Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
Situated in the heart of Australia, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is one of the main icons of Australia and its aboriginal culture.
This national park is mostly well known for Uluru, an impressive sandstone rock formation of 836 meters heigh. A less popular but not less beautiful is Kata Tjuta, a group of 36 rocks that are even higher than Uluru reaching 1066 meters.
Yulara
Yulara is a little resort town next to the airport built as a result of the tourism boom of Uluru. Here, you will find hotels, restaurants and a couple of cafes, a natural history museum offering some very interesting talks, a supermarket, petrol stations and everything essential that might be needed.
There are a few lookouts at the town from where both Uluru and Kata Tjuta can be seen.
Ewing Lookout
Ewing lookout is slightly away from the town and is next to the camel farm that you will pass on your way from the airport to Yulara. This is the best lookout to watch the sunrise or sunset near the town and has viewing of Uluru, Kata Tjuta and the surrounding landscape.
Pioneer Lookout
Just behind Outback Pioneer Hotel is a little dune with views to Uluru.
Imalung Lookout
Located between Outback Pioneer Hotel and the main part of Yulara in the middle of a walk across the dunes. Just a little bit of elevation is enough to have a good view of Uluru.
Uluru
The access to Uluru is closed at night and the opening hours change depending on the season. There is also a pass that needs to be purchased. All this updated information can be found on the official website: https://parksaustralia.gov.au/uluru
There is a number of viewing areas when Uluru can be seen best:
Sunrise viewing area
This is the farthest location from the entrance and it takes around 25 mins to get there. As the name says, from this angle the sun shines on the mountain at sunrise.
Sunset viewing area
A shorter drive from the entrance and a great spot for watching the sunset. This area gets busy with lots of people enjoying the changing colours of Uluru. This is also a good place for sunrise, especially when there are clouds.
Kata Tjuta
Kata Tjuta is ~45 mins away from Yulara and is less busy than Uluru. The rock formation consists of 36 domes which can be explored on foot by taking one of the walks from the parking area.
As everywhere in the national park it’s important to arrive and do the walks early in the morning before the afternoon heat.
Even though this rock formation can be seen from different viewing points from Yulara, it’s better to appreciate its extent and dimension from the Dune viewing area which you will find along the road between Uluru and Kata Tjuta.
Kings Canyon
While not part of Uluru -Kata Tjuta national park, Kings Canyon is an impressive location worth visiting being just 3hs drive from Yulara.
The canyon’s walls stand 100 meters tall with Kings Creek at the bottom. There are 4 walks that can be done with different levels of difficulty.
If you only have one day, the recommended walk is the Rim Walk which is only 6km loop that should take between 3 and 4hs. It is better to start the walk early morning while the sun is low and the heat is still bearable.
The early morning is also the best time to see the intense orange-red colours of the walls of the canyon. The rim walk starts with a steep climb and later as its name says goes over the rim offering spectacular views.