Ayers Rock is well known, but have you ever heard of Kings Canyon? If you’re heading to Australia’s ‘Red Centre’, definitely add Kings Canyon to your itinerary – I liked it better than Ayers Rock.

Layers and layers of different sandstone rock formations in bright oranges and reds, and a canyon rim walk with many different views both down into the canyon and of the outback landscape.

Kings Canyon is located about halfway between Alice Springs and Ayers Rock which means not many people bother to make their way out there. If you like visiting places that don’t have a lot of crowds, Kings Canyon is the place for you.

In this post I hope to convince you it’s worth a visit! In this guide I’ve included:

How to get there
Walking trail options (as well as other options if you don’t want to do the Rim Walk)
Where to stay
Where to eat
How much I spent
Whether I think self drive is better than joining a 1 day bus tour

Getting to Kings Canyon

To get to Kings Canyon, you’ll need to fly into either Alice Springs Airport or Yulara airport, and then drive to Kings Canyon.

3 hour 50 minute drive from Alice Springs Airport
3 hour drive from Yulara Airport

We flew into Yulara, spent a few days visiting Ayers Rock and the Olgas, then made the 3.5 hour drive, to Kings Canyon. It’s only supposed to take 3 hours but we made a few stops to switch drivers which added 30 minutes to the trip.

3 hours isn’t a very long drive but it feels like a long drive because there’s nothing to really look at along the way. We also lost phone reception within 15 minutes of leaving Yulara (and that was with Telstra). I hadn’t downloaded music expecting there to be phone reception the whole way, so was stuck listening to 3 random songs that had downloaded from Mum’s playlist. There’s only so many times you can listen to Uptown Girl without going crazy, so we ended up just turning the music off. There was no radio signal either.

Hopefully phone reception has improved since I visited, as I was worried we’d be stuck if we got a flat tire. I paid for emergency roadside assist with the hire car, but since there was no phone reception if something were to happen I wouldn’t have been able to call for help anyway.

Most of the drive is typical Aussie outback with straight roads and not much variety in the scenery

Fill up with fuel before you leave in either direction.

Unless you want to attempt the Mereenie Loop from Alice Springs to Kings Canyon (Google it and you’ll probably be quickly deterred), then the roads around Yulara to the Olgas, Ayers Rock and Kings Canyon are all sealed roads. Most hire car companies won’t let you take the vehicles off sealed roads or you’ll void the insurance. We had a Toyota Corolla hatchback for our hire car. This was enough space for 2 people, but if you have a bigger family with 1 suitcase per person, you’re going to need a bigger car.

The hire car cost about $1,350 AUD including insurance and emergency roadside assist for 4 days (this was in 2022 so it’s probably even more expensive now). The lady at the service counter must’ve been having a good day as we waived the 2nd driver fee for us 🙂 Fuel was an additional $72 for the 4 days (you must return the car with a full tank of fuel).

See the rest of my red centre itinerary in this post: 4 Day Itinerary in the Red Centre, Australia (Ayers Rock, The Olgas and Kings Canyon)

What time of year should you visit Kings Canyon?

The best time of year to visit is between May and September (winter).

Temperatures can easily reach as high as 38 degrees celsius in the middle of summer (December to February). Rangers will close access to the rim walk if temperatures are forecast to exceed 36 degrees celsius. You wouldn’t want to be out in that heat anyway!

I visited during June which I think is the best time to visit.

If you’re brave enough to go closer to the edge of the rim you’d get much better photos than me – but this was a close as I wanted to get!

What is there to see and do at Kings Canyon?

The main thing to see is of course, the Canyon but specifically the rim walk of the canyon.

This 6km walk takes 3 – 4 hours (took us about 3.5 hours) and has fantastic views down into the canyon. I was surprised by the variety of rock formations on the top of the rim. There were so many layers and different angles of rocks to photograph.

Unlike some tourist destinations that are very restricted with where you can walk, you can go pretty much anywhere you like on the rim.

It’s not just a flat rim, the rocky landscape is varied the entire walk.

I freaked out a bit at Cotterills Bridge over the canyon, but if you don’t take it, you have to walk all the way back to the starting point. Plus some of the best views were from Cotterill’s Lookout.

The walk then gradually makes your way back down the canyon

Other walks

I wish we’d done the creek walk (2.6km, 1 hour return) as well but Mum was wrecked after the rim walk. We were driving back to Yulara to get our flight out the next morning and didn’t want to get up even earlier to do the creek walk before driving to the airport.

If you have more time, there’s also the South Wall Return Walk which is (4.8 km, 2 hours return). It starts with a steep climb up the southern rim of Kings Canyon.

