Larapinta Trail Section 1

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The first of the Larapinta Trail's 12 official sections, running about 24.7km from the Alice Springs Telegraph Station to Simpsons Gap along the West MacDonnell Ranges.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

30.7 km

Est. time

8 hr 29 min

Elevation gain

556 m

Route type

Point to point

✦ Plan route

Steepest stretch: +47m over ~300m (around the 14.4km mark)

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In an emergency

Call 000 for police, fire or ambulance — Australia's emergency number works even with a weak signal, and without a SIM if any carrier has coverage.

You're in Tjoritja / West MacDonnell National Park, Central Australia, NT. Mobile reception in this area is not guaranteed — this is exactly why the offline map and GPS position on this page work without signal.

Tell someone your plan and expected return time before you set off. A PLB is the most reliable backup where there's no reception at all.

Tracks & plans

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In-depth guide

Larapinta Trail Section 1: Telegraph Station to Simpsons Gap Guide

The Larapinta Trail's first section as a standalone day walk — real distance, the one steep climb to expect, and Red Centre wildlife.

Species to look for on this trail

Ancient trees and rare flora confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

WrixoniaDocumented on this trail

Prostanthera schultzii

Vulnerable — AUS: Vulnerable, NT: Vulnerable▾

Vulnerable — AUS: Vulnerable, NT: Vulnerable

Prostanthera schultzii is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the Northern Territory. It grows as a shrub with heart-shaped to round or paddle-shaped leaves and white flowers with purple spots and yellow patches on the lower lip.

How to spot it

Prostanthera schultzii is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.5–1.5 m (1 ft 8 in – 4 ft 11 in) and has branches that become stiff and spine-like with age. The leaves are heart-shaped to round or paddle-shaped, 4–12 mm (0.16–0.47 in) long on a short petiole. The flowers are sessile and arranged in groups on the ends of branches with sepals forming a tube 3–3.5 mm (0.12–0.14 in) long with two lobes. The petals are white with purple spots and yellow patches on the lower lip and form a tub

Family Lamiaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Prostanthera schultzii

MacDonnell Ranges Cycad

Macrozamia macdonnellii

Ancient MacDonnell Ranges endemic▾

Ancient MacDonnell Ranges endemic

A cycad endemic to the MacDonnell Ranges of Central Australia, belonging to an ancient gymnosperm lineage that predates flowering plants. Female cones bear seeds the size of an egg with a bright red outer layer.

How to spot it

Look for large, frond-like, bluish-green pinnate leaves radiating from the top of a stocky trunk in rocky gorge country. Separate male and female plants produce distinct cones; the female cone is broad and squat.

Family Zamiaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Macrozamia macdonnellii

Cgoodwin, CC BY 3.0 / GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons

Ghost Gum

Corymbia aparrerinja

Central Australian icon of art and Dreaming▾

Central Australian icon of art and Dreaming

A striking white-barked gum of Central Australia's gorges and ranges, made famous internationally through Arrernte artist Albert Namatjira's watercolour paintings.

How to spot it

Smooth, powdery white to cream bark shed in thin patches, growing to around 20 m. Glossy green lance-shaped leaves and white summer flowers. Often seen clinging to rocky outcrops and gorge walls.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Corymbia aparrerinja

Cgoodwin, CC BY 3.0 / GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons

Sturt's Desert Rose

Gossypium sturtianum

Floral emblem of the Northern Territory▾

Floral emblem of the Northern Territory

A hardy desert shrub bearing large mauve-pink flowers with dark red centres, and the official floral emblem of the Northern Territory, appearing on its flag. First collected by explorer Charles Sturt in 1844-45.

How to spot it

A rounded shrub 1-2 m tall with aromatic, rounded grey-green leaves. Flowers up to 12 cm across, pale pink to purple-maroon with five petals, flowering most of the year and peaking in late winter.

Family Malvaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Gossypium sturtianum

Mark Marathon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mulga

Acacia aneura

Signature arid-zone acacia▾

Signature arid-zone acacia

A variable shrub or small tree, typically 2.5-7 m tall, that dominates vast tracts of inland Australia and gives its name to the 'mulga country' bioregion. Its flat, narrow phyllodes conserve water and its cylindrical yellow flower spikes appear after rain.

How to spot it

Flat, narrowly linear-to-elliptic grey-green phyllodes 40-100 mm long standing near-vertical to reduce sun exposure; bright yellow cylindrical flower spikes 15-25 mm long; flat, winged seed pods.

Family Fabaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Acacia aneura

Mark Marathon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ironwood

Acacia estrophiolata

Graceful Central Australian shade tree▾

Graceful Central Australian shade tree

A tall, graceful tree endemic to Central Australia, reaching 4-16 m with fine pendulous branchlets that give it a weeping form. Known to the Arrernte as utjanypa, its dense timber was traditionally used for tools and its shade valued in gorge and range country.

