Nature
Short nature walks
Short nature walks around the Barkly region allow travellers along the Explorer's Way to stop and stretch their legs. There's the15-minute self-guided walk at the Devils Marbles, or a 45-minute walk through the Jim Rennie Memorial Park at Elliott, which provides an introduction to the local flora and its traditional uses by Aboriginal people.
Bird watching
Longreach Waterhole (near Elliott), was once a large freshwater basin and is a breeding ground for inland birds. Renner Springs attracts large flocks of birds through a natural spring, known as Mud Springs. Connells Lagoon Conservation Reserve, on the eastern boundary of Brunette Downs, is home to a number of endangered bird species.
The Pebbles (Kunjarra)
Just north of Tennant Creek is The Pebbles, known as Kunjarra to the Aboriginal people, a granite rock formation and sacred site of the Warumungu people. The site is culturally significant as a women's dancing place for the Munga Munga Dreaming and is a spectacular example of the geological wonders the region has to offer.
Camping
The Devils Marbles Conservation Reserve offers a scenic bush camping area with fireplaces. To the south-east, in the Davenport Range National Park, camping is only permitted in designated areas such as the Old Police Station Waterhole and Whistleduck Creek. Facilities are basic. Campsites in the Barkly region are modest, and travellers should arrive well prepared.
Swimming
The old Police Station Waterhole, located in the Davenport Range National Park, south-east of Tennant Creek, is ideal for swimming during the summer months. Lake Mary Ann is located five kilometres north of Tennant Creek and provides a cool oasis for locals and travellers.
Tennant Creek sits in the middle of the outback, but the country is beautiful and anything but barren. The town is situated in open mallee scrubland, surrounded by rocky ranges and brilliant blue skies that give way to millions of stars at night.
The air is fresh and clean here and the colours of the landscape are ever-changing as the rocky hillsides pick up the varying sun's rays between daybreak and evening.
This phenomenon is particularly evident at the Devils Marbles (Karlu Karlu to the Aboriginal people), a collection of huge granite boulders precariously balanced on top of one another, 100 kilometres south of the town, which glow fiery red as sunset hits. The Pebbles (known as Kunjarra) are another granite outcrop formation, just north of the town, and it's also a sacred site for the Warumungu people.
Camping is popular way to experience the region. There are plenty of spots to pitch a tent or roll out a swag, but some of the best spots are dotted throughout conservation reserves in the Devils Marbles and the Davenport Range National Park - a 1120 square-kilometre area east of the highway about 250 kilometres south of Tennant Creek. The Park is dotted with waterholes that attract plenty of wildlife, birds and fish.
A number of walking trails throughout the region allow travellers to experience the plants, birds and landscapes of Tennant Creek up close. One walking path winds its way through the Honeymoon Ranges to Lake Mary Ann, five kilometres north-east of the town, and the perfect spot for a swim and a picnic.
Explore - Tennant Creek n surrounds
