Uluru Camel Tours: Can I ride a camel at Ayers Rock?

Uluru Camel Tours offer visitors to the Northern Territory’s Red Centre a camel ride at Uluru. The camel tours leave from the Ayers Rock Resort and can be combined with sunrise or sunset viewings of the big red rock.

The baby camels on show at the Uluru Camel Tours farm are rare. “We don’t actually breed them here,” says Claudia the Uluru Camel Tours cameleer. “We just go and get them from the wild.”

These two are orphans, found near the South Australia border. The Uluru Camel Tours farm took them in, despite them not being good bets for riding in the future. Camels can’t really be trained until they’re six or seven years old, and hand-raised ones tend to think they can get their own way. That makes them very difficult to train.

Camel milk can be hard to get hold of in the Northern Territory’s Red Centre, so the baby camels are fed formula from old Lindeman’s wine bottles.

Around the corner are the bigger, adult camels. They’re the trusty steeds of tourists who want to do something other than just stare at a big red rock, formed over 550 million years.

8 great Uluru experiences to book before you arrive

• 1. Understand Uluru’s caves, bulges, gullies and spiritual stories on a guided base walk.
• 2. Be awe-struck by the changing colours on a SUNRISE tour.
• 3. Eat great food on a dune top, and enjoy an expert-guided stargazing session during a once-in-a-lifetime desert dune-top dinner.
• 4. See an entirely different kind of dramatic outback scenery on Kings Canyon day trip.
• 5. Do a lap of Uluru by Segway.
• 6. See the big picture on an outback helicopter flight.
• 7. See Australia’s most spectacular light show – the Field of Light at sunrise.
• 8. Admire the colour-shifting giant rock domes on a Kata-tjuta sunset trip.

Things to do at Uluru: Ayers Rock camel tours

Camel rides are among a wealth of things to do at Uluru. Dozens of activity options – such as scenic flights – can be arranged through the Ayers Rock Resort, which is where the vast majority of people visiting the Red Centre’s top attraction stay. It’s also possible to hire a car at Uluru and arrange things independently.

This once-in-a-lifetime dune-top dinner experience, with special stargazing session included, is our top Uluru recommendation.

The camels go in order, tied to each other through nose pegs, and apparently the order they’re put in is crucial. All camels have different personalities – put a lazy one at the front, and the whole team will never end up going anywhere. Different personalities also come with different body shapes, and each saddle has to be designed for the individual – a process that takes around 40 to 50 hours.

Claudia warns about Clancy. “He’s spring-loaded, and will get up pretty much instantly,” she says. Sure enough, he lurches upwards astonishingly quickly.

The camel train heads out towards a sand dune overlooking Uluru. It’s a fine place to take in the sunset, but much of the joy is in the ride itself.

The camels weave a well-rehearsed track through the arid landscape. It’s an opportunity not just to take in the giant monolith in the distance, but to look more closely at the desert. The spinifex-dotted red dirt has a magical draw that’s hard to explain to anyone who has not been through it.

Which Uluru Camel Tours ride is best?

Uluru Camel Tours runs several camel rides from the company’s base near Uluru. The express tours last around 90 minutes and cost $80.

The more impressive sunrise and sunset tours cost $135, but last for around two-and-a-half hours. This includes about an hour’s riding time. The sunset camel ride at Uluru also includes a drink and outback bush foods on the return to base.

It’s also possible to do camel tours in Alice Springs and at Lighthouse Beach in Port Macquarie, New South Wales.

Which Uluru accommodation should I book?

Let’s not sugar-coat it: Accommodation at Uluru is expensive. Specialist Australian accommodation website Wotif lists Uluru accommodation for from $300. Check the top deals page to search through the options.

However, if you stay for three nights rather than two, hefty discounts tend to kick in.

The Uluru accommodation options are designed with different target markets in mind. Book which one fits you best.

• For the lowest prices: Ayers Rock Campground.
• For best quality: Sails in the Desert.
• For families and self-caterers: Emu Walk Apartments.
• For mid-range solidity: Desert Gardens.

More Red Centre activities

Try a tour of the disappointing Mount Conner on the drive from Alice Springs to Uluru.

Forget climbing Uluru and tackle the Base Walk early in the morning.

Do the Valley of the Winds walk at Kata-Tjuta.

Take a scenic flight over Kings Canyon.

Walk the Larapinta Trail from Alice Springs.