Trephina Ridge Top Walk, Trephina Gorge Nature Park - April 2006

The Eastern MacDonnell Ranges are often over looked by people visiting Alice Springs, and while they aren't as spectacular as the Western Mac's they have a few hidden gems buried away. One of those gems is Trephina Gorge, dig a little deeper and you'll discover John Hayes Rockhole, my plan for the day was to do a loop walk from Trephina Gorge out to John Hayes Rockhole via the Ridgetop Trail before returning to the troopie via John Hayes Creek and then finally Trephina Creek.

Trephina Gorge at the start of the walk.

Leaving the troopie parked at the Trephina Gorge car park at 8:00 am, I picked up the trail which climbed high up on the eastern cliffs of Trephina Gorge. The day was already fairly warm at this early hour and there was a bit of dust haze in the air, I was carrying all the water that I'd need for the day but was hoping that I'd find enough water on the track somewhere to have a bit of a swim, time would tell.

Looking across Trephina Creek as I climbed the cliffs above the gorge.

Leaving Trephina Gorge the track now headed generally westerly, eventually attaining the ridgetop for which the track is named. I followed the ridge all the way out to Turners Lookout, the desert looking very dry and forbidding with all the dust flying around. Doubling back a little from Turners Lookout I picked up a track heading generally south easterly, this was my route into John Hayes Creek and its gorge.

Looking west from Turners Lookout.

Looking to the North West from Turners Lookout.

While the gorge in John Hayes Creek isn't as high as some in the territory it is fairly long and I spent the next couple of hours rock hoping and scrambling down the gorge. Sometimes the route would have to leave the gorge completely to bypass waterfalls, other times I could find a safe route to scramble down the dry waterfalls. The cliffs of the gorge provided welcome shade as I made my way down.

The gorge cut by John Hayes Creek.

The bed of the creek provided fairly easy walking.

There were a few waterfalls to scramble around.

Nearing John Hayes Rockhole the track once again scaled the cliffs to by pass a series of waterfalls that ended with the waterhole at the bottom. The place was deserted, in fact I didn't see another person all day, so I stripped off and jumped into the freezing waterhole. I passed the next few hours on rotation between swimming in the freezing water and baking on the hot red rocks, I was in no hurry to head off from this spot because the next 6 kilometres back to the troopie would be a bit of a road bash.

This one looked a bit festy, I think I'll leave it for the wildlife.

With the sun getting low on the horizon I eventually decided that I'd better head off. Initially I followed a 4wd track that follows John Hayes Creek back to its junction with Trephina Creek, the track alternated between the sandy flats beside the creek and the creek itself. It was all fairly easy going though and in under an hour I was back on the access road to Trephina Gorge, turning north I was back at the troopie just as dusk was coming down. Just over an hour later I was back at the hotel enjoying a cold beer.

John Hayes Rockhole.

After a bit of  a swim I'd follow the line of trees towards the top left of the photo.

The Dirt.
The walk is in the Trephina Gorge Nature Park in the Eastern MacDonnell Ranges about an hour out of Alice Springs. I walked about 21 kilometres on this walk although if you had two 4wd's you could cut out around 6 kilometres. The walk is a medium walk, although don't attempt it in summer when it would be baking hot. There are a couple of other short walks around  Trephina Gorge that are worth a look. I didn't use any notes but it would be worth checking out Take a Walk in the Northern Territory's National Parks by John Daly as he may have written the walk up by now, by book wasn't around when I did the walk.

I had to circle around the rockhole before I could get down.

One more look at the view from Turners Lookout.