Deals > Explore > Alice Springs > North of Alice
Aileron
Aileron is a welcome rest stop for drivers travelling north of Alice Springs. Ryan’s and Conners Well were dug here during the 1880s to supply telegraph workers and drovers with water. It is possible to peruse the historic Aileron homestead, built in 1928, which now houses artworks by the local Anmatjere Aboriginal people.s.
Gemtree
Gemtree, a tiny caravan park in the Harts Range, is best known as a destination for eager fossickers who come in search of semi-precious gems. It is possible to find garnets (mistaken for rubies when discovered in the 1800s) and zircon and have these treasures cut and set into jewellery at the park.
Harts Range Bush Sports Weekend
This fun-filled weekend welcomes locals and visitors to two days of horse racing, bull riding, branding and dancing. Children even have their own special events, such as running races, a lolly scramble, sack races and tug-o-war. Visitors are welcome to camp overnight.
Tanami Track
The Tanami Track extends north west of Alice Springs into Western Australia and is a remarkable area created of red plains, hills and ranges. The unkempt road and dramatic changing scenery offer experienced four-wheel enthusiasts an awesome outback adventure.
The area stretching north of Alice Springs is known for its serene beauty and as a setting for gem fossicking, bush walking, bush camping and four-wheel-driving.
The Plenty Highway leaves the Explorer's Way 70 kilometres north of Alice Springs and links travellers with Queensland through the Harts Ranges - the scene of a gem and mineral rush in the 19th Century and an area of great cultural significance to the Arrernte people. You can have a go fossicking for your own gems with a tag-along tour from Gemtree, hunting for semi-precious stones such as garnets and zircons.
The Tanami is the epitome of what most of us regard as a desert - a vast, flat and sandy red landscape. The notorious Tanami Track cuts a 1,050-kilometre sandy course from Alice Springs to Halls Creek in Western Australia's Kimberley region and should only be tackled by the most experienced of four-wheel-drivers.
Those travelling further north along the Explorer's Way will find settlements such as Aileron a welcome pit stop, just as they were for early pioneers working along the old Overland Telegraph Line that once relayed messages between Adelaide and Darwin.