How to spot it

Long, narrow, slightly curved phyllodes 40-110 mm long; small spherical flower heads of 30-35 cream-to-pale-yellow flowers; drooping, weeping branchlet form distinguishes it from other central Australian acacias.

Family Fabaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Acacia estrophiolata

Mark Marathon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Harlequin Fuchsia Bush

Eremophila duttonii

Red-and-yellow desert shrub▾

Red-and-yellow desert shrub

A flowering shrub of Central Australia's stony and sandy plains, 1-3.5 m tall, with sticky dark-green leaves and striking two-toned flowers - red-orange above, fading to yellowish-green below.

How to spot it

Sticky, linear-to-lance-shaped leaves 30-40 mm long; tubular red-orange flowers with yellow-green throats appearing singly in leaf axils, mainly June to September; dry cone-shaped fruit.

Family Scrophulariaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Eremophila duttonii

Mark Marathon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Soft Spinifex

Triodia pungens

Resinous hummock grass▾

Resinous hummock grass

A hummock-forming spinifex grass of arid Australia, growing in dense green clumps that carpet rocky ranges and sand country. Its resin has traditionally been used by Aboriginal people as an adhesive for tools and weapons.

How to spot it

Forms tight, rounded green hummocks distinct from the blue-grey clumps of Triodia basedowii; sharp, needle-like leaf tips deter grazing and make off-track walking through it painful - stick to marked trails.

Family Poaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Triodia pungens

Mark Marathon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Silver Cassia

Senna artemisioides

Widespread yellow-flowered desert shrub▾

Widespread yellow-flowered desert shrub

A shrub found across every mainland Australian state and territory, from 0.15 to 3 m tall, with silvery pinnate foliage and mostly winter-blooming yellow flowers. It is one of the most widely distributed native shrubs of the arid interior, including the ranges around Alice Springs.

How to spot it

Pinnate leaves with 1-8 pairs of narrow, silver-grey leaflets; bright yellow flowers in clusters of 2-15, mainly in winter; long, flattened, glabrous seed pods 5-10 cm long.

Family Fabaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Senna artemisioides

Murray Fagg, CC BY 3.0 AU, via Wikimedia Commons (photographed in West MacDonnell National Park)

Wildlife you might see on this trail

Animals confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Perentie

Varanus giganteus

IUCN Least Concern — Australia's largest monitor lizard▾

IUCN Least Concern — Australia's largest monitor lizard

The perentie is Australia's largest lizard and the world's fourth-largest living lizard species, reaching up to 2.5 metres in length. It's a shy, wide-ranging predator of the remote rocky arid interior, rarely encountered simply because of how sparsely populated its desert habitat is.

How to spot it

Huge for a lizard — up to 2.5m nose to tail — with a cream-and-black reticulated head and neck, a yellowish body patterned with brown rosettes, and dark, white-spotted limbs. Look for it basking near rocky outcrops and gorges in the arid interior; if disturbed it will bolt for the nearest crevice or tree, or rear up on its hind legs to look around.

Family Varanidae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Bernard DUPONT (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Thorny devil

Moloch horridus

IUCN Least Concern — arid-zone icon▾

IUCN Least Concern — arid-zone icon

The thorny devil is a small, spine-covered lizard of Australia's arid interior, its entire body armoured in conical thorns for defence. Its ridged scales channel dew and rain straight to its mouth, letting it drink from damp sand alone.

How to spot it

Unmistakable: a small lizard (up to 21cm) entirely covered in hard conical spines, in mottled desert browns and tans that darken or pale with temperature and mood. It has a bizarre false 'head' — a spiny knob on the back of its neck — which it presents to predators while hiding its real head. Moves with a slow, jerky rock-and-freeze gait across sandy desert country, mostly on warm days when the ants it feeds on are active.

Family Agamidae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Bäras (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Central bearded dragon

Pogona vitticeps

IUCN Least Concern — iconic arid-zone dragon▾

IUCN Least Concern — iconic arid-zone dragon

The central bearded dragon is a robust, spiny lizard of the semi-arid and arid woodlands of central Australia, named for the spiky, inflatable throat pouch ('beard') it darkens and flares as a threat and social display. It has since become one of the world's most popular pet reptiles, but the wild population remains a genuine outback local.

How to spot it

A stocky, flattened lizard up to 60cm long (over half of that tail), mottled in browns, reds, yellows and greys that shift with temperament and background. Look for it basking on fence posts, rocks or dead branches in open woodland during the cooler morning and evening, flattening its body and puffing out its spiny black 'beard' if it feels threatened.

Family Agamidae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Frank C. Müller, Baden-Baden (CC BY-SA 2.5) via Wikimedia Commons