6 Day Red Centre Way 4WD Campervan Itinerary - Britz

Five nights and 1,400 kilometres in a loop from Alice Springs in a 4WD camper, on the Red Centre Way.

Simpsons Gap, Standley Chasm, Ellery Creek Big Hole, Glen Helen, Ormiston and Redbank gorges come first, strung along the West MacDonnell Ranges west of Alice, where rivers that flow a few days a year have cut gaps through the quartzite and the waterholes hold cold water all year round.

Kings Canyon follows in Watarrka National Park, where the walls stand a hundred metres above the creek and the rim walk takes most of a morning, with Kings Creek Station and Curtin Springs on the road. Yulara comes next, and Uluru and Kata Tjuta close the loop: the rock rising 348 metres out of the plain, and the domes to the west of it with the Valley of the Winds walk running between them.

Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. The 4WD is needed for the Mereenie Loop between the ranges and Kings Canyon, which is gravel and crosses Aboriginal land requiring a permit. Six days and 1,400 kilometres leaves a 445 kilometre return leg to Alice at the end, which is a long last day in anyone’s book. Winter is the season, and the park authorities close several walks in the heat of the day. For a traveller with less than a week in the centre, this is the route that takes in the gorges, Kings Canyon and Uluru without leaving any of them out.