Palm Valley 4WD Tour from Alice Springs

Explore the Palm Valley area on a full-day tour from Alice Springs, and take an off-road excursion to see rock pools and rugged outback landscapes by 4WD. The tour includes a picnic lunch in Finke Gorge National Park and a visit to the Hermannsburg Aboriginal community, combining relaxation and history in one of Central Australia’s most celebrated river oases.

Traveling by 4WD, depart Alice Springs with your guide and follow the Finke River’s ancient bed to Palm Valley, an oasis of white sand, palm trees and spectacular rock formations. Take a guided walk to discover the valley’s rich plant life, including red cabbage palms which grow only in the Palm Valley, along with different species of cycads and palms.

You’ll see the spectacular natural rock formation known as the Amphitheatre, and be shown the semi-permanent spring-fed pools that have created this fertile valley in the heart of the Central Australian desert.

After a picnic lunch in Finke Gorge National Park, your tour continues to the historic Aboriginal community of Hermannsburg, a place of refuge for almost a century for the Arrernte people, who fled here to escape conflict between pastoralists, the police and other Aboriginal tribes. Visit the town's mission, known for the mid-20th-century Aboriginal paintings of Albert Namatjira, who lived at the strongly Lutheran-influenced Hermannsburg Historic Precinct. You can explore the painter’s home and see his signature pastel-hued landscape paintings in the mission’s art gallery.

Relax on the trip back to Alice Springs and watch the desert landscape and mountains change color in the afternoon light.

• Hotel pickup and drop-off (selected hotels only)
• Picnic lunch
• Drinking water
  
• Transport by air-conditioned purpose-built 4WD mini-coach

• Food and drinks, unless specified