Standley Chasm is about 40 minutes drive from Alice Springs and we went there for a day out with JH who was staying with us for a few days.

It is part of the West MacDonnell Ranges National Park, but is in a private reserve managed by the Local Arrernte people. It has a cafe and gift shop area – so it’s a very popular place compared to other parts of the National Park.

The ‘chasm’ itself was an 80m high narrow gorge about 15 minutes walk along a shady creek – with plenty of budgie-spotting action along the way. When we arrived it was full of people trying to get photos of the chasm (of both the selfie and non-selfie variety).

After walking through the chasm and out the other side, we proceeded to where the Larapinta Trail (a multi-day long distance trail) passes through the area. We then walked for about 30 minutes along Section 3 of the trail – which took us up to a hilltop lookout. JH had previously walked the ENTIRE Larapinta Trail, so she was back in familiar territory – but this time without the heavy backpack. 🙂

After admiring the view at the top we retraced our steps back down the hill and through the chasm again. Heading back to the entrance there were still plenty of budgies around (and plenty of people too – which is obviously not as good…)