Serpentine Gorge is one of the gorges in the West MacDonnell Ranges in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. It is located approximately 100 kilometres west of

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

along the

Larapinta Trail The Larapinta Trail is an extended walking track in the Northern Territory of Australia. Its total length is from east to west, with the eastern end at Alice Springs and the western end at Mount Sonder, one of the territory's highest mount ...

. It comprises two gorges created by a south flowing creek which has cut through two ridges of Heavitree Quartzite. The gorge is home to some rare Central Australian plants such as the Centralian flannel-flower''Northern Territory and Central Australia'', Lonely Planet, 2006 and cycads (the ''

Macrozamia macdonnellii ''Macrozamia macdonnellii'', common name MacDonnell Ranges Cycad, is a species of plant in the family Zamiaceae. It is endemic to the Northern Territory, Australia. ''Macrozamia macdonnellii'' is not eaten by the Arrernte people of the Macdonne ...

''). There is a semi-permanent waterhole guarding the entrance to the gorge.

Tourism

There is a 1.3 kilometre walk along a service road, or alternatively along the creek bed, to the gorge, and a short steep climb to a lookout. Section 7 of the Larapinta Trail starts at Ellery Creek Big Hole and ends here. Section 8 of the trail goes from here to Serpentine Chalet Dam. Nearby are the ruins of Serpentine Chalet which was a late 1950s/early 1960s Ansett-Pioneer tourist venture. Lack of water and the remote location on an unsealed road brought about its demise. All that remains now are a concrete slab and other floor foundations.Borthwick, John (2007) "The ripple effect"
''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'', 8 September 2007

References

{{reflist Canyons and gorges in the Northern Territory

Tourism

See also

References