Hugh River Bush Camp and Standley Chasm, Central Australia - Northern Territory

After a day of relative rest doing local tourist things around Alice Springs, James and I decided to get out of town again.  On a previous visit I had seen an un-signposted  dirt track heading north off of Namatjira drive about 15kms west of the turn off towards Standley Chasm, which I had marked on my GPS as ‘must check out’ (53K LP 35535 65746).  Comparing the coordinates to the maps of area I saw that the road branched and was interwoven amongst the ranges and a number of creeks, terminating at a various gorges and waterholes.  So we set out to explore!

The Huge River Bush Camp track before she got nasty

Once we entered the dirt track we did in fact find a sign which named the area as the Hugh River Bush Camp and that there were recognised camp sites (no facilities though) at places called Reedy Hole Waterhole, Birthday Waterhole and Hugh Gorge.  The official tracks amongst the bush there follow the path which John McDouall Stuart took through the MacDonnell Ranges during his explorations through Central Australia in the early 1860s. 

We attempted to make it out to Reedy Hole Waterhole – that being the closest to the entrance but unfortunately never got to see if there was actually any water there at this time.  We had hired a 4WD for the trip but it really wasn’t equipped for the terrain which alternated between very rocky and soft sandy creek beds.  The clearance on the car was low, the tyre tread was inadequate and our pressures inappropriate.  In the end we stopped 2.5km short of our intended destination and turned around while we still could.  So that track has been added to my list of things to come back and explore one day. 

The path out to Standley Chasm

Defeated we started back towards Alice, stopping off at Standley Chasm on the way.  The chasm has been cut through the sandstone by an offshoot of the Finke River, leaving a gash up to 80 meters deep through the West MacDonnell Ranges.  I’ve been to the chasm twice before but somehow never realised that there was an entry fee.  I’d always just stepped over the rope blocking the vehicle entrance, however now there is a gate and a sign so ignorance is harder to excuse.  There is an $8 fee for Territorians, $10 for visitors from interstate and concessions for seniors and kids.  Unaware of my previous free entry the nice lady at the visitors desk let us both go through for the Territorian price.

The chasm’s name honors Mrs Ida Standley.  Mrs Standley was the first non-Indigenous woman to visit the dramatic rock formation.  She had been appointed the role of the first school teacher in Alice Springs back in 1914.  In 1925 when a school for children of Aboriginal heritage was set up at Jay Creek, not far from the chasm she was appointed as the matron there.  The name that had been given to the area by the Western Arrernte people is Angkerle Atwatye, which appropriately means ‘the gap of water’.      

Standley Chasm

The walk out to the most dramatic part of the chasm is a mere 1.2km and the path there along the creek is well marked and worn.  The lady at the counter highly recommend wearing closed shoes but I find that for most of these things I fair well enough by switching the hubs on my thongs over to 4WD.  Only a short distance into the chasm is a chain across the dry creek and sign stating ‘DANGER, DO NOT PASS THIS POINT, IF YOU GO BEYOND THIS POINT YOU RISK SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH, NO RESPONSIBILITY WILL BE ACCEPTED BY THE OWNERS OF STANLEY CHASM IF YOU CONTINUE’.  The view from this spot of the shear sandstone walls towering above you is striking, and is worth a look but it’s also somewhat anticlimactic: ‘hmm, well we saw it; I suppose we turn around now’. 

I considered the sign, on my previous visits I had never ventured beyond it.  But thinking about it then, the sign didn’t actually say ‘Trespassers will be prosecuted’ or ‘Proceed and you will cop a $4,000 fine’, it was merely what I call a ‘serving suggestion’.  James and I decided to get our $8 worth and stepped over the chain. 

Beyond the main chasm 
(approx 53K LP 43997 76562)

We were rewarded for our agility with a network of smaller chasms branching out before us along the fault lines.  The base of the gap to the right rose sharply and looked like it terminated at the top of the escarpment so we ventured to the left deeper within the network.  The maze continued to branch and turn and we passed a number of small pools in the rocks, diminished by the scorching weather.  We reached one passage which at first glance looked fairly impassable.  On closer inspection I found a narrow passage upwards between the boulders.  Feeling glad I hadn’t over indulged at breakfast I managed to maneuver myself through the space.  

Beyond the boulders, the gap between the walls opened up further.  A short distance up the rocky creek bed we came across a number of tell-tale blue arrows which indicated we had stumbled upon a gazetted path.  I’m not sure if it was part of the Larapinta Trail, which stops by the chasm, or a much smaller local walk.  Having reached signs of civilisation once more we decided ‘hmm, well we saw it; I suppose we turn around now’.

visited 02.02.2014