The Red Center Travel Guide

You will hear that Uluru is a long way to go to look at a rock, usually from people who have not gone. The Red Center sits near the geographic middle of the continent, which means reaching it takes a domestic flight that most Australia itineraries never budget for, and that distance is exactly what makes it worth doing. Uluru rises about 1,140 feet out of flat country, and the scale simply does not translate in photographs.

The park holds two formations rather than one. Kata Tjuta, thirty miles west, is a group of 36 domes that covers more ground, sees fewer visitors, and is preferred by a good number of travelers who came for Uluru. Kings Canyon sits a few hours northeast and has the best hard walk in the region. Climbing Uluru has been closed since October 2019 at the request of the Anangu traditional owners, which is worth understanding rather than simply knowing, and photography restrictions apply at certain sections of the base for the same reason.

Timing matters more here than almost anywhere else in Australia. From December through February temperatures regularly pass 100 degrees and the major walks close by mid morning, so the reliable season runs May through September. That said, we visited in November and had near perfect conditions, helped by rain that had come through in the days before, which also left the flies far less aggressive than they get after months of dry.