Destinations > MacDonnell Ranges

Competition from the nearby Glen Helen Lodge and the difficulty of finding a reliable water source is said to have meant the end of the Serpentine Chalet venture in the 1960s. All that remains are the cement foundations and some debris.

Bryan Bowman held the lease over Glen Helen Station for 42 years and went into partnership with Bert Gardiner, a tourism pioneer from Alice Springs, to establish the Glen Helen Lodge in 1953.

The walking track to Chalet Dam and Chasm takes about three hours. For an interesting day walk follow part of the Larapinta Trail along the base of the MacDonnells to Inarlanga Pass, which is chock-full of cycads.

Ochre Pits
The Ochre Pits are a stunning break from gap and gorge scenery. They are located 6km along Namatjira Drive from Serpentine Chalet Ruins turn-off. A 300m path leads to these striking, rainbow-coloured cliffs. The colours are formed by iron oxides, resulting in hues from rich red and dark purple to mustard and yellow. White comes from fine pipe clay.

Ochre from these pits is still used. Under a tree we found a group of rocks used for the grinding of ochre into powder - each rock's flat surface covered with a fine residue of white, red or yellow.

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Signs give invaluable information on the significance of the site and the uses of ochre but also warn sternly against touching, sampling or taking away. Hefty fines for stealing bits of ochre for any reason should deter most would-be body painters.

Apart from the path to the Ochre Pits there is a three-hour return marked bushwalk explaining Aboriginal survival skills and land management practices.

Ormiston Gorge
To the Aboriginal people, Ormiston Gorge is part of the Emu Dreaming, and the waterhole a registered sacred site. During WWII soldiers from Alice often weekended at Glen Helen. The more adventurous of these would walk the 13km of trackless terrain through the spinifex to Ormiston. The stories of what they had seen created ripples of interest, which intensified after the war.

People had already had their travel taste buds stimulated by the fine landscapes of Aboriginal watercolourists and their mentor Rex Batterbee but there was one big problem: access. The road from Alice, which came via Hermannsburg, ended about 3km from Glen Helen Gorge on the other side of the permanent waterhole. The road through was completed in 1963.

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