When is the best time to visit the Alice Springs Desert Park?
The best time to visit the Alice Springs Desert Park is either first thing in the morning, or on the special nocturnal tour.
What is the Alice Springs Desert Park?
The Alice Springs Desert Park is one of the top attractions in Alice Springs, the biggest town in the Northern Territory’s Red Centre. To book general entry tickets, head here. For nocturnal tour bookings, step this way.
Covering 1,300 hectares of land, the Alice Springs Desert Park looks at life in three distinct desert environments – sand country, the desert rivers and the woodland.
Each turns out to be a highly complex environment, with a surprising amount of animal life and a strong emphasis on local Aboriginal culture and stories.
What are the Alice Springs Desert Park opening hours?
The Alice Springs Desert Park is open from 07.30 to 18.00 every day, and there are shows and demonstrations throughout the day.
If you do just one thing in Alice Springs…
Make it a West MacDonnell Ranges day tour. It’ll show off many of the Red Centre’s most dramatic gorges, photogenic swimming holes, rugged landscapes and weird rock formations. (FIND OUT MORE).
Australia travel expert David Whitley.
The best time to visit the Alice Springs Desert Park
The smart move is to take advantage of that early opening time and get to the Alice Springs Desert Park for 07.30. There are too good reasons for this.
The first is that if you get there early, you can do most of your walking relatively comfortably before the temperatures get unpleasantly high.
The second reason for visiting the Alice Springs Desert Park early is that the wildlife is more active. Most of the desert wildlife looks for shelter and sleep during the day, becoming more active around dawn and dusk.
Seven essential Alice Springs activities to add to your trip.
- See imposing red rock cliffs and stunning swimming holes – on a West MacDonnell Ranges day trip.
- Glide across the changing morning colours of the outback – on a hot air balloon ride.
- See how education works across the outback – at the School of the Air.
- Take in the epic outback scenery – on a scenic flight.
- See the outback wildlife come to life – on a Desert Park nocturnal tour.
- Try camel rides through the red dirt landscape – and learn the weird history of Aussie camels.
- See stunning, often unvisited outback sites – on a Palm Valley 4wd tour.
Alice Springs Desert Park nocturnal tour
That activity after dark, however, means the nocturnal tour at the Alice Springs Desert Sanctuary is arguably a better bet.
The nocturnal tours take place after the park has closed for general entry, and last around 45 minutes.
The focus is on the smaller creatures that call the desert home – especially bilbies, echidnas and mala.
Sort out your Red Centre transport now
How much does the Alice Springs Desert Park cost?
General entry tickets to the Alice Springs Desert Park cost $39.50. Book here.
The nocturnal tours cost $32, and require advance booking.
All times and prices are correct at the time of writing, but are subject to change in the future.
Other worthwhile attractions in Alice Springs include the School of the Air, Flying Doctors base, Old Telegraph Station and Araluen Cultural Precinct.
Top Alice Springs activities include early morning balloon flights, camel tours and Palm Valley 4WD tours.
Best Alice Springs accommodation choices
These are the best Alice Springs accommodation picks:
- For a solid, relatively affordable motel: Elkira Court Motel.
- For villas, gardens and a lagoon-style pool: Desert Palms.
- For backpackers: Alice’s Secret Travellers Inn.
- For a kid-friendly holiday park: Discovery Parks Alice Springs.
- For business-friendly serviced apartments: Quest Alice Springs.
More Northern Territory travel
Where to stop on the Camooweal to Katherine drive.
How long is the drive from Marla to Uluru?
Where to stop on a Winton to Katherine road trip.
The best stops on a Cloncurry to Darwin road trip.
What to see on a Longreach to Uluru road trip.