Another option is the Kathleen Springs Walk (2.6 km, 1.5 hour return) which leads to a spring-fed waterhole. The walk is flat so it’s suitable for families.

Image credit: www.nt.gov.au/parks

Good to know

There are toilets at the start of the rim walk. Make sure you use them as there are no toilets during the walk.

The walk starts from the Kings Canyon carpark (free parking).

The rim walk is 6km and takes 3 – 4 hours to do. It involves 500 steps up (these steps are the hardest part of the walk as they’re not ‘proper’ steps but carved into the cliff face, just take it slow and you’ll be fine). Then you walk around the top of the Canyon, cross a bridge and take more steps (real steps this time) down to the ‘garden of eden’ on the canyon floor, before making your way back up and finishing the walk.

There is no shelter. Make sure you take a hat, sunscreen and sufficient water.

It’s best to do the route in a clockwise direction, just follow the crowd at the stairs. The start of the walk is a bit congested with people trying to get up the stairs at once, but it thins out after that.

There are coloured triangles to guide your walk around the rim with plenty of different views along the way.

We did the walk in the afternoon during June which was a great time of day to go with good light hitting the rocks at the right angle and really showing the orange and red tones of the rocks.

If you’re looking for something else to do, there are 15 minute scenic helicopter rides over the canyon. Cost is about $200 AUD per person.

Where to stay

You’ll need to book your accomodation in advance. Apart from campsites, there’s only two options:

Discovery Resorts – Kings Canyon (10 minute drive one way to Kings Canyon) – approx. $600/ night for 2 people
Glamping at Kings Creek Station (30 minute drive one way to Kings Canyon) – approx. $500/ night for 2 people

We opted to stay at Discovery Resorts – Kings Canyon in a Standard Room with 2 Queen Beds. You can get cheaper accomodation if you’re willing to have a shared bathroom or a budget room.

There was basically no phone reception in the hotel room, there is a well used bench outside the reception office which had great phone reception though.

Where to eat

Unless you have a campervan and you’re own food, there’s only one place to eat: Kings Canyon Bar & Grill. Despite being the only option it was reasonably priced (about $30 AUD for a main meal).

We had dinner around 5:30pm. There was a dingo hanging around outside. Eat early if you don’t want to be walking around in the dark, who knows what you’ll stumble upon in the outback. Snakes, spiders etc.

Join a tour versus visit on your own?

I’m glad we did it ourselves so we could go at our own pace however the organized bus tour from Yulara would be a better option if you’re travelling solo.

It’s a 3 – 3.5 hour drive, each way, from Yulara to Kings canyon (depending on how many rest break stops you take). That’s a long drive to do twice in one day.

If you join a bus tour yes you’ll have to get up earlier than if you go on your own, but you can sleep on the bus on the way there and back.

How much does it cost to visit Kings Canyon?

Bus tour

The cost of the bus tour is about $350 AUD (includes breakfast, excludes lunch), takes 12 hours and includes pickup and drop off from your hotel in Yulara.

Self drive

The cost of a hire car for 2 days is about $340 AUD / day including insurance (excluding fuel). Budget $100 + for fuel. We booked the hire car with Avis (they offered the best price at the time and you’ll earn Qantas points too).

The cost of a meal at Kings Canyon Bar & Grill is around $30 AUD.

Accommodation at Kings Canyon Resort for 1 night is approx. $500 AUD for 2 people. Accommodation at the Desert Gardens Hotel (mid range option at Yulara) for 1 night was $360 AUD for 2 people. So accomodation is cheaper in Yulara. I booked the accomodation directly through Ayers Rock Resort (which owns all the hotels at Yulara) as it was cheaper. But I had to reschedule the trip (was originally supposed to go in 2020), it was a pain to rebook with them. I only using booking.com now (if you book enough hotels with them you get genius status which I find makes the accomodation cheaper than booking direct and you can book with free cancellation if you need to change anything).

You could reduce the cost by doing it as a day trip from Yulara, but I wouldn’t recommend it. it would be 7 hours + of driving and you’d be very rushed at the canyon.

Which is cheaper?

So it’s cheaper to the do the bus tour ($700 for 2 people versus $1,200 for the self drive option).

For either option, you’ll also need to purchase a NT Parks Pass – Watarrka National Park pass which costs $10 AUD.

Yes it’s expensive, but travelling anywhere in Australia is expensive.

Is it worth visiting Kings Canyon on your trip to the red centre?

Yes! I preferred the Kings Canyon Rim Walk to the Uluru base walk and the walks at the Olgas.

Hello!

Everything You Need to Know Before Visiting Kings Canyon in the Northern Territory (Including Budget & Itinerary)