What is there to do at Uluru?
Walk itThe base walk is the thing. Everything else is the light on it.
Walk around it — that is genuinely the thing. The Uluru base walk is about 10km and flat, past rock art and the Mutitjulu waterhole, and it is a completely different experience from looking at the rock from a car park. Add Kata Tjuta, the 36 domes half an hour away, where the Valley of the Winds walk is the better hike of the two. Then sunset and sunrise, which is when the colour does what you came to see. Climbing Uluru has been closed since October 2019 at the request of the Anangu traditional owners.
Checked on 6 October 2026.
Most people give Uluru two days and spend them wondering whether there is more to it than one rock. There is, and it is mostly on foot.
The four things worth your time
- The Uluru base walkabout 10km, flat, right up against the rock. You pass rock art, the Mutitjulu waterhole and the Kuniya and Liru story sites. This is the one that changes people's minds about the place.
- Kata Tjuta36 domes about half an hour west, taller than Uluru. The Valley of the Winds walk is the better hike in the park; Walpa Gorge is the short version.
- Sunset and sunrisethe rock genuinely does change colour, and the two are different enough that it is worth doing both.
- Kings Canyon300km away and on most three-day trips. The rim walk is a steep start then level, and plenty of people come home saying it was the best part.
What the walks actually ask of you
| Walk | Length | What it is like |
|---|---|---|
| Uluru base walk | About 10km | Flat the whole way. Do as much or as little as you like — there are shorter loops at either end. |
| Mutitjulu waterhole | About 1km return | Short, flat, and the best bit of the base walk if you only do one piece. |
| Kata Tjuta, Walpa Gorge | About 2.6km return | Rocky underfoot, uphill into the gorge. An hour or so. |
| Kata Tjuta, Valley of the Winds | Up to 7.4km | The best walk in the park. Steeper and longer, with lookouts along the way. |
| Kings Canyon rim walk | About 6km | Starts with around 500 steps, then it levels out. There is a shorter creek walk for anyone giving the climb a miss. |
Walks close in the middle of the day when the forecast is high, which is why trips start before dawn in summer.
The thing you cannot do
The climb closed permanently in October 2019, at the request of the Anangu, who are the traditional owners and joint managers of the park. It had been asked for a long time. The base walk is the alternative, and almost everybody who does it says it was the better choice anyway.
How the days usually break down
- Two daysUluru at sunset, sunrise the next morning, Kata Tjuta, and the base walk. This covers the park.
- Three daysthe same, plus Kings Canyon. This is the one most people should take.
- Four daysadds the West MacDonnell Ranges on the way back to Alice Springs.
- One daypossible from Yulara, but you will be choosing between the base walk and Kata Tjuta rather than doing both.
| Trip | Length | Where you sleep | Effort | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Day Uluru Tour | 2 days, 1 night | Swags or Safari tents | — | $749 |
| 3 Day Uluru Budget | 3 days, 2 nights | Swags | — | $729 |
| 3 Day Uluru Adventure | 3 days, 2 nights | Swags | — | $759 |
| 4 Day Uluru Tour | 4 days, 3 nights | Swags | — | $839 |
| 4 Day Uluru & West MacDonnell Ranges | 4 days, 3 nights | Safari Tents or Swags | — | $1389 |
Worth knowing
- Park entry is per person and covers three days.It is included on the trips here.
- There is one place to staythe Yulara resort township. Everything there is priced accordingly.
- Photography is restricted at some siteson the base walk, out of respect for their significance. The signs mark them.
- The flies are realbetween roughly September and March. A head net costs a few dollars and is worth every one of them.
When to come
May to September for walking weather — 20 to 28°C by day, cold at night. There is a month-by-month breakdown on our what is Uluru like month by month page, and the getting-there detail on how do you get from Alice Springs to Uluru.
Where this comes from. Trip lengths, where you sleep, effort ratings and prices are each trip's own details as held on its page here, and prices update on their own. Walk lengths, the heat closure rules, photography restrictions and the closure of the climb in October 2019 are Parks Australia's published position for Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.