass through a large area of mulga woodland before arriving at Jay Creek.