King’s Canyon is almost everybody’s unexpected highlight of a Red Centre adventure. Free from any preconceptions, travellers don’t realise how awesome this national park is until they start trekking the canyon rim walk. Be prepared for changing landscapes as you hike through one of the most beautiful places you’ve probably ever seen. Need any more reason to check it out for yourself? Well here are seven of them.
- The Garden of Eden. This place is an absolute contradiction to its surrounding landscape. Think of one of the hottest places on earth, then imagine an oasis, a waterhole that’s surrounded by cycads and sheer red cliffs.
- White sand like White Haven Beach. What tha? Formed over 400 million years ago, the Canyon came about from compression of silica rich sand on a shallow inland sea
- Macrozamia McDonnelli. A plant with a long name but an even longer past. This cycad has origins of male and female species and has been around since the dinosaurs.
- The Canyon. There’s no fences, no rails just a sheer drop of 70 to 100 meters. Treat the canyon wall with caution but by completing the full rim walk, you will experience views that are … well … jaw dropping!
- The Beehive Domes. The wind and rain has shaped these domes for a good while. For the local indigenous Luritja clan, these domes mean something totally different and much more interesting too.
- It’s a sponge! It might not look it but there’s water everywhere at Kings Canyon! The soft sandstone acts like a sponge absorbing much of the water after a heavy rainfall. While the surface water evaporates, the porous sandstone provides water for all the plants of the region. Clever!
- Plant life galour. You will be amazed at the variety of plant life at Kings Canyon and within the Watarrka National Park. Keep an eye out for iconic ghost gum and hear the amazing uses by the locals of the caustic vine.
Head to Kings Canyon on an ATA Northern Territory adventure.